the talking dog

Just as I've barely calmed down from my recent rants concerning inter alia
the Government's holding of two citizens as "unlawful combatants", the Bush Administration has now done it a third time , in this case, Qatari national Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri, 37, who has been in federal custody since late 2001, on various charges including credit card fraud and immigration charges. Those charges have all been dropped, and al-Marri has been named an "Al Qaeda associate", on his way to a military brig in South Carolina (where, presumably, he will be able to network with fellow unlawful combatant Jose Padilla).

It seems to me that if al-Marri was, in fact, guilty of the other charges, the appropriate remedy would be to try him, convict him, and sentence him, and then send him to one of the federal government's less pleasant penal institutions. Al-Marri had thus far been less than cooperative; perhaps a possible commutation of a long prison sentence might help in this regard-- or not. In any event, with his federal charges now dismissed, al-Marri can expect 24-7 lights on, constant interrogation, no charge, no trial, no counsel, and as the other cases spin around the appellate system, despite the fact that Article I, Section 9 of the Constitution provides that "The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it", apparently, a one-off set of airplane crashes in which the direct perpetrators were killed now constitutes "rebellion or invasion" (although the Milliken case held that the Civil War did not, as long as the courts were open and operating).

We are in constitutional never-never land, and have been there evidently since September 2001. I'll keep saying it: if one terrorist attack-- ONE-- warrants revoking constitutional protections that remained in place throughout two World Wars and the Civil War (certainly a "rebellion"), then the terrorists are truly more powerful than anyone has ever given them credit for. Although we have largely routed Al Qaeda on the ground, in Afghanistan, in the Middle East, and elsewhere, to the extent that the terrorists have caused we Americans to reevaluate our "way of life", and decide that measures of autocracy are the only means of combatting them, then I respectfully submit that the terrorists have already won. For the umpteenth time, as Ben Franklin so wisely noted,
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither." They's us, folks, and the time is now.

TrackBack (0)

Comments

I've decided to come out of the closet, and could not think of a better place to do so.
It's tough enough to live in the world when you have six toes on each foot, and are shaped like a caulk-filled zit.
But add a case of raging homosexuality, including a catty fashion sense, particularly as to matching shoes and bags.
The result is: you have no friends.
No one to trust or love you.
So, td, I am privileged to come out on your blog, even though you never liked me.

Posted by andyg at June 24, 2003 11:27 PM

You are invited to check some helpful info created to promote phentermine womens, zyban perscription medications, viagra reviews, propecia ointment, online pharmacy 400mg, tramadol cream, ultram online check, wellbutrin side effects, paxil treatments, meridia 350mg, zyrtec buying, xenical solution, vioxx male, vaniqa perscription drugs, retin a for woman, prozac overnight, generic viagra 2mg, celexa remedy, buy phentermine men, xenical on line, ambien retard, dilenyoung intercations, hopforyou 400 mg, kip980 reviews on, mng765 men, pol_uri herbal, piter_gordon prescription, miss20092000 400 mg, robert_zed2003 benefits of, fp292003 treatment, diagodream intercations, jacglen2003 fastin, lisa_plamer dosage, gill_bern and safest, gtrgtr45 low cost, poklop2000 400mg, nolzer12 fedex, rtopopi 400mg, oklokol male, racertroy2003 cheapest, viagra wholesale, phentermine 90 pills. .

Posted by poklop2000 at January 20, 2004 05:15 PM

nice site

Posted by penis enlargement at April 15, 2004 03:27 PM

Only if you feel good about gambling and wagering at online casinos you should visit this website and have fun and joy:
http://www.onlinecasinohelper.com

Posted by casinos at May 27, 2004 11:08 AM

atkins diet diet pills low
carb diet diabetic diet healthy
diet low cholesterol diet diet
fitness - low fat diet diet program diet
product dash diet vegetarian
diet cholesterol diet one
day diet protein diet prescription
diet pill diet recipe diet
food low sodium diet ketogenic
diet pregnancy diet three
day diet carb diet diet
for high cholesterol body building diet
atkins diet menu best
diet negative calorie diet south
beatch diet e diet

Posted by valium at May 28, 2004 08:09 PM

Phentermine

Posted by Phentermine at May 29, 2004 03:02 PM

Phentermine

Posted by Phentermine at May 30, 2004 09:53 PM

BTW, is anyone able to help me with a dilema? I need to get some medications online and found these great prices Discount Drugs. Does any body have any experience with buying RX products online? If you do, the items I am interested in are some of their generic Viagra impotence treatment blue pills for my pop,

Posted by Johnny B. at May 30, 2004 09:54 PM

Omega Fatty Acids

Posted by fatty acids at June 4, 2004 07:43 PM

Cheeses

Posted by cheeses at June 5, 2004 10:22 AM

Hmmmmm interesting

zapraszamy po czadowe gry java na gry java,
po dzwonki polifoniczne do dzwonki
polifoniczne oraz po komputery laptopy notebooki
laptopy.

You can find the best nokia ringtones and logo at
nokia ringtone, get the best melodies for your
nokia mobile phone and get cool nokia logo at nokia logo and backgrounds now

!!!

Posted by dzwonki polifoniczne at June 16, 2004 12:17 AM

Hmmmmm interesting

zapraszamy po czadowe gry java na gry java,
po dzwonki polifoniczne do dzwonki
polifoniczne oraz po komputery laptopy notebooki
tanie laptopy.

