Why you can’t vote for Trump: Civil Liberties
Recently, a friend rightly pointed out that I give Hillary Clinton a disproportionate amount of grief on social media. He’s right.
To make amends, let’s turn our eyes to the other monster in the 2016 presidential race, Donald Trump.
No, Mr. Trump isn’t a monster on the order of Adolf Hitler. Just more on the level of…Mrs. Clinton. Although, she arguably has blood on her hands…Okay, okay! Focus. This is about Trump.
CIVIL LIBERTIES AND RULE OF LAW
Let’s start by taking a look at Trump’s response to the arrest of Ahmad Khan Rhami, the man suspected of the bombing last Saturday in New York City.
The bad part. Now we will give him amazing hospitalization. He will be taken care of by some of the best doctors in the world. He will be given a fully modern and updated hospital room. And he’ll probably even have room service, knowing the way our country is…And on top of that he will be represented by an outstanding lawyer.”
…We must also use whatever lawful methods are available to obtain information from the apprehended suspect to get information before it’s no longer timely…And Congress should pass measures to ensure that foreign enemy combatants are treated as such. These are enemies, these are combatants and we have to be tough we have to be strong.
To be fair, Trump did appear to show some level of restraint here. However, these are not Trump’s only comments on the subject.
REPORTER: Would you try to get the military commissions — the trial court there — to try U.S. citizens?
TRUMP: Well, I know that they want to try them in our regular court systems, and I don’t like that at all. I don’t like that at all. I would say they could be tried there, that would be fine.
Trump on Torture.
I’d do much worse than waterboarding…
Would I approve waterboarding? You bet your ass I would — in a heartbeat…And I would approve more than that. Don’t kid yourself, folks. It works, okay? It works. Only a stupid person would say it doesn’t work….And you know what? If it doesn’t work, they deserve it anyway, for what they’re doing. It works. (Washington Post)
So, even if you (are willfully ignorant and) don’t think waterboarding is torture, clearly Trump is, at the very least, open to torture. Do I really need to explain why torture is wrong?
Stay tuned for part 2 and 3 of “Why you can’t vote for Trump.”
Extras:
I hope it’s obvious to my readers why we can’t just allow the state to define who gets to have a fair trial?
For me, these principles are rooted in my Christian beliefs including an understanding of the fallen state of man. Additionally, our whole concept of a ‘right to trial’ comes from English Common Law which, in turn is based on biblical standards for a trial found in Deuteronomy. (However, these principles were also shared by the ancient Romans, among others. The Apostle Paul was able to appeal to Rome for a trial. Wouldn’t it have been easier for the Jews to send him to Guantanamo?)
Here’s the wise take from Judge Andrew Napolitano:
What an autocratic weasel Senator Graham is!
I hope the Obama Administration will consider holding Ahmad Khan Rahami as an enemy combatant for intelligence gathering purposes.
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) September 19, 2016