A federal district judge in Washington halted the process of military commissions deciding the fates of at least four of the perpetual prisoners now in illegal confinement in the American gulag at Guantanimo Bay, Cuba.
“Unless and until a competent tribunal determines that petitioner is not entitled to protections afforded prisoners of war under Article 4 of the Geneva Convention … of Aug. 12, 1949, he may not be tried by military commission for the offenses with which he is charged,” U.S. District Judge James Robertson said in his ruling.
Salim Ahmed Hamdan, 34, of Yemen, was lucky enough to have a defense lawyer who managed to get a federal judge to halt the proceedings, before the military kangaroo kourt decided to send Hamdan (reputedly OBL’s driver) to his fate. Thank God we still have judges with enough integrity to actually follow the law…
Here’s the thing: if you put the Bill of Rights to a vote right now before the American people, it might well lose. As I alluded to recently, Americans are downright mean: they are much more interested in inflicting punishment on someone else than they would be on protecting even their own rights. It is, of course, why we HAVE a constitution and courts to enforce them that transcend any individual democratic decision… it’s our constitution and tradition of protected freedoms that make this country great, not the fact that in some respects our republic resembles a democracy.
Which takes us back to an analytical point. This will be useful if Democrats ever expect to win another presidential election.
As of July of this year, George W. Bush was dead. Finished. It became John Kerry’s race to lose. Which, of course, he did. Why?
Because John Kerry weighted himself with a fantasy: that he could overcome the electorate’s traditional suspicion of Democrats on national security issues by simply pretending he was a militaristic tough guy (“John Kerry reporting for duty.”) The deft response to Karl Rove was to take on that image directly– with probable lies, of course, and dishonoring every man and woman that ever served our country in the process– but then, it worked didn’t it (and besides– Americans are mean; they respect viciousness far more than honor).
More to the point, Kerry ignored the reason Bush was dead in the water: Abu Ghraib. And collaterally, Gitmo. The American people were, for a time, actually outraged that torture (and more importantly, useless gratuitous torture of innocent people including children) was being done in the name of this country. Indeed, I would say the American people were (dare I say it) ashamed.
So, enter John Kerry with the perfect opportunity to bring in his past. No, not the sixteen months or so he was a naval officer in the Vietnam theater, and not the period after that when he protested the war. No, no. BOTH PERIODS. Kerry could have spoken of (get this): dishonor. Not the dishonor of George W. Bush’s desertion from the National Guard– no one cared about that. The dishonor of our president having ordered torture, and then standing by while that order, originally intended for OBL and AQ bigwigs, got morphed for women and children picked up at random off the streets of Baghdad. Kerry should have, on a daily basis, shown the pictures, and demanded an apology from the President himself… and more importantly, someone to be held accountable (i.e., firing Rumsