Senate votes to legalize Bestiality in the Military, suspend Habeas Corpus

The senate voted 93 to 7 on Thursday, December 1, in favor of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012, which repeals Article 125 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) in its entirety.

Article 125:

(a) Any person subject to this chapter who engages in unnatural carnal copulation with another person of the same or opposite sex or with an animal is guilty of sodomy. Penetration , however slight, is sufficient to complete the offense.

(b) Any person found guilty of sodomy shall be punished as a court-martial may direct. [My emphasis.]

The handwriting has been on the wall regarding sodomy in the military for some time now, but is it really necessary to throw out the sheep with the Brokeback water?

This happens to be the same act that alarms civil libertarians because it essentially suspends habeas corpus for any U.S. citizen who is designated a terrorist. I share the concern. I'm a bit flummoxed that this overreach of power is not causing more of an uproar on the right side of the blogosphere, especially given the left's recent penchant for spouting off about "Tea Party terrorists." Does anyone believe that it is beyond politicians' sense of propriety to use the "terrorist" designation for political purposes? Such powers have historically only been used in the event of a national emergency. If the act passes it will constitute a major shift in U.S. policy towards it citizens!

President Obama has threatened to veto the bill, but I'm skeptical. Since when does Obama pass up the opportunity to seize broader executive powers?

There seems to be some debate about whether the terrorist detention provision of the National Defense Authorization Act applies to American citizens. Some say it does, others claim not. Experience with reality informs me that, when in doubt, government exercises its power, often stretching or contorting plain language to do so (see Kelo vs. New London and the destruction of the takings clause of the fifth amendment.)

Via LewRockwell.com I learned of a document designating an organization dedicated to investigating the Oklahoma City bombing a "domestic terrorist/extremist" organization. I confess a lack of knowledge about the group "The Oklahoma Bombing Investigation Committee"  however I doubt that they are the type of group that average Americans have in mind when discussing "domestic terrorists."

Danger! Danger, Will Robinson! Danger!

Update: E.D. Kain, writing for Forbes, does not think I am overstating the case. "The National Defense Authorization Act is the Greatest Threat to Civil Liberties Americans Face."

It’s confusing, because two different sections of the bill seem to contradict each other, but in the judgment of the University of Texas’ Robert Chesney — a nonpartisan authority on military detention — “U.S. citizens are included in the grant of detention authority.”