VIOLATIONS OF OUR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS BY THE PENTAGON

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Mon, 19 Dec 2005 20:29:57 -0500

VIOLATIONS OF OUR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS BY THE PENTAGON

 

 

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Published on Monday, December 19, 2005

 

http://www.fayettevillenc.com/article?id=222483

 

 

 

Our View: What can't the Pentagon understand about Americans' right

`peaceably to assemble'?

 

 

 

Before the uniform, before the buzz-cut, there is one thing that

transforms a civilian into a soldier: an oath.

 

The oath-taker solemnly swears (or affirms) that he (or she) will

" support and defend " — what? The United States of America? The

American people? The flag? No. It's " the Constitution of the United

States, " the same one to which incoming commanders in chief pledge

their loyalty and support on Inauguration Day. The one with a First

Amendment in it.

 

If, as a consequence of exercising his First Amendment right to

assemble and speak, a civilian ends up on a Pentagon list of people

whose loyalty and patriotism are to be considered suspect, then

whoever prepared that list is disloyal and unpatriotic and a liar, to

boot — someone who, having desecrated his oath, forfeits all right to

be a soldier or member of the chain of command, and should in fact be

prosecuted and punished.

 

Participants in an antiwar rally held last March in Fayetteville's

Rowan Park might be surprised to learn that they were actually

participating in an " incident, " an activity that the Pentagon, which

has zero jurisdiction over civilians peacefully demonstrating on

municipal property, deemed suspicious. They, and participants in 42

other " suspicious incidents " — protests and demonstrations — are in a

Pentagon registry that reportedly has 1,500 entries.

 

The registry has, of course, an all-American name: TALON, for " Threat

and Local Observation Notice, " which a Defense Department spokesman

described as " the place where DOD initially stores `dots' which if

validated might later be connected before an attack occurs. " But don't

worry: If you become a " dot, " the military will stick its nose into

your affairs for only 90 days unless you " validate " by doing something

sinister — like attending another " incident. "

 

The line between spying and observing is not " fine, " as one apologist

alleged. And even the presence of an actual terror suspect would not

turn everyone else at a rally into " fair game " for Pentagon agents who

view freedom of assembly, redress of grievances, freedom of speech and

freedom of association as evidence of poor citizenship, and the First

Amendment as a petty nuisance to be swept aside for 90 days or so in

order to satisfy someone's curiosity. What individual civilians do in

public assemblies is rarely police business, except for crowd and

traffic control. And it is almost never any of the Pentagon's business.

 

This is no " slippery slope. " This is the quicksand that lies at the

bottom. Turn back.