By
Michael LeMieux
January 4, 2012
NewsWithViews.com
Directly
on the heels of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), that
arguably makes US Citizens detainable by the military, comes the coup
de grace in the form of a new bill called the “Enemy
Expatriation Act.”
But
before I get into this bill let me preface that with a few observations.
First,
our nation was founded upon the principle of individual liberty and
self-determination. A belief that all men were created equal and endowed
by our creator with certain unalienable rights imbued within each of
us at the time of our birth. We did not, and do not, derive our rights
from government and therefore cannot legally have them taken from us
by that government.
Second,
as our Declaration of Independence states, the purpose of government
is to secure the rights of its citizens, and as important, they derive
their powers from the consent of the people. I ask you to think upon
the following question in light of the previous statement: If the government
derives its power from the people, how can the government wield power
that the people do not have? If the people do not have such a power
then the government, on their behalf, cannot likewise yield such power.
Third,
the federal government was created by consent and compact, a Constitution.
Within that Constitution the branches of government were laid out, defined,
and scope assigned. Each branch of government was given certain powers
to act for the betterment of the nation as representatives of a collective
set of nation states that recognized the need for a single voice in
foreign matters and as an arbiter between the states to ensure regular
trade and commerce between the states and settle disputes.
To
ensure that the federal government did not go further than the prescribed
powers they enumerated the legislative powers of the government to a
few distinct areas (Article 1, Section 8). But they went a step further,
to emphasize the point to the federal government and to put to rest
some resistance within the states, that federal government would not
stay confined, they added the Tenth Amendment stating: “The
powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, not prohibited
by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to
the people.”
Now
I ask of you; with the enormity of our federal government, with its
massive spending, size, and laws that reaches into every aspect of every
citizen’s life, is our government today one of limited power?
I think the answer is a blatant no.
So
how does a government, such as ours, go from limited power that literally
had no direct impact on the lives of the citizens of the states to one
of tyrannical proportions? You cannot make improvements to your own
property without permission and paying a tribute. You have the flow
of toilets and shower heads dictated to you on what you can and cannot
have. We have been using incandescent light bulbs for years but now
the government is forcing you to use highly toxic, mercury filled, bulbs
(for our own good). And the list of expansive government powers is as
long as the list of government agencies and sub-agencies within the
federal government. But it did not happen overnight.
We
have heard from those of this administration that they do not want crises
to go to waste. This is not a new concept – every major governmental
expansion has been preceded by one crises or another, manufactured or
real, it does not matter. Politicians know that they can take advantage
of the public, using their positions of power, during times of national
crises and pass laws they know they would not be able to do otherwise.
Inch
by inch, nudge by nudge, taking more and more power with each passing
legislative session until one day we will (have) awake to find ourselves
living under an unconstitutional tyrannical government. I do not say
this lightly, I have spent most of my adult life in the service of my
country and have offered up my life if need be, but I am abhorred by
what I have seen her become.
This
brings me to this newest legislation by “our representatives”
in Congress. This is Senate
bill S. 1698, entitled as the “Enemy Expatriation Act.”
This bill is two pages, a novelty in the age of 1,000+ page bills, and
states (relevant parts):
SEC. 2. LOSS
OF NATIONALITY.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section
349 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1481) is amended—
(1) in subsection (a)—
(A) in each of paragraphs (1) through (6), by striking ‘‘or’’
at the end;
(B) in paragraph (7), by striking the period at the end and inserting
‘‘; or’’; and
(C) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘(8) engaging
in, or purposefully and materially supporting, hostilities against
the United States.’’; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(c) For purposes of this section, the term ‘hostilities’
means any conflict subject to the laws of war.’’
(b) TECHNICAL
AMENDMENT.—Section 351(a) of the Immigration and Nationality
Act (8 U.S.C. 1483(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘(6) and
(7)’’ and inserting ‘‘(6), (7), and (8)."
---------------
End of Bill
For
those not familiar with legislative bills there may not be anything
that stands out from the above bill wording - and that is by design.
By just reading the words above, under the title of “Immigration
and Nationality Act”, we see that this affects those people who
are “engaging in, or purposefully and materially supporting, hostilities
against the United States.”
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One
would reasonably conclude that what they are talking about would be
those terrorist spies who come to America and gain citizenship and use
that access to attack us, right? I’m sure that is part of the
reasoning but who else is caught up in this legislation and would be
affected by it?
Well
if we look at the underlying US Code that it is modifying we see that
the “who” this is targeting is (8
U.S.C. 1481): “(a) A person who is a
national of the United States whether by birth or naturalization,
shall lose his nationality by voluntarily performing any of the following
acts with the intention of relinquishing United States nationality—“(Emphasis
added)
Just
as the wording was placed in the NDAA to include US Citizens here too
you have to follow the crumbs of obfuscated law back to the source.
And if you have any doubt that a national, born or naturalized, is a
“Citizen of the United States;” Black’s Law Dictionary,
Version 7 gives the generic and specific definitions. The common term
national means simply “a member of a nation.” Then
under the specific “national of the United States,” and
this is who our laws are written for, it states “A citizen
of the United States or a noncitizen who owes permanent allegiance to
the United States… Also termed U.S. national; U.S. citizen.”
