I DON’T THINK THAT WE SHOULD STRIP AMERICANS OF THEIR CITIZENSHIP for being involved in terrorism. If they’re guilty, they should be punished — with death, where justified and properly proven — but I don’t think people should lose their citizenship involuntarily. And — though possibly out of context — this quote regarding John Walker Lindh is especially lame:

“Why should he have the right of retaining his citizenship when other people have lost their lives?” asked Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Ga., the author of the No Citizenship for Terrorists Act, which was introduced in the House early this month.

I hold no brief for Lindh, who voluntarily associated with people who were enemies of the United States. But (1) the above suggests that he killed people, which as far as we know he didn’t; and (2) if Jack Kingston thinks the penalty for doing what Lindh did is too low, he should pass a law increasing the penalty, not one stripping people of their citizenship. That’s just dumb.