I am appalled at the shortsightedness and absolute stupidity of our elected officials. 

I am deeply disturbed by the National Defense Authorization Act bill detainee provisions.  As a child of parents forced to flee Czechoslovakia after the communist’s won the elections, my mother (a student) was wanted on trumped up charges because she openly supported and campaigned for another party’s candidate. My father's family was persecuted for years - their crimes, being a newspaper editor, teacher, Catholic, etc. I let my elected officials know of my concerns.  Their responses make me question the sanity of the people that represent us.

First, the response of Republican Senator Mark Kirk (who succinctly outlines my concerns and his efforts to change the bill, but in the end says: “I voted to move the bill forward to a House-Senate conference, secure in knowing that the President will be able to strike the provisions I outlined on our rights while advancing the provisions I outlined just above”)   REALLY???   Are you kidding me?  This is what our hard earned tax dollars are paying you for??? (I have nothing against President Obama even though I do not agree with him on a lot of things or the good provisions in the bill but the detainee provisions are so dangerous that relying on someone else to deal with them is totally irresponsible). What is that quote by political philosopher Edmund Burke?  "All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing."  It means that evil is not neutral; if you and/or society stop resisting evil, it will continue to grow and spread. It is a call to arms for people to stop being complacent. Evil is not neutral and there can be no neutrality exercised toward it. Anyone who is not against it is implicitly in favor of it.:

 

Dear Ms. Rivera:

 

Thank you for contacting me regarding the detainee provisions in the Fiscal Year 2012 National Defense Authorization Act. I appreciate learning your thoughts on this important matter and welcome the opportunity to respond. 

 

Since enactment of the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, the role of the U.S. military in enforcing our domestic laws inside the United States has been very limited. During the week of November 28, the Senate considered S.1867, the Fiscal Year 2012 National Defense Authorization Act. This legislation includes sections specifically authorizing our military to arrest and detain anyone, including U.S. citizens inside America, who the President suspects may be connected to Al Qaeda or the Taliban.

 

In my view, American citizens inside this country have inalienable Constitutional rights that can only be removed by a civilian jury of your peers.  Others argue that America is a "battlefield" where the President should have the power to order our military to seize U.S. citizens in this country on a suspicion that they may back terror. 

 

Under the Declaration of Independence, Americans were promised rights against the State that were "inalienable", i.e. no future President or Congress could ever take them away.

 

Under our Constitution, your rights are defined:

 

-- You are promised that the trial of " all crimes, except in Cases of Impeachment, shall be by Jury ". 

 

-- You cannot " be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court ". 

 

-- Under the Fourth Amendment, you are "secure in [your] persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures ".  This right " shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause ". 

 

-- Under the Fifth Amendment, you cannot be " held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury ". 

 

-- Under the Sixth Amendment, you have a right to a "speedy trail ".  (trial - their typo)

 

-- Under the 14th Amendment, "no state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States ". 

 

In my view, the Senate bill violates your basic rights, guaranteed to you by our Constitution. Rather than forcing the state to prove your guilt by a unanimous vote of a jury "beyond the shadow of a doubt", this law allows you only one petition to a civilian court under a writ of habeas corpus, then allowing a military court to hold U.S. citizens by only a "preponderance of the evidence".

 

The last time Congress enacted a law allowing the indefinite detention of U.S. citizens was during the McCarthy era. Passed over President Truman's veto in 1950, the "Emergency Detention Act" authorized indefinite detention of Americans likely to commit espionage or sabotage.  Fortunately, this authority was never used and President Nixon signed the repeal of this law in 1971.  His repeal stated that "no citizen shall be imprisoned or otherwise detained by the United States except pursuant to an Act of Congress". 

 

The detention authority of the Senate bill would roll back decades of protections for U.S. citizens.  While the U.S. military has and should keep the power to detain or even attack Americans serving in foreign armies or terrorist organizations overseas (like Anwar al Awlaki who fought the U.S. from a terrorist base in Yemen), the U.S. military should not be authorized to arrest and detain U.S. citizens based on activity conducted in the United States.  That is the mission of the FBI, Department of Homeland Security, state and local law enforcement.  Americans who are arrested should never lose their constitutional rights until they are convicted in a civilian court by a jury of their peers. 

