The aftermath of the tragic Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida has left America in the heat of a heavy political battle. While everyone agrees that the violence needs to stop, both sides of the political spectrum disagree how. The left predictably has resorted to pushing their gun control agenda, while the right remains firm on the threat of radical Islam . Democrats rip Republicans for wanting to do nothing but pray and mourn, while Republicans rip the other side for politcking and exploiting tragedies.
The Democratic Party has taken a new stand, however. In past crises, Democrats have called for gun control regardless of the circumstances or if it actually could have helped prevent a shooting. It’s just something worth exploiting for political gain. But now Democrats have taken aim at the Fifth Amendment.
House Democrats staged a sit-in on the House chamber floors demanding that due process be eliminated. Lexington, Kentucky Mayor Jim Gray, who is running against Senator Rand Paul for United States Senate, criticized his incumbent opponent for standing firm on the integrity of the Fifth Amendment. Mayor Gray also wrote an op-ed voicing his concerns about the Constitution when attacking Senator Paul.
The implication time and time again by Democrats is that if you’re a suspected terrorist, you actually are a terrorist. Essentially, you’re guilty until proven innocent.
Martin Luther King Jr? Terrorist, according to Democrats. Add 8-year-old cub scouts to the list, too
McClintock is now a Republican Congressman from California, but at the time of the incident, he was a well-known State Senator. McClintock’s crime was being subject to an incompetent government that mixes up names and treats innocent people like criminals because of simple mistakes. The then-State Senator was preparing for a routine flight from Sacramento to Santa Barbara, or at least he was, until the government informed him he would be treated like a terrorist because unchecked government agents said so.
Democrats have little concern for little boys getting violated publicly at the airport, civil rights activists being wrongfully accused by government bureaucracy, or known politicians being mislabeled as threats. They take a page straight out of the Bush Administration playbook in implying that due process and the Bill of Rights hurts national security.
Congressman McClintock noted that he tried to find out details about the terrorist list he was on, but government was uncooperative. The details as to why he was on the list or the criteria used to determine inclusion were confidential. When he then asked how he could get off the list, he was told he couldn’t.
Eventually with months worth of work by the California Senate, Congressman McClintock found more details and then had his name cleared. Federal officials had indicated that he was on the list because the government confused him with a known terrorist with the Irish Republican Army. How did the federal government confuse a California State Senator with a member of the Irish Republican Army? What kind of space cadets are being hired to “keep this country safe”?
The case of Congressman McClintock is another point as to why due process does exist and why it’s important. Without it, people can be mistreated and mislabeled simply because unchecked government bureaucracies say so. Is that how a free country should operate?
