Criminalizing Dissent, by Chris Hedges

by Chris Hedges
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
Truthdig
August 13, 2012

Image by Shrieking Tree via Flickr

I was on the 15th floor of the Southern U.S. District Court in New York in the courtroom of Judge Katherine Forrest on Tuesday. It was the final hearing in the lawsuit I brought in January against President Barack Obama and Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta. I filed the suit, along with lawyers Carl J. Mayer and Bruce I. Afran, over Section 1021 of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). We were late joined by six co-plaintiffs including Noam Chomsky and Daniel Ellsberg.

This section of the NDAA, signed into law by Obama on Dec. 31, 2011, obliterates some of our most important constitutional protections. It authorizes the executive branch to order the military to seize U.S. citizens deemed to be terrorists or associated with terrorists. Those taken into custody by the military, which becomes under the NDAA a domestic law enforcement agency, can be denied due process and habeas corpus and held indefinitely in military facilities.

NDAA unconstitutional: Federal judge bans Obama from indefinitely detaining

Dandelion Salad

Updated: June 8, 2012; added another video.

Image by World Can’t Wait via Flickr

Jun 7, 2012 by RTAmerica

On Thursday, District Judge Katherine Forrest finalized a ruling on the controversial National Defense Authorization Act signed by President Obama. Last month Forrest ruled the NDAA unconstitutional and now decided no American should be subject to indefinite detention. Since the beginning, NDAA was confronted with hefty criticism and caused of group of activists and journalists to sue the Obama administration over the act. One of the plaintiffs, Tangerine Bolen, executive director for Revolution Truth, joins us to discuss the court’s ruling.

NDAA: A Victory for All of Us by Chris Hedges

by Chris Hedges
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
Truthdig
May 18, 2012

Image by zen via Flickr

In January, attorneys Carl Mayer and Bruce Afran asked me to be the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit against President Barack Obama and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta that challenged the harsh provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). We filed the lawsuit, worked for hours on the affidavits, carried out the tedious depositions, prepared the case and went to trial because we did not want to be passive in the face of another egregious assault on basic civil liberties, because resistance is a moral imperative, and because, at the very least, we hoped we could draw attention to the injustice of the law. None of us thought we would win. But every once in a while the gods smile on the damned.

Chris Hedges Hails “Monumental” Ruling Blocking NDAA Indefinite Detention

with Chris Hedges
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
May 17, 2012

Image by Shrieking Tree via Flickr

May 17, 2012 by democracynow

DemocracyNow.org – In a rare move, a federal judge has struck down part of a controversial law signed by President Obama that gave the government the power to indefinitely detain anyone it considers a terrorism suspect anywhere in the world without charge or trial — including U.S. citizens. Judge Katherine Forrest of the Southern District of New York ruled the indefinite detention provision of the National Defense Authorization Act likely violates the First and Fifth Amendments of U.S. citizens. We speak with Chris Hedges, a journalist who filed the suit challenging the NDAA along with six others, and Bruce Afran, the group’s attorney.

Chris Hedges: No Outcry Within Media on NDAA

by Chris Hedges
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
April 2, 2012

Image by Truthout.org via Flickr

TheAlyonaShow on Apr 2, 2012

We had reported on the show that a group of political activists and journalists testified in a New York Court about why they’re suing the Obama administration over the National Defense Authorization Act or NDAA. Chris Hedges, author and Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter is also one of the plaintiffs; he joins the show to discuss.

Coming to a Gulag Near You by Chris Hedges

by Chris Hedges
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
Truthdig
April 2, 2012

The Polite Conference Rooms Where Liberties Are Saved and Lost, by Chris Hedges

by Chris Hedges
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
Truthdig
March 26, 2012

Chris Hedges: Call to Action + Q&A

with Chris Hedges
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
Feb. 7, 2012

Image by Dandelion Salad via Flickr

joefriendly on Feb 8, 2012

Chris Hedges calls us to action, to create a new political movement to replace our corrupt government and obsolete economic institutions, building on what’s begun by Occupy Wall Street. Talk at Church of All Souls in New York City February 7, 2012. Video by Joe Friendly. Apologies for occasional camera shaking, but the speaker’s audio is extra fine!

