THE DRONE CONSPIRACY

At the outset, I have to explain that if someone is shooting at me I will shoot back and I will shoot to kill.  What I am about to say, then, is not based on any compulsion against the death penalty.  

Our law, arising from the Constitution of the United States, stipulates that the government does not have the power to take from me my life, liberty or property without due process of law.  The segments of the Constitution laying out this position are straightforward and unqualified and were designed by our forefathers to prevent tyranny by our government against us.  Yet, we now have the situation where our government purports to have the right to kill an American citizen under certain circumstances and without "due process of law." Not only does the government assert the right, but it does so in secrecy without telling us.  And I say that this smacks of tyranny, dictatorship and fascism.  

Here’s the actual language of the pertinent segments of the Constitution:

Article 2, Section 2: “The Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeachment, shall be by Jury; and such Trial shall be held in the State where the said Crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed within any State, the Trial shall be at such Place or Places as the Congress may by Law have directed.”   

Amendment 5: “No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be  deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.”

Amendment 6:  “In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.” 

Nowhere in the above language or in any other sections of the Constitution does it grant the government any authority whatsoever to put a citizen to death other any circumstances other than that arising out of “due process” as above outlined.  But, you have a President, an Attorney General and a Secretary of Defense who have seized the power for themselves to decide when and under what circumstances they, or some other nameless government official, can kill an American citizen.  Even a soldier who turns his weapons against his fellow soldiers and commits treason against our country is entitled to due process.  

If they want that right, there is another applicable section of the Constitution whereby they can get it:

Article 5: ‘The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress…” 

Those are the facts.  The President and other government officials who have authorized the use of drones to kill American citizens without anything other than a summary order and without due process, have violated the Constitution of the United States, and they have done so knowing that what they were doing was illegal and unconstitutional or they would not have hidden it and covered it up from the American people.  There is no room for excuses, spins, split-hairs or any other acceptable basis for their actions.  They should be impeached and removed from office.  

That’s MY AMERICAN OPINION, respectfully submitted.