 

In the Senate, I voted for three amendments that strike or limit the scope of these provisions. Amendment 1107, introduced by Senator Mark Udall (D-CO), would have struck Sections 1031 and 1032, but it was defeated by a vote of 38 to 60.  I also supported Senator Diane Feinstein's (D-CA) amendment 1125 that would have eliminated the military's power to arrest and detain U.S. citizens inside America. This amendment was defeated by a vote of 45 to 55.  In the end, the Senate adopted another amendment offered by Senator Feinstein, stating that this bill does not expand authority to apprehend and detain U.S. citizens in the United States - a thin cover for our basic rights.

 

President Obama said that he would veto this legislation if it contains overly broad powers for the U.S. military to arrest U.S. citizens on U.S. soil.  He is right on this issue and I will support his veto on this question.

 

The remainder of this long piece of legislation, the National Defense Authorization Act, is beneficial for the country.  The bill provides a pay increase for Americans in uniform.  It fully funds special operations forces across the world.  It also helps clean up troubled and wasteful defense construction and procurement programs.  The bill also contains the Menendez-Kirk amendment, passed by a vote of 100-0, to impose crippling sanctions on the Central Bank of Iran in an effort to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.  Therefore, I voted to move the bill forward to a House-Senate conference, secure in knowing that the President will be able to strike the provisions I outlined on our rights while advancing the provisions I outlined just above.

 

Thank you for taking the time to contact me on this issue.  Please feel free to contact me at (312) 886-3506 or on line at http://kirk.senate.gov   if you have any questions or concerns before Congress or the federal government.   It is an honor to serve you in the Senate.

Very truly yours, 
 
Mark Kirk
U.S. Senate

Have they not learned anything from history or are they so naively arrogant as to believe in their own omnipotence?   

Our legislators seriously need to review history:

http://naomiwolf.org/2011/12/how-congress-is-signing-its-own-arrest-warrants-in-the-ndaa-citizen-arrest-bill/

My father called this years ago when he told me that he had to flee Czechoslovakia, but that his children and grandchildren will most likely be fleeing the United States of America.  I did not believe him when he said, “The writing is on the wall.  I’ve been through this before.”

Tomorrow: Democratic Senator Richard J. Durbin’s reply.

I am so sorry it has taken me this long to report on the success of the Jitka Vesel Fundraiser, but I wanted to make sure that I had all the information (including photos).

We raised $5,586.00 in all – fundraiser, pay pal donations, mailed checks and deposits directly to the bank.  We would like to thank everyone, who contributed in any way - money, time, prayers, etc., for their generosity.

With this money, Alex and his brother, Pavel, were able to travel with Jitka’s remains to the Czech Republic and lay her to rest in the family grave in her hometown cemetery.  It covered all the necessary permits and paperwork fees required by the Czech Republic as well as any transportation of human remains fees, Alex’s and Pavel’s airfares and some costs of the funeral in the Czech Republic.  The airfares were higher when they finally were able to travel with their sister’s remains because they needed to be present (as the victim’s family) in court here. 

Alex stayed in the Czech Republic longer to be with their father and to spend some time with his daughter, Karolinka.  The brothers were joined by Jitka’s partner, Jason, and his dad, as they had planned this trip with Jitka (they already had their tickets when she was murdered) to visit with her family - especially Karolinka who had been looking forward to seeing her aunt again. 

The bereaved family would like to thank everyone who had made this possible.  It provided much needed comfort during a very difficult time. 

An update on the court proceedings:

http://www.wlsam.com/Article.asp?id=2244269&spid

(I was under the impression that I had posted this after the fundraiser.  I apologize. Too many things going on the last few months.)

