I am vehemently against any claim that the Constitution of the United States of America can be interpreted to consider extraordinary rendition, torture, or execution of people lawful.
It is a fact that sovereign people are the sole source of rights, and it is those rights that are effected by government those people may choose to undertake their common ends. Since no person can have any such rights to do those things because people are equally endowed with human rights and those things clearly abrogate the human rights people inherently possess, government cannot have such power, as it cannot be delegated by people that do not have it, and government has no other source of lawful power.
Yet, the USG does report doing those very things. The Intercept interviewed key actors in the development of legal theories that presume such power can lawfully be exerted by the USG, and I hope that folks will consider how such tyranny has emerged in the Land of the Free.
If any support such claims to power it is important they realize no person is exempt from it. They may scoff at the idea it could be applied to them because administrations have not sought to apply it to them or folks they reckon beyond such malice. It is informative to recognize that people have held every recorded policy from Bolshevism to Libertarianism, and this includes Americans.
In other words, to support the tyrannical power of government because the current administration will use it against people you disagree with is foolish in the extreme, because administrations change - and can change very radically overnight - and such power can suddenly be brought to bear on you and people you agree with instead.
These interviews are therefore most important to consideration by not only people that oppose tyranny, but those that are willing to tolerate it, or even promote it.
Sauce for geese is sauce for ganders. If you value your rights you needs must protect the rights of others, particularly those you disagree with.
Karma all too often has been shown to steamroll dogma. I am confident that in due time the ability to project tyrannical power will be rendered obsolete. Until that happens and our freedom becomes primary, I'd prefer as little rapine, torture, and murder to be executed as possible.
Whatever your position on these matters is, you'll find these transcripts of interviews informative.