Chris Hedges: NDAA is a catastrophic assault on our civil liberties, interviewed by Cindy Sheehan

by Cindy Sheehan
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
Cindy Sheehan’s Soapbox Blog
Cindy Sheehan’s Soapbox
February 12, 2012

Image by Shrieking Tree via Flickr

(SOAPBOX #120) – Cindy remarks:  Journalist/activist, Chris Hedges, caused quite a stir this past week when he wrote a column for Truthdig saying, in essence, that the “black bloc anarchists” were killing the Occupy movement.  The response was immediate and sometimes fierce.  Although, I agree with Chris that violence for the sake of violence is counter-productive, it’s been my experience that the violence usually begins with law enforcement, with little, if any, provocation. 

Barack Obama’s Executive Order: Blocking Property of the Government of Iran and Iranian Financial Institutions

Dandelion Salad

3tch3r on Feb 10, 2012

On February 5, 2012, President Obama invoked the NDAA, which authorizes the use of military force, and issues an executive order declaring the “threat” of Iran a National Emergency. The video shows this issuance of President Obama’S executive order which declares Iran’s threat to cut off oil supplies a national emergency.

Chris Hedges on the reality and the seriousness of the NDAA

Image by Shrieking Tree via Flickr

with Chris Hedges
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
Jan. 30, 2012

catwatters4 on Jan 30, 2012

Chris Hedges on NDAA, New School, 1/29/12

Talk on the reality, the seriousness of what the NDAA really means.

Chris Hedges: Challenging the legality of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA)

with Chris Hedges
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
Jan. 24, 2012

Image by Shrieking Tree via Flickr

Tyran KneeCrusher on Jan 24, 2012

On the Tuesday, January 24th edition of the Alex Jones Show, Alex talks with Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, author and Middle East expert Chris Hedges about his lawsuit challenging the legality of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which Obama signed at the end of 2011. Hedges is the author of The World As It Is: Dispatches on the Myth of Human Progress, Collateral Damage, American Fascists and other titles.

Ron Paul Moves To Repeal Indefinite Detention Of American Citizens Without Trial!

Dandelion Salad

by Ron Paul
http://paul.house.gov
18 January 2012

Statement Introducing Repeal of Sec. 1021 of National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012

Image by Shrieking Tree via Flickr

Mr. Speaker: I rise today to introduce a very simple piece of legislation to repeal the infamous Section 1021 of the National Defense Authorization Act, quietly signed into law by the president on New Year’s Day.

Section 1021 essentially codifies into law the very dubious claim of presidential authority under the 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force to indefinitely detain American citizens without access to legal representation or due process of law.

Chris Hedges and Carl Mayer: NDAA – Who is a Terrorist? + Ron Paul: I’d Veto the Indefinite Detention Act (NDAA)

with Chris Hedges
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
Jan. 17, 2012

Image by Truthout.org via Flickr

democracynow on Jan 17, 2012

http://www.democracynow.org – Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Chris Hedges has filed suit against President Obama and Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta to challenge the legality of the National Defense Authorization Act, which includes controversial provisions authorizing the military to jail anyone it considers a terrorism suspect anywhere in the world, without charge or trial. Sections of the bill are written so broadly that critics say they could encompass journalists who report on terror-related issues, such as Hedges, for supporting enemy forces. “It is clearly unconstitutional,” Hedges says of the bill.

“It is a huge and egregious assault against our democracy. It overturns over 200 years of law, which has kept the military out of domestic policing.” We speak with Hedges, now a senior fellow at the Nation Institute, and former New York Times foreign correspondent who was part of a team of reporters that was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 2002 for the paper’s coverage of global terrorism. We are also joined by Hedges’ attorney Carl Mayer, who filed the litigation on his behalf in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Why I’m Suing Barack Obama by Chris Hedges

by Chris Hedges
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
Truthdig
Jan. 16, 2012