The benefit concert was physically tiring, emotionally draining but spiritually uplifting.  This was truly a community effort with people donating not just money but time, talents and resources. Everyone’s generosity was overwhelming.  And Jitka’s family and friends would like to thank everyone for their contributions.  It was an atmosphere of compassion, of remembering Jitka and celebrating her life.  We started out slow and mellow and ended by rocking it out.   

 

Benefit Concert 4/29/2011 

In Memory of Jitka Vesel 1974 – 2011

Jitka’s senseless death is a tragedy full of pain and loss for us that are left behind.

I have often struggled with the question, “Why would God let this happen?”  (As I am sure most of us have.)  At times I have thought that maybe it was predestination.  But it was not God nor predestination that caused this, but the free will of one young man who was (for whatever reasons) predisposed to carry out such a violent act. 

With our free will, we have the potential to choose which actions we will take.  Every choice has consequences.  Each action has a re-action.  Different choices create different consequences and the potential variations are seemingly endless. 

Jitka’s death is a lesson.  What will we choose – anger, fear or compassion, kindness?  Will we let this tragedy destroy us or will we be stronger, more compassionate, kinder? 

Jitka was a bright and shining light; we know what she would have chosen. I choose to be stronger, kinder, more compassionate.  I choose to honor her life and not her death.

I believe that by gathering today to celebrate who Jitka was, we are taking a sorrowful and abhorrent event and turning it into compassionate energy – positive and powerful. 

 Alice Vedral Rivera  4/29/2011

 

I posted this poem once before but this is how it feels to have someone you love stalked and senselessly murdered. Rest in peace Kimberley Ann Duncan (1968-1994) and now Jitka Vesel (1974-2011). 

© Alice Vedral Rivera - 2010 photo

 Sharpened Edge of Lust

 

The glaze of pain

As you choke on

The barbed wire

Feelings you do

Your best to swallow

 

Slices into

The innermost

Aorta of the   

Essential you

And tattered shreds of

 

Your heart waving

In defeat are

All that is left

To see through the

Bloodied window of

 

His sightless gaze

 

© Alice Vedral Rivera - 2007 poem 

 

Someone I knew, the sister of a friend was brutally murdered last week.  She was a beautiful soul, a kind shining light touching everyone with her infectious smile.  As her partner, Jason, said at the memorial service yesterday, “You didn’t have to know Jitka for very long to fall in love with her.”  The turnout at the wake and service showed how much she was loved.

Czech heritage museum honors murdered translator. 

 

To assist the family with the necessary obligations surrounding such a sudden tragic loss:

A Benefit Concert for Jitka Vesel

will be held on

Friday, April 29, 2011   at

Klas Restaurant

5734 W. Cermak Road

Cicero, IL 60804

There will be live music and food beginning at 7pm

Suggested starting donation at door - $10

For more information call 708-652-0795

For those who cannot attend but would like to donate to the Jitka Vesel Fund, an

account has been set up at PNC Bank for this purpose.   The Jitka Vesel Fund

account # 4644517329 - PNC Bank routing # 071921891.  This account will

remain open until May 16, 2011.

PayPal: donationforjitkavesel@gmail.com

Or you can send a check to The Jitka Vesel Fund c/o Klas Restaurant,

5734 W. Cermak Road, Cicero IL 60804.

On Friday, April 22^nd we mourned her death; on Friday, April 29^th we will celebrate her life.

 

 

A Cry in the Wilderness - Stand up and take a stand!

I am so sick of the 'us' vs. 'them' mentality and I say, by being complacent, we are complicit.  By not keeping informed, by not doing our research, by voting in the same people expecting different results, by tolerating the lying thievery, duplicity  and low ethical standards of our elected officials (and actually rewarding them), we are contributing to the fact that our government officials no longer have our best interests as their priority.

This is a comment posted on The Lookout by ‘Bobby’ on Friday, April 15, 2011 (originally written by Charly Reese, a retired syndicated columnist many years ago) and I believe it needs to be heard again:

Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and 

then campaign against them.

Have you ever wondered, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are 
against deficits, WHY do we have deficits?

