My Friday night with Richard Perle

Saturday, May 8, 2010 15:09 ET
My Friday night with Richard Perle

The neocon Iraq war flack says terror suspects should lose their citizenship. No surprise: he gets his facts wrong
By Joan Walsh There's still no video available, but while normal people were enjoying their Friday night, I spent part of mine debating Richard Perle, the neocon architect of the Iraq war, also known as the "Prince of Darkness," about Sen. Joe Lieberman's unconstitutional bill to strip terror suspects of their U.S. citizenship. The transcript is below.

I got to make my key points: Not only is it unconstitutional, it's also really dumb. Since even Lieberman admits the accused would have to have a chance to dispute the charges before losing his or her citizenship, the law would impede terror investigations, not expedite them. Eric Holder and his lawyers would be in court right now, trying to prove Faisal Shazhad should be expatriated, rather than figuring out who else might be involved in the Times Square bombing and how to make sure related attacks aren't planned. Nothing in this legislation would make the U.S. safer.

Now, I can't imagine any attorney general, except maybe Alberto Gonzales, putting Lieberman's scapegoating ahead of doing what they should to keep the nation safe. What Lieberman and his cosponsor Scott Brown are doing is demagoguery.

But it's also true that the bill as written is so broad it wouldn't only apply to someone arrested for suspicion of a terrorist act; it includes anyone who gives "material support" to terrorists, which could include contributing money to a group that may eventually support, or have supported, something the U.S. construes as terrorism. Perle confirms that interpretation in the interview, and supports it.

More:
http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/joan_walsh/politics/2010/05/08/my_debate_with_richard_perle/

Only a king can keep us safe...but we will not call him a king, because that would be unconstitutional, but we want that power.

Only an Emperor can "keep us safe", and he's gotta have a free hand, and we just have to trust him no matter what he botches or how bad he botches it.