Michael Moore and NY Times writer challenge Obama administration on NDAA, jailing Americans without charge or trial
Michael Moore joined Chris Hedges, senior fellow at The Nation Institute. A former foreign correspondent for The New York Times, as part of the court hearings on NDAA this week.
The ability of the U.S. government to jail people without charge or trial is now back in court.
photo Prognosic
A group of reporters, scholars and activists are suing the Obama administration over the controversial provision in the National Defense Authorization Act, saying it could allow for the indefinite detention of journalists and others who interact with certain groups.
On Wednesday, the Justice Department asked an appeals court to reverse a judge’s earlier decision blocking indefinite detention, saying the ruling would hamper its ability to fight terrorism. On the same day, the Academy Award-winning filmmaker and activist Michael Moore and the case’s lead plaintiff, Hedges, took part in a panel featuring some of those who were in the courtroom opposing the NDAA.
Moore began: “I’ve been involved in this sort of thing for a very long time, in general, in terms of these issues. I was the chair of the American Civil Liberties Union in Flint when I was 19 or 20 years old. And what Chris said in the last panel here about the corporate coup d’état, that’s something I’ve been talking about, trying to talk about, for a couple of decades, since Roger & Me_, that something was afoot here and that we were going to have our democratic way absconded with. And I agree with him that—that it has been successful. But I remain an optimist because I know history, and I know that coup d’états that were successful at first were eventually overthrown. And I just want to use that word “overthrown” here publicly tonight, so this can be replayed at my trial.”
Moore discusses personal experiences, blames the Bush administration and tying the NDAA to big corporate corruption.
“…watching the news on Egypt today, and talking about whether the United States—you know, we were for Mubarak, then we were against Mubarak. You know, we were—and it’s like—and somebody asks, you know, “Which side is right? You know, are we on the right side?” And the same question was asked during Vietnam. You know, were we on the right side? Because this was a people’s uprising in South Vietnam. And Daniel said, “The question is not whether we’re on the right side. The only question or point is, is that we are the wrong side. That’s it.” We are behind a lot of this madness. Our corporations are benefiting from it greatly.”
Hedges added:
“I think this is true with the NDAA, I think it’s true with the FISA Amendment Act, I think—go all the way back. What they’re attempting to do is legally justify what they’re already doing. They have argued that under the 2001 Authorization to Use Military Force Act they have a right to assassinate American citizens. I have read that act innumerable times, and Bruce and Carl did, and none of us find that in the act. That is, to be generous, a radical interpretation of the AUMF. And so, what they’re seeking to do is legally justify, in the same way that Yoo was attempting to legally justify torture. They’re essentially looking for kind of legal cover….And so, I think it’s all connected. It’s all a part of this very rapid descent into a frightening form of corporate totalitarianism. And that is just writ large across the landscape. And as we go down—and they know we’re going down. Look, I mean, you know, they—these forces are cannibalistic.”
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