Not with a bang but a whimper: the death of the Fifth Amendment

With little fanfare, and still less notice, on Tuesday, July 17, 2007, George W. Bush issued an "Executive Order: Blocking Property of Certain Persons Who Threaten Stabilization Efforts in Iraq," which does not erode, but instead totally and willfully contravenes the prohibition found in the Fifth Amendment to the US Constitution against depriving any person (meaning both US and non-US citizens) of "life, liberty, or property, without due process of law."

A penny for the Old Guy...

This is the way the world ends This is the way the world ends This is the way the world ends Not with a bang but a whimper.

- from T. S. Eliot, The Hollow Men

With little fanfare, and still less notice, on Tuesday, July 17, 2007, George W. Bush issued an "Executive Order: Blocking Property of Certain Persons Who Threaten Stabilization Efforts in Iraq," which does not erode, but instead totally and willfully contravenes the prohibition found in the Fifth Amendment to the US Constitution against depriving any person (meaning both US and non-US citizens) of "life, liberty, or property, without due process of law."

Combined with a recent dismissal of outed CIA agent Valerie Plame's lawsuit against Dick Cheney and others by Judge John Bates, who basically ruled that she was unable to sue because violating federal law was a power reserved by the executive branch, it establishes that we do not have a democracy, not even a republic, but an unaccountable and out of control monarchy.

The issue at hand comes from parts of the executive order, which allow seizure of assets from any person or entity seen to undermine the stability of the current Iraqi government, or imprisonment of that person.

What this means: if you make a donation to an Iraqi labor union that goes on strike and impairs the ability of the Iraqi government to function, your assets could legallly be seized and you could be imprisoned; if a lawyer represents a client who is the subject of such enforcement of this order, that lawyer's property could seized and that lawyer imprisoned; conceivably, if Jon Stewart makes a joke about the Iraq occupation so funny that it significantly undermines the Iraqi government's standing in the world, he could have his assets seized and be imprisoned.

Essentially, if you oppose the war, donate to antiwar groups, call for a withdrawal or oppose the Bush administration, by the language in this executive order the Treasury Department could find that you have thereby undermined the Iraqi government and your assets are liable to seizure, and yourself to imprisonment for evading or opposing the implementation of this executive order.

It reads (emphasis mine):

"I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, find that, due to the unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States posed by acts of violence threatening the peace and stability of Iraq and undermining efforts to promote economic reconstruction and political reform in Iraq and to provide humanitarian assistance to the Iraqi people, it is in the interests of the United States to take additional steps with respect to the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13303 of May 22, 2003, and expanded in Executive Order 13315 of August 28, 2003, and relied upon for additional steps taken in Executive Order 13350 of July 29, 2004, and Executive Order 13364 of November 29, 2004. I hereby order:

Section 1. (a) Except to the extent provided in section 203(b)(1), (3), and (4) of IEEPA (50 U.S.C. 1702(b)(1), (3), and (4)), or in regulations, orders, directives, or licenses that may be issued pursuant to this order, and notwithstanding any contract entered into or any license or permit granted prior to the date of this order, all property and interests in property of the following persons, that are in the United States, that hereafter come within the United States, or that are or hereafter come within the possession or control of United States persons, are blocked and may not be transferred, paid, exported, withdrawn, or otherwise dealt in: any person determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense,

(i) to have committed, or to pose a significant risk of committing, an act or acts of violence that have the purpose or effect of:

(A) threatening the peace or stability of Iraq or the Government of Iraq; or

(B) undermining efforts to promote economic reconstruction and political reform in Iraq or to provide humanitarian assistance to the Iraqi people;

(ii) to have materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, logistical, or technical support for, or goods or services in support of, such an act or acts of violence or any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order; or

(iii) to be owned or controlled by, or to have acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order.

(b) The prohibitions in subsection (a) of this section include, but are not limited to, (i) the making of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services by, to, or for the benefit of any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order, and (ii) the receipt of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services from any such person.

