This Space for Rent

droit de seigneur

I must have been busy this week, because I missed one of the affronts to liberty that came oozing out of Mount Doom. Sure, I noticed the "we're above the law" statement, but I completely missed the other one.

What other one?

Well, apparently it's not enough that the B*sh junta claims the right to kidnap, torture, and murder people without restraint, and it's not enough that the B*sh junta claims the right to print "GET OUT OF JAIL FREE" cards without restraint, but now the Coward in Chief wants to claim the right to seize the assets of any US resident without so much as a by-your-leave.

The money quote of this affront to liberty is:

... all property and interests in property of the following persons, that are in the United States, that hereafter come within the United States, or that are or hereafter come within the possession or control of United States persons, are blocked and may not be transferred, paid, exported, withdrawn, or otherwise dealt in: any person determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense,

Note the conspicuous absence of the words "Trial" or "Jury"; The B*sh junta says that it's their decision and their decision alone.

  • (i) to have committed, or to pose a significant risk of committing, an act or acts of violence that have the purpose or effect of:
    • (A) threatening the peace or stability of Iraq or the Government of Iraq; or
    • (B) undermining efforts to promote economic reconstruction and political reform in Iraq or to provide humanitarian assistance to the Iraqi people;

Leaving aside the question of how the nazgul can write the phrase "humanitarian assistance" without being immediately struck down by G-d, note that this says that if Mount Doom thinks you might cause acts of violence (and remember that this is a dictatorship that routinely drags people off the street for what appears to be nothing more than recreational torture) they can steal your property. But it gets better! It's not just if they think you're a "terrorist", oh no...

  • (ii) to have materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, logistical, or technical support for, or goods or services in support of, such an act or acts of violence or any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order; or
  • (iii) to be owned or controlled by, or to have acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order.

If you worked for someone the B*sh junta claims to be a terrorist, Mount Doom claims the right to rob you. If you employed someone the B*sh junta claims to be a terrorist, Mount Doom claims the right to rob you. If you contribute to a charity that the B*sh junta claims to be terrorists, Mount Doom claims the right to take all of your possessions.

And if a soup kitchen is foolish enough to feed this new "terrorist" or "terrorist sympathiser", guess what?

  • (b) The prohibitions in subsection (a) of this section include, but are not limited to, (i) the making of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services by, to, or for the benefit of any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order, and (ii) the receipt of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services from any such person.

And, if this isn't evil enough, the son of a bitch mentions it again:

...the making of donations of the type specified in section 203(b)(2) of IEEPA (50 U.S.C. 1702(b)(2)) by, to, or for the benefit of, any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order would seriously impair my ability to deal with the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13303 and expanded in Executive Order 13315, and I hereby prohibit such donations as provided by section 1 of this order.

And, for that extra touch of evil, don't forget that the bastard attempts to claim the right to sweep in at night and seize your assets without warning:

...Order 13303 and expanded in Executive Order 13315, there need be no prior notice of a listing or determination made pursuant to section 1(a) of this order.

And don't forget that to the B*sh junta, dissent is terrorism.

Nobody in the United States has any rights anymore. Not a single one. Your property, your life, the property and life of your friends and family? It does not belong to you, it belongs to the self-styled G-d King who heads the B*sh junta.