Much changed between the third President of the United States and the forty fourth. President Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence, would decry the hackles placed on citizens by the federal government. The war on terror would allow Americans in the U.S. to be detained indefinitely, renditioned, sent to Guantanamo Bay, or assassinated.
"The oppressed should rebel, and they will continue to rebel and raise disturbance until their civil rights are fully restored to them and all partial distinctions, exclusions and incapacitations are removed." --Thomas Jefferson: Notes on Religion, 1776. Papers 1:548
"As revolutionary instruments (when nothing but revolution will cure the evils of the State) [secret societies] are necessary and indispensable, and the right to use them is inalienable by the people." --Thomas Jefferson to William Duane, 1803. FE 8:256
The Executive Branch claims the right to label Americans as terrorists and dispose of them in the manner seen fit by the President. Sounds King Georgish. Congress paired with President Obama on this move, purposefully excluding court remedies for U.S. citizens.
Update 1-29-12: Obama's Executive Branch decided the Supreme Court's right to anonymous free speech does not apply. Homeland Security is in the business of monitoring dissent, through contractor General Dynamics. I wondered why General Dynamics showed up in my blog readers.