Sec. 2. (a) Any transaction by a United States person or within the United States that evades or avoids, has the purpose of evading or avoiding, or attempts to violate any of the prohibitions set forth in this order is prohibited.

(b) Any conspiracy formed to violate any of the prohibitions set forth in this order is prohibited.

Sec. 3. For purposes of this order:

(a) the term "person" means an individual or entity;

(b) the term "entity" means a partnership, association, trust, joint venture, corporation, group, subgroup, or other organization; and

(c) the term "United States person" means any United States citizen, permanent resident alien, entity organized under the laws of the United States or any jurisdiction within the United States (including foreign branches), or any person in the United States.

Sec. 4. I hereby determine that the making of donations of the type specified in section 203(b)(2) of IEEPA (50 U.S.C. 1702(b)(2)) by, to, or for the benefit of, any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order would seriously impair my ability to deal with the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13303 and expanded in Executive Order 13315, and I hereby prohibit such donations as provided by section 1 of this order.

Sec. 5. For those persons whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order who might have a constitutional presence in the United States, I find that, because of the ability to transfer funds or other assets instantaneously, prior notice to such persons of measures to be taken pursuant to this order would render these measures ineffectual. I therefore determine that for these measures to be effective in addressing the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13303 and expanded in Executive Order 13315, there need be no prior notice of a listing or determination made pursuant to section 1(a) of this order.

Sec. 6. The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense, is hereby authorized to take such actions, including the promulgation of rules and regulations, and to employ all powers granted to the President by IEEPA as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this order. The Secretary of the Treasury may redelegate any of these functions to other officers and agencies of the United States Government, consistent with applicable law. All agencies of the United States Government are hereby directed to take all appropriate measures within their authority to carry out the provisions of this order and, where appropriate, to advise the Secretary of the Treasury in a timely manner of the measures taken.

Sec. 7. Nothing in this order is intended to affect the continued effectiveness of any rules, regulations, orders, licenses, or other forms of administrative action issued, taken, or continued in effect heretofore or hereafter under 31 C.F.R. chapter V, except as expressly terminated, modified, or suspended by or pursuant to this order.

Sec. 8. This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right, benefit, or privilege, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, instrumentalities, or entities, its officers or employees, or any other person.

GEORGE W. BUSH

THE WHITE HOUSE,

July 17, 2007. "

Other issues come up. The executive order mentions Executive Order 13303, which declared a State of Emergency because of the ongoing War in Iraq. However, according to the National Emergencies Act, also cited in this executive order, such declarations of National Emergency have a fixed time limit of two years and must be reauthorized by Congress at the end of such a period. Assuming the rubber stamp Republican Congress then in power reauthorized the State of Emergency in 2005, we would now be near the tail end of that two year period once again. Hence the timing.

Second, it empowers the Treasury Department to use any law enforcement to enforce this order. Meaning, in any case, local, state or federal, where this Executive Order might apply, local or state police may themselves apply the provisions of the order by seizing property or imprisoning those who evade or avoid the enforcement of this order.

Finally, whether or not this in fact is applied in even the most obscure and tenuous of circumstances is not the point; legally, this executive order allows such interpretations in direct violation of the Bill of Rights.

Given the extreme negligence of the Democratic Congress to move forward with impeachment proceedings, there is virtually no hope that any checks and balances or actions to make this administration accountable to the Constitution will emerge from within the government. So what's it going to take?

The Fifth Amendment may be dead, but the Second Amendment is alive and well. The way things are right now, it would take 15,000 people with guns surrounding the White House to retake this country. Prepare yourselves.

"No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation."

Between the idea
And the reality
Between the motion
And the act
Falls the Shadow...

Between the conception
And the creation
Between the emotion
And the response
Falls the Shadow...

Between the desire
And the spasm
Between the potency
And the existence
Between the essence
And the descent
Falls the Shadow...