After posting a short blog on Friday about the senate passage of S. 1867, some confusion was evident among a few of my readers. This was due to the Rand Paul vote on one amendment inside S. 1867. That amendment, Amendment 1274, would have allowed American citizens to be held indefinitely by the military even if they had been found innocent in a court of “law.”
Of course, many applauded Rand Paul’s position on Amendment 1274, and it was important to remove it, but that vote was simply targeted at one small piece of this atrocious legislation. The Act itself, a 925 page (pdf) monstrosity, was passed by the full Senate by a margin of 93 to 7, and Section 1031 was left untouched.
This immediate euphoria about the vote down of Amendment 1274 was telling, in that it exposes the false framing of this entire argument. The full Act passed, and the consequences are that any American or foreigner can be captured by the military, even domestically, and held indefinitely without due process. There was no reason for celebration.
This is a prime example of the failure of the political system. These problems will never be solved by voting, as voting simply gives the impression that “we” have a say in what takes place in politics. We don’t! In addition, voting legitimizes a corupt system. The fact that this bill passed by an overwhelming margin should be the point of concern, not the elimination of one small part of the whole that has little to do with the scope of this behemoth!