(Thumbnail Image: Joe Lieberman)
“I was raised to feel blessed to be an American citizen — to feel it was a gift, a treasure, that it came with responsibilities. And it seems to me, anybody who joins a group and decides to try to kill Americans and attack America has effectively renounced their right to that.” (MSNBC)
Independent Sen. Joe Lieberman is on a mission to strip Americans suspected of terrorism of their citizenship altogether. He says it’s a common sense update of a 70-year-old law needed to protect the United States. CNN’s John Roberts lays out his strategy.
“In the case of somebody charged with terrorism if they are an American citizen, as Shahzad was — strip them of that citizenship, which would then allow the United States to put them into a military process as opposed to a civilian judicial one.”
An analyst on Fox News says updating the law is important because the other side doesn’t wear red coats and march any more — they live next door.
“If you find Americans who are making war against the United States by being associated, affiliated with, working on behalf of, attacking Americans on behalf of terror organizations, it makes eminent sense to apply the same idea.”
MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow answers Mr. Lieberman’s message with some alarm-sounding of her own.
“Any American citizen, even if you’re not convicted of anything, can lose your citizenship if, say, Hillary Clinton decides she doesn’t like some of the phone calls you’ve been making…or if Condoleezza Rice doesn’t like who you’ve been seen with.”
Finally, a writer for Salon points out, Lieberman’s bill would only apply to foreign organizations, so members of groups like the KKK are safe. He says the Senator is pandering to the right.
“…[Lieberman] named this affront to the Constitution the ‘Terrorist Expatriation Act’ — or, ‘the TEA Act.’ Hey, I wonder which reactionary white populists he's looking to appeal to with a name like that?”
The bill has three other sponsors — one of whom is a House Democrat. It still has to makes its way through both chambers.
Writer: Chance Seales
Producer: Newsy Staff
