On the Benefits of Citizenship

So yesterday all but seven House Republicans, with the help of 34 Democrats, decided that being a citizen of this great nation should be more special than ever. They said that habeas corpus, that 800-year-old foundation of civil liberty and individual freedom, should just be for 100% American citizens only.

Being a citizen myself, I can sleep soundly knowing that I cannot be picked up by the cops and locked away forever just because the government thinks I might have done something bad. In my case, the government actually has to charge me with a crime and take me to trial; otherwise they have to let me go.

But the guy with the H1B visa that works in the next cubicle? Or the foreign-exchange student getting her masters? Or the immigrant family that just got permanent resident status? Well, they're not 100% American citizens, so all that freedom stuff shouldn't apply to them, the House said.

Now, the words these honorable members of this august body use to denote the real targets of this legislation are "terrorists" and "foreigners." But they're not just talking about Osama bin Laden here. They're talking about your co-workers. They're talking about your friends. They're talking about your family. They might even be talking about you. And they want the power to lock up your co-workers, friends, family, and even yourself, for no reason, forever, with no recourse.

So as we now know, it's good to be a citizen. And we also know that the 253 House members who voted for this bill aren't good citizens at all.

Update: The Senate passed its version of the "Gut the Constitution Act of 2006" Thursday night. Add 65 Senators to the list of bad citizens.