Kerry Like A Beacon On The Abuse of Arab Civil Rights

Many of the victims of the Bush Administration’s civil liberties violations are of Arab-descent – but our Constitution is color-blind. An assault on one person’s rights is an assault on this nation’s fabric and on all our rights. The Americans threatened when basic rights become treated as disposable are not just those from the Mid East. They’re Americans from the Midwest and all over our country.

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Many of this Administration’s abuses of civil liberties have nothing to do with the Patriot Act. That’s especially true of the hundreds of people that have been detained without explanation and without real cause. John Ashcroft’s Justice Department has been so arrogant and reckless in detaining people that even the Department’s Inspector General has cried foul. 762 people – Arabs and Muslims – were detained, sometimes for many months, regardless of the evidence. Most were never charged with a real crime. Not one was charged in relation to the terrorism probe. But the average wait for the FBI to clear a detainee for deportation was 80 days, with some waiting as long as eight months. In numerous cases, people not accused of any crime were locked down 23 hours a day, sometimes in solitary confinement, and shackled when outside their cells.

Nacer Fathi Mustafa and his father, American citizens of Palestinian descent, were stopped by immigration agents in Houston on their way back home from a business trip to Mexico. They were arrested and charged with altering their passports. The authorities finally decided that there, in fact, was nothing wrong with their passports. After they had been held in a Texas jail for 67 days. John Ashcroft calls the policy “hold until cleared.” That’s just a fancy way of saying “guilty until proven innocent.” It is at odds with everything America’s justice system should be about – and it is wrong.

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The story of America is the story of people like Fawaz Ismail. His Palestinian parents came to America from Jordan when he was nine years old. Twenty-five years ago, he began selling American flags from the back of his Volkswagen bus because he loved what the flag stood for. Today, he is the largest retailer of flags in America.

After September 11th, people lined up for half a mile outside his stores. He sold half a million flags in a week and donated a portion of the earnings to the families of the victims.

But a few days after the attack, he was leaving a restaurant on a Saturday afternoon when sirens began to scream. The police officer told him it was just a routine check. But he knew that the only reason he was pulled over was because of his ethnicity. When law enforcement wastes resources on those who have done nothing wrong – it makes it harder to track down those who are truly dangerous.

America deserves leaders that are more concerned with prosecuting the War on Terror, than persecuting those who disagree with them or those of a certain ethnic background. No one will be stronger in defending this nation than I, but we are better than secret and indefinite detentions. We are better than the physical abuse of prisoners who don’t have the slightest connection to terrorism. And there is a better way to security than racial or religious or ethnic profiling.

America deserves more from its leaders. They deserve leadership equal to the courage Americans show everyday. That courage can change this country and transform the world. It can give us a government that values democracy and preserves our rights. It can protect our country and our liberties. It can end the era of John Ashcroft and renew our faith in the Constitution. Fawaz Ismail’s flags fly on posts all over America. Let’s join together to make sure that flag represents the best of us – and that it represents all of us. Thank you.

http://www.johnkerry.com/pressroom/speeches/spc_2003_1201.html

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:-)

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Words are cheap when not followed by action, particularly from such a senior Senator.

Kerry speaks against Patriot Act legislation

By Matt Neznanski, Staff Writer December 02, 2003

Sen. John Kerry, speaking to hundreds of supporters at Iowa State University Monday night, said as president he would end the "John Ashcroft era."      

Kerry said the attorney general had used the Patriot Act legislation to turn on Americans' rights.

"I know one thing this country doesn't need is an attorney general who spies on Americans," he said.

Kerry, a Democrat from Massachusetts, cited a report by the Justice Department's inspector general that said 762 people of Arab and Muslim descent have been detained for months without being charged with any offense.

CONTINUED...

http://www.amestrib.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=10602491&BRD=2035&PAG=461&dept_id=238101&rfi=6

And Dr Funkenstein, you're a smart guy so why did you post that article as if there WERE evidence of a Kerry led repeal attempt of the Patriot Act?

