Right now I think one of the most important developments largely ignored by the mainstream press is brewing in Senate in the form of new legislation proposed by Senators John McCain and Joe Lieberman eerily titled the Enemy, Belligerent, Detention, and Interrogation Act of 2010. At only 12 pages long the bill proposes into law sweeping executive power giving the President the ability to detain anyone, including American citizens, indefinitely on mere suspicion of involvement with terrorist groups against the U.S. or its allies. What kind of a democracy allows the President to use king-like powers such as the ability to detain without charges? Changes such as these are over-reactions at best, this is a complete subversion of our balance of power system. It reminds me of some of the worst policies of the Bush administration, only this time they are being designed for use at home. It it a complete step back on civil liberties at a time when the Obama administration has already floundered on many key issues such as the his support to renew the Patriot Act and his support for the illegal NSA wiretapping program.

I feel like we should be working to roll back many of the unconstitutional Bush era terror powers and that this bill is a reactionary step in the opposite direction. Whether President Obama supports the new legislation in question remains to be seen, however there is support from both Democrats and Republicans in the Senate right now so this could theoretically pass. This is an issue of what we want to look like as a country. If you have no right to trial by jury then you are no longer have to basic right afforded to you in a fair justice system and that is not the country I wish to live in.