It's in the Bill of Rights. It's called "Trial by Jury".
It's really not surprising that they have a Columbia University professor among them, but these guys have zero influence, even among other commies.
Published on Tuesday, September 25, 2001 in the Chicago Tribune A Widow's Plea for Non-Violence by Amber Amundson My husband, Craig Scott Amundson, of the U.S. Army lost his life in the line of duty at the Pentagon on Sept. 11 as the world looked on in horror and disbelief.
Losing my 28-year-old husband and father of our two young children is a terrible and painful experience.
His death is also part of an immense national loss and I am comforted by knowing so many share my grief.
But because I have lost Craig as part of this historic tragedy, my anguish is compounded exponentially by fear that his death will be used to justify new violence against other innocent victims.
I have heard angry rhetoric by some Americans, including many of our nation's leaders, who advise a heavy dose of revenge and punishment. To those leaders, I would like to make clear that my family and I take no comfort in your words of rage. If you choose to respond to this incomprehensible brutality by perpetuating violence against other innocent human beings, you may not do so in the name of justice for my husband. Your words and imminent acts of revenge only amplify our family's suffering, deny us the dignity of remembering our loved one in a way that would have made him proud, and mock his vision of America as a peacemaker in the world community.
Craig enlisted in the Army and was proud to serve his county. He was a patriotic American and a citizen of the world. Craig believed that by working from within the military system he could help to maintain the military focus on peacekeeping and strategic planning--to prevent violence and war. For the last two years Craig drove to his job at the Pentagon with a "visualize world peace" bumper sticker on his car. This was not empty rhetoric or contradictory to him, but part of his dream. He believed his role in the Army could further the cause of peace throughout the world.
Craig would not have wanted a violent response to avenge his death. And I cannot see how good can come out of it. We cannot solve violence with violence. Mohandas Gandhi said, "An eye for an eye only makes the whole world blind." We will no longer be able to see that we hold the light of liberty if we are blinded by vengeance, anger and fear. I ask our nation's leaders not to take the path that leads to more widespread hatreds--that make my husband's death just one more in an unending spiral of killing.
I call on our national leaders to find the courage to respond to this incomprehensible tragedy by breaking the cycle of violence. I call on them to marshal this great nation's skills and resources to lead a worldwide dialogue on freedom from terror and hate.
I do not know how to begin making a better world: I do believe it must be done, and I believe it is our leaders' responsibility to find a way. I urge them to take up this challenge and respond to our nation's and my personal tragedy with a new beginning that gives us hope for a peaceful global community.
Amber Amundson is the wife of the late Craig Scott Amundson, an enlisted specialist in the Army.
Bill
Many individuals do not want Americans killed, they warned for years that our meddling overseas was a contributing cause to terrorism [See: Cato Handbook for the 105th Congress (1998)], and now the terrorism we were warned about has come to pass.
Of course those responsible need to be hunted down. Of course we cannot accept the killing of innocent Americans under any circumstances. Neither can we continue to screw other people and expect no repercussions.
After we have stopped screwing people, after our foreign policy reflects the true heart of America rather than the interests of Big Business, after all this, if we are attacked again, let's take their damn heads off.
We have a right to defend ourselves. We do not have the right to be bullies and cry "attack on freedom based on envy."
My prayers are with the families of those who perished or were injured on September 11. My anger lies with those warmongers on all sides who use innocent blood to keep score.
Can you say "counterprotest"?
Irrational Pacifists
A term I picked up from another Freeper on another thread. I like the term, as I think it boils it down to a succinct, accurate description of what we're dealing with here. And it's much more media-genic than "the blame America first crowd".
Pass it on.