Have you ever wondered, if all the politicians are against inflation 
and high taxes, WHY do we have inflation and high taxes?

You and I don't propose a federal budget. The President does.

You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on 
appropriations. The House of Representatives does.

You and I don't write the tax code, Congress does.

You and I don't set fiscal policy, Congress does.

You and I don't control monetary policy, the Federal Reserve Bank does.

One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one President, and nine Supreme 
Court justices equates to 545 human beings out of the 300 million are 
directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the 
domestic problems that plague this country.

I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that 
problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its 
Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally 
chartered, but private, central bank.

I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason. 
They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, 
a congressman, or a President to do one cotton-picking thing. I don't 
care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The 
politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the 
lobbyist promises, it is the legislator's responsibility to determine 
how he votes.

Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that 
what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con 
regardless of party.

What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive 
amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of a Speaker, 
who stood up and criticized the President for creating deficits. The 
President can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to 
accept it.

The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole 
responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and 
approving appropriations and taxes. Who is the speaker of the House? 
John Boehner. He is the leader of the majority party. He and fellow 
House members, not the President, can approve any budget they want. If 
the President vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree 
to.

It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million cannot

replace 545 people who stand convicted -- by present facts -- of 

incompetence and irresponsibility. I can't think of a single domestic 
problem that is not traceable directly to those 545 people. When you 
fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of the 
federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they 
want to exist.

If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it unfair.

If the budget is in the red, it's because they want it in the red.

If the Army & Marines are in Iraq and Afghanistan it's because they 
want them in Iraq and Afghanistan ....

If they do not receive social security but are on an elite retirement 
plan not available to the people, it's because they want it that way.

There are no insoluble government problems.

Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they 
hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and 
advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to 
regulate and from whom they can take this power. Above all, do not let 
them con you into the belief that there exists disembodied mystical 
forces like "the economy," "inflation," or "politics" that prevent them 
from doing what they take an oath to do.

Stand up and take a stand!

A Cry in the Wilderness – Enough of your games!

Let’s wade out of the garbage with which the media has flooded us!!!!

By being complacent, we are complicit!

We are tired of the political games being played by our elected officials.  We are tired of our elected officials putting their political parties before our best interests.  We have had enough of our elected officials selling out our interests in favor of big business in exchange for big $$$$$$ for their individual and collective coffers!

I say: ‘Off with their political heads’!!!   They should not only not be paid if they can’t represent us properly, but I vote that they should refund their salaries for the past few years for not doing their jobs! 

I am not alone in feeling this way.  Quit voting for them (on both sides of the aisle).  Vote for people without ties to the political machines and to big businesses.  Get rid of all lobbyists!  Raise a stink when the prevalent political machines use every dirty trick they can come up with to get a person voted on by us (the people) to withdraw so they can insert one of their own into the slot, re: Illinois.  Do some research and boycott the businesses that support these people.  They only understand 1 thing - $$$$.  Hit them where it hurts. 

Why do we keep voting for the same people and expecting a different result?????

We need to make our voices heard.  There are more of ‘us’ than there are of ‘them’.  Make a note of those officials that are blocking the newly voted in (without ties to political machines and big business) who are trying to do that which we voted them in to do. 

I say: ‘Shower them with love♥, but do not vote for them or their cronies in 2012 and do not buy products made or marketed by the companies that support them.’ 

Stand up and take a stand!  ♥

This is my 10¢ worth.  Feel free to add yours.

I wrote this yesterday and shared it on The Artist In You Blog: 

Power of the Chosen

 

We have awakened -

We are many 

 

We have chosen to

Be the chosen

 

Your darkness cannot

Obliterate

 

Our light - the light from

Our hearts will shine

 

Upon you with love

Dispelling the

 

Darkness of lies - the

Veil will drop

 

And truth shall prevail

We are many

 

We have awakened

We are all one

 

The truth shall prevail

We are all one

 

We have awakened

We are many

 

The powerful truth

We are many

 

We are all one

We have awakened

  

 © Alice Vedral Rivera 2011 ♥