That was mucho dishonest.

Everyone else supports repealing the worst parts of the Act, and yes, Kerry did do that.

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:kick:

:hi:

:kick:

n/t

I think most of them know that Kerry has the best and most comprehensive overall policies but they've cast their lot with the guy who coopted their angry internet speak. They feel flattered that someone changed most of his positions to sound as angry as them even if his record shows he never governed that way.

tapping into the anger has served one candidate very well but what some fail to realize is the anger stance will only play so far.
Perhaps, you may know the answer to this question. Bush* has been selectively targeting certain groups for possible votes, with the push for tort reforms he has made the MD's and the insurance industry happy and through tax relief incentives he has pulled support from small business owners, what percentage of the population are these groups? I believe the are just the type of groups who will get out and vote on election day.

Clinton said this election will play out on the field of national security and all its issues. Anyone who disbelieves that is fooling themselves.

People are being willfully negligent about this and assuming that Dems will be running against a failed Bush. However, Bush has racked up some small victories in enough areas to keep the PERCEPTION that his is a successful presidency and he has most of the media to push that perception on top of the money the RNC will pour into ads.

Who will lead the Dems? The guy with shifting policies and a draft deferment and sealed records?

But again we have the vigilant supporters of other candidates bashing the issue. Unbelievable! Perhaps they do not know anyone who has been kicked off a plane or had their bags riffled through everytime they fly! I suppose they would rather stand with the repubs and view this discrimination as a necessary evil.
If any of our citizens' civil liberties are abuse this should be an outrage to all Democrats and a call to unite to end the egregious practice.

he's got to turn up the foghorn.

:kick:

he knows the issues concerning the patriot act well. and how to deal with them.

He votes for the patriot act and votes for the IWR, two pieces of legislation that have done more to facilitate the abuse of Arab Americans, and Arab civilians in the mid-east than anything to pass through the congress since Japanese internment camps.

Now after he did all this damage, he wants credit for being a champion of arab civil rights?

Kerry reminds me of one of those parents who poisons their kid, just so they can take care of them while they’re sick.

I’d have a lot more respect for Kerry drawing attention to this mess, were it not a mess he helped create.

Ashcroft and Bush namely.

Or they can do nothing. Why Kerry apologists are trying to excuse Kerry in all this mess is beyond reason and understanding.

How people can overlook the role of Bush and Saddam in this mess is beyond any rational exercise.

And this, if you think about it, flies right in the face of what it means to be a public servant. A vexing question! Would you, or would you not, stand up and fight something you knew was not good for this nation, it's constitution or it's people, even if it meant possibly losing your seat?

Some would. Kucinich did, and a few brave others. Kerry did not.

that Kerry worked on with Clinton. Kerry was being consistent in wanting Saddam dealt with. YOU refuse to even acknowledge it because it doesn't fit your preconceived point of attack.

attention and sympathy the parent gets rather than the care of the child. Whatever!

with the facts!! Munchausen sounds great, so they use it.

This one seems to like the use of silly analogies when going after Kerry. The other day we had a bit of scatology in play.

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Sorry for the misunderstanding

actually I'm quite snippy today. x( My bad!

duhduhduhduhduhduhduhduh

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pfftt... damn greenies... tell Nader to stay home

Go figure.

Dean's comments on civil liberties cause alarm

Dean said Wednesday he believed that the attacks and their aftermath would “require a re-evaluation of the importance of some of our specific civil liberties. I think there are going to be debates about what can be said where, what can be printed where, what kind of freedom of movement people have and whether it's OK for a policeman to ask for your ID just because you're walking down the street.”

Dean said he had not taken a position on these questions. Asked whether he meant that specific rights described in the Bill of Rights — the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution — would have to be trimmed, the governor said:

“I haven't gotten that far yet. I think that's unlikely, but I frankly haven't gotten that far. Again, I think that's a debate that we will have.”

http://rutlandherald.nybor.com/News/Story/33681.html

Does that sound like someone about to shoot down the Patriot Act a few days later?