In the eyes of the government the terms are synonymous.
This
law could have been written to be very specific by stating that any
naturalized citizen engaged in these activities would fall under this
law, but they did not. Are they inept, stupid, morons? Some may think
so; I think they knew exactly who they were targeting.
We
have seen and heard from the Department of Homeland Security of persons
they consider a threat to national security and to the government of
the United States. They are returning combat veterans who would have
the skill of arms and combat, single issue voters such as abortion,
gun rights, 10th Amendment, etc., people with Ron Paul bumper stickers
or gun rights bumper stickers, or people who believe in the Constitution.
These people have been portrayed by the DHS, and the FBI as potential
terrorists.
Let
me pose a hypothetical scenario to you: let’s say that government
X over many decades or even centuries has slowly become oppressive and
tyrannical toward its own people and was operating outside of the lawful
powers it was given by those people. After years of voting, replacing
representatives, and using the governmental systems of change the government
still gets worse and worse. One day a few sporadic individuals across
the nation decided to try and stop this encroachment by whatever means
necessary. How would that tyrannical government portray those individuals?
As a terrorist? As a belligerent? Would they try and strip them of their
citizenship so they would not have the protections of law and can be
dealt with as enemy of the government – though they are clearly
not enemies of the people, for they are of the people.
This
is exactly what they are trying to do with this legislation. But what
is even more insidious is that they state that because you strive to
protect your nation against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that
because you disagree with the government (not the Constitution) that
you, by your actions have committed an “act of expatriation…
[and] shall be presumed to have done so voluntarily.”
We
have already seen the expansion of who the government considers a terrorist
threat, which by the way include some retired generals and high ranking
military personnel. Now they can just nudge the law just a little bit
and have American citizens deemed enemies of the federal government,
strip them of their citizenship and treat them as they see fit.
If
at any time in our history we needed men and women to stand for what
is right, not just what is easy, and to obey your oath to the Constitution
of the United States, IT IS NOW! You did not swear to support a government,
a general, a President, or any other person of any position, you swore
and oath to Support and Defend the Constitution. Not a piece of paper
but the ideals of Liberty and Freedom, the last vestige of true freedom
upon the face of this earth.
Now
is the time to tell Washington they are wrong, they have overstepped
their Constitutional authority and must stand down.
How
do we do this? Through our state governments! We must phone, visit,
email, write letters, create groups of concerned citizens and demand
that they stop this continual infringement on the state and the people’s
powers and pass laws that will make unconstitutional federal laws enacted
within their boundaries a crime to enforce and arrest any federal agent
trying to do so in your state.
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The
federal government has enjoyed a long train of usurpation of powers
through legislative trickery such as what we have seen over the past
50 years, from both sides of the isle. It is not a Republican or Democrat
issue it is a Liberty and Tyranny issue. If we do not fight this now
through the peaceful channels left for us we will undoubtedly fight
them in the most horrific way. I have seen the horror of battle first
hand and we do not want this on our shores, but there is a groundswell
that sees too much of history being repeated here that will lead to
nothing good if we do not stop this now and return to the rule of law
and the basis of the that law is the Constitution.
Michael
LeMieux was born in Midwest City, Oklahoma in 1956 and graduated from
Weber State University in Utah with a degree in Computer Science. He
served in both the US Navy and US Army (Active duty and National Guard)
and trained in multiple intelligence disciplines and was a qualified
paratrooper. He served with the 19th Special Forces Group, while in
the National Guard, as a Special Forces tactical intelligence team member.
He served tours to Kuwait and Afghanistan where he received the Purple
Heart for injuries received in combat.
Mr. LeMieux left military duty at the end of 2005 after being medically
discharged with over 19 years of combined military experience. He currently
works as an intelligence contractor to the US government.
Michael
is a strict constitutionalist who believes in interpreting the constitution
by the original intent of the founding fathers. His research has led
him to the conclusion that the republic founded by the Constitution
is no longer honored by our government. That those who rule America
today are doing so with the interest of the federal government in mind
and not the Citizens. Michael believes that all three branches of government
have strayed far from the checks and balances built into the Constitution
and they have failed the American people. A clear example is the Second
Amendment, which the Supreme Court and the founders have all said was
an individual right and could not be "infringed" upon, now
has more than 20,000 state and federal laws regulating every aspect
of the individuals right, a definite infringement. He has traveled around
the world living in 14 States of the Union including Hawaii, and visited
(for various lengths of time) in Spain, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Korea,
Scotland, Pakistan, Mauritius, Somalia, Diego Garcia, Australia, Philippines,
England, Italy, Germany, and Puerto Rico.
Michael
now lives in Nebraska with his wife, two of his three children, Mother-in-Law
and grandchild. His hobbies include shooting, wood-working, writing,
amateur inventor and scuba diving when he can find the time.
The federal government
has enjoyed a long train of usurpation of powers through legislative trickery
such as what we have seen over the past 50 years, from both sides of the
isle. It is not a Republican or Democrat issue it is a Liberty and Tyranny
issue.