You can find the best nokia ringtones and logo at
nokia ringtone, get the best melodies for your
nokia mobile phone and get cool nokia logo at nokia logo and backgrounds now http://www.nokia-ringtone-logo.com

!!!

Posted by dzwonki polifoniczne at June 16, 2004 02:18 AM

Hmmmmm interesting

zapraszamy po czadowe gry java na gry java,
po dzwonki polifoniczne do dzwonki
polifoniczne oraz po komputery laptopy notebooki
tanie laptopy.

!!!

Posted by dzwonki polifoniczne at June 16, 2004 01:08 PM

Nice site. Keep up the good work. Bryian

Posted by phentermine at June 17, 2004 04:28 PM

Nice site. Keep up the good work. Bryian

Posted by phentermine at June 17, 2004 04:30 PM

Nice site. Keep up the good work. Bryian

Posted by phentermine at June 17, 2004 04:35 PM

Nice site. Keep up the good work. Bryian

Posted by buy phentermine at June 17, 2004 04:38 PM

Hmmmmm interesting

zapraszamy po czadowe gry java na gry java nokia,
po dzwonki polifoniczne do dzwonki
polifoniczne sony ericsson Schwarzeneggera). W roli g³ównej skazany na œmieræ morderca James Earl Cash. Jako re¿ysera zobaczymy Lionela Starkweathera – ekscentrycznego oraz po komputery laptopy notebooki
tanie laptopy.

You can find the best nokia ringtones and logo at
nokia ringtones, get the best melodies for your
nokia mobile phone Ringtones, Mono Ring tones, colour Backgrounds, color Wallpapers and mobile Java Games. We have 1000s of motorola ringtones and get cool nokia logo at nokia logo and ringtone and backgrounds now http://www.nokia-ringtone-logo.com

!!!

Posted by dzwonki at June 17, 2004 05:31 PM

Hmmmmm interesting

!!!

Posted by dzwonki polifoniczne at June 17, 2004 10:46 PM

Hmmmmm interesting

zapraszamy po czadowe gry java na gry java nokia,
po dzwonki polifoniczne do dzwonki
polifoniczne sony ericsson organizacji takich jak Electronic Frontier Foundation czy Union for Public Domain. Dzia³acze tych instytucji podkreœlaj¹, ¿e projekt BBC napotka sprzeciw ze strony komercyjnych nadawców oraz po komputery laptopy notebooki
tanie laptopy.

You can find the best nokia ringtones and logo at
nokia ringtones, get the best melodies for your
nokia mobile phone Ringtones, Mono Ring tones, colour Backgrounds, color Wallpapers and mobile Java Games. We have 1000s of motorola ringtones and get cool nokia logo at nokia logos and polyphonic ringtone and backgrounds now http://www.nokia-ringtone-logo.com

!!!

Posted by dzwonki at June 18, 2004 01:31 PM

Hmmmmm interesting

zapraszamy po czadowe gry java na gry java nokia,
po dzwonki polifoniczne do dzwonki
polifoniczne sony ericsson Ju¿ jutro, 18 czerwca, odbêdzie siê turniej dla graczy Warsaw Games Day 2004. oraz po komputery laptopy notebooki
tanie laptopy.

You can find the best nokia ringtones and logo at
nokia ringtones, get the best melodies for your
nokia mobile phone and color backgrounds for your Nokia, Samsung, Sagem, Sony Ericsson, Siemens, Motorola, Panasonic, Sharp and Sendo mobile phone. and get cool nokia logo at nokia logo and backgrounds now http://www.nokia-ringtone-logo.com Polyphonic ringtone at polyphonic ringtone ringtones polyphonic and monophonic

!!!

Posted by dzwonki polifoniczne nokia at June 18, 2004 03:49 PM

Hmmmmm interesting

zapraszamy po czadowe gry java na gry java,
po dzwonki polifoniczne do dzwonki
polifoniczne lub dzwonki polifoniczne".abrad abn." oraz po komputery laptopy notebooki
tanie laptopy.

You can find the best nokia ringtones and logo at
nokia ringtones, get the best melodies for your
nokia mobile phone ".The ultimate ringtone site, the place to download cool music ringtones. Feel free to browse through our extensive range of Nokia Polyphonic ." and get cool nokia logo at nokia logo and backgrounds now http://www.nokia-ringtone-logo.com Polyphonic ringtone at polyphonic ringtone ringtones polyphonic and monophonic

po tapety nokia
zapraszamy do tapety nokia po dzwonki polifoniczne sony ericsson do

dzwonki polifoniczne sony ericsson katalog artystów dzwonki
katalog dzwonki oraz
dzwonki eminem .

Hey
gamer, Get the coolest Java Game from
nokia java games and start
your java games now
For
polyphonic ringtones Go to

Polyphonic Ringtones
-
Polyphonic ringtones industry. We offer Ringtones

Monophonic Ringtones get
your ringtone today. Aslo

True Tones - true tone.
Get hot java games if you are a gamer

Java Games - java games
for gaming world the ultr

nokia n-gage games.

Color wallpapers you can find here

Colour Wallpapers for mobiles
Mobile phone games
delivered instantly. Simply choose a java game, pay for it using sms message.
We'll send you a WAP bookmark from where you download the game and play over and
over again! Be sure to check our

Polyphonic Ringtones,

Monophonic Ringtones
and

Colour Wallpapers