Thom Hartmann: Left & Right Agree...No Indefinite Detention

Congressman Jeff Landry (R-LA, 3rd district) joins Thom Hartmann. When I was 13 years old, in 1964 - I remember going door-to-door with my dad campaigning for Barry Goldwater. But that was when the Republican Party was different - A LOT different than it is today. That was when the idea of the United States as a war machine that should bring democracy to the farthest reaches of the planet to shove our way of life on others down the barrel of a gun was unthinkable. And most relevant to today - that was a time when the thought of indefinitely detaining Americans who might be suspected of terrorism would have been unthinkable to Conservatives.And besides, that wasn't what Barry Goldwater - the Republican nominee for President in 1964 - believed in. He would have been outraged. This was a Republican Party that rallied behind Dwight Eisenhower - and elected him President of the United States twice in 1952 and 1956. Eisenhower ALSO did not believe in an all-powerful military-security complex - famously saying THIS in his "Cross of Iron" speech in 1953.

And today - we are firmly nailed to that cross of iron - with endless war being conducted around the planet at the behest of both Democrats and Republicans who've forgotten the history of their respective parties. Both Democrats and Republicans have also thrown their support behind indefinitely detaining American citizens - one of the most radical assaults on our Constitution since the PATRIOT Act was signed into law more than a decade ago. But now - as a sign that both parties have gone too far - voices within each are standing up to say that enough is enough. Democrats and Republicans from the House and Senate are now joing together to repeal the controversial indefinite detention provision that was signed into law last month by President Obama. One of those Republicans joins me now in the studio to talk about this effort.

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