Is Brandon Raub a Political Prisoner of the Obama Administration?

US Daily Review ^ | 8/22/12 | Staff

[lward99]

Is Brandon Raub a political prisoner of the Obama Administration? That is the impression you receive if you talk to members of an organization called Special Operations Speaks. In a press release the group states, “Brandon Raub, a 26-year-old former Marine who completed tours of Iraq and Afghanistan and lives in Chesterfield, Va., was recently arrested and forcibly committed to a psychiatric facility for mental evaluation by a court based solely on controversial Facebook postings, which took the form of song lyrics, political messages and virtual card games.”

[dmz]

Exactly as you say, what we see in the media is not necessarily the whole story, and as such I’m not yet prepared to subscribe to the political prisoner theories.

I will have no problem doing so if warranted, but if it’s OK, I’ll take a bit more of a wait and see position.

[Tzimisce]

Here’s his wall.

He’s a 9-11 truther that believes world leaders own a castle in Colorado where they murder and children.

https://www.facebook.com/brandon.raub?sk=wall

[dmz]

I’m sure you didn’t commit Mom to the psych ward for posting song lyrics on her facebook page. This is a whole different scenario.

<><><<<><><

Are you that certain that you have all of the facts, heck, even all of the information that was made available to the judge who extended the eval to 30 days?

I’m not at all sure, so charges of totalitarian methods of squashing dissent seem a bit premature.

[wideawake]

He was hauled away BEFORE he went before a judge.

Everyone who is ever taken into custody is taken into custody first and put before a judge later. That's simple logistics.

Geez, man. Do you argue just for the sake of argueing?

I see. If I respond to you, I am simply arguing for argument's sake.

When you respond to me, however, you are arguing only for the greater good of all mankind.

Got it.

He was lucky that his lawyers got before a judge who follows the constitution.

In other words, if you agree with the judge he "follows the constitution" and if you disagree with him, then he does not. He is called a judge for a reason - to make a judgment on issues over which there is a legitimate dispute.

Finally, if they ever come after me I’ll know whose side you’re on.

I support the rule of law, not mob rule or emotionalism.

If you were ever arrested, I would insist on your receiving the same due process that I would expect for myself and that Raub was given.

[wideawake]

Family and friends should have been involved, not just the government.

Family and friends are not impartial. And, unless someone has no competent family members and a friend is willing to act as a legal guardian, friends should be the last group to look to.

The government should theoretically be impartial, but this cannot be relied on.

Hence the statute's provision for an outside medical observer.

That is not a good precedent and should be illegal.

It is a matter of state law in pretty much every jurisdiction and has been for decades. Start a petition.

[Georgia Girl 2]

Newsflash. A judge has set the guy free this afternoon stating that there was not a shred of evidence of wrongdoing in the original petition.

[dmz]

Newsflash. A judge has set the guy free this afternoon stating that there was not a shred of evidence of wrongdoing in the original petition. <><>< LOL. Newsflash. Exactly as I suggested. It is extremely difficult to have someone involuntarily committed, unless there is really strong cause to do so - danger to self/others. I'd say, from my vantage point, that this is demonstration that the system works pretty darn well. The threshold for committment was not met. Remember, I was the one who suggested a wait and see, you were the one trumpeting totalitarian repression. The wait and see takes the day - no totalitarian repression occurred, as he's free to go. So I'm not sure what your newsflash touchdown dance was all about, but it was fun to watch (if a little puzzling).

[circlecity]

"There was no "trial judge" - there were two hearings and no trial since this was not presented as a criminal matter but as a civil one - i.e. commitment, not indictment."

Trial judges are distinguishged from appellate judges and preside over fact finding hearings as well as full blown trials, civil and criminal.And but for the high caliber public interest lawyers he would have had to rely on a over-worked under paid public defender, never an appealing prospect. The reviewing judge may very well have been influenced by the media coverage, internet and print. It clearly seems to have prompted a faster than normal review and reversal. Certainly the quality of the subsequent defense and its aggressiveness were impacted by the outcry. I certainly hope if I am ever the subject of such an inquisition there is plenty of such paranoia and hysteria - and that I don't have to rely on those with your attitude to cover my six.

[sassy steel magnolia]

don’t know, but he is a Marine. America’s 911...

I have a special place in my heart for anyone who has honorably served their country in military uniform, regardless of branch, rate/specialty, gender, race.

I believe that any one who for however long they serve is in the military and they do their jobs with good conscience, with honor, with integrity, with ultimate love of country over self, then credit is certainly due. I’ll let God sort everyone out after that! :)

[Boogieman]

“I haven’t seen any quotes from family or friends saying “He is totally normal and together” either.”

Maybe not “totally normal”, but I’ve seen quotes from family and friends that say he is not insane or a threat to anyone.

“If the Facebook screen capture I saw is authentic, he threatened federal employees.”

I haven’t seen any screenshots in any of the stories I have read, so I can’t really comment on that. However, I see posts on FR pretty much every single day that, taken out of context, could easily be construed as threats against Federal employees. I really don’t think that is reason to toss anyone in the psych ward for evaluation, since the way the Federal government behaves, you almost have to be insane not to consider taking up arms against them.

“Apparently, when the police spoke to him they interpreted his responses as being symptomatic of mental illness and brought in an evaluator.”

Well, I’m skeptical. It sounds to me that, had they any real evidence he was a threat or planning anything, they would have arrested him. Since they came up empty handed, I think they resorted to the psych evaluation just to lock him up for some reason. I could be wrong, but that’s my gut instinct.

“His attorney’s argument is not based on a failure to undertake the legally necessary steps, but on their tardiness.”

I wasn’t aware that they did finally follow through on that. Better late than never, I suppose.

[SUSSA]

Va. judge orders release of detained veteran

http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Va-judge-orders-release-of-detained-veteran-3810234.php

Good news!

[Boogieman]

“He was a Truther going in.”

Being a fool and being insane aren’t the same thing. If they were, we’d need to build a hell of a lot more psych wards to hold all the socialist idiots in this country.

[OneWingedShark]

I would consider being a 9/11 Truther "out of the ordinary." This is definitely an indicator of potential mental illness.

Depends on what you'd consider makes someone a 'Truther'. I might be considered a Truther because I believe that the government did have knowledge of the attack before it occurred (in the form of report[s], though they hadn't percolated up to the level where they could be acted upon); this, IIRC, is why there was a big effort toward restructuring how intel (especially inter-agency) was handled after 9/11.

If he were being held in a prison indefinitely without charges, it certainly would.
The fact that he is being held in a medical facility for 30 days in order to evaluate his health is less concerning.

I'm not so sure here. I think there's a certain insidiousness that can come from using a hospital instead of a prison, in the form of "see, he's in a hospital, that's proof he's sick" -- and just because it's a medical facility doesn't mean it cannot act as a prison.

[Forgotten Amendments]

I might be considered a Truther because I believe that the government did have knowledge of the attack before it occurred (in the form of report[s], though they hadn't percolated up to the level where they could be acted upon); this, IIRC, is why there was a big effort toward restructuring how intel (especially inter-agency) was handled after 9/11.

Yeah, the FBI was incredibly incompetent. That figures, because for a generation, the DOJ has just been the armed wing of whatever party held the Executive Branch. And naturally, all the wrong lessons were learned. Instead of cleaning house, no one paid a price. Except American citizens. They added layer after layer of bureaucracy, passed The Patriot Act, etc.