Another (wasted?) open letter to Steny Hoyer:

Congressman:

Once again I am contacting you from Greenbelt, MD, where you are my Representative and I am but a small digit in the voter calculations.

This is in reference to the “Executive Order: Blocking Property of Certain Persons Who Threaten Stabilization Efforts in Iraq” signed without publicity (can you guess why?) by George W. Bush on the 17th.

A reading of the text of this document seems to indicate that the President can, without prior notice, confiscate the entire property of any person or persons who the Secretary of Treasury, State or Defense interprets

(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;

This could be easily interpreted by the Bush Administration to mean people who write blogs opposing the war… or people who are on left oriented talk shows who oppose the Administration’s actions in Iraq… or just about anyone they want.

And all this would be without notice, legal support (the document goes on to say that “(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 lawyers offer, of course, a service), or any kind of rights that the Constitution should uphold (remember, he has already removed Habeas Corpus).

My question to you is: What are you, a leader in our Congress, and one that has supported Speaker Pelosi’s refusal to consider impeachment, going to do to restore the rights of all Americans and get this would be emperor to obey the laws of the land? What?

Eighteen months is a long time to wait for a solution through elections. An awful lot of harm can be done to all of us in that time. Please take action!
Under The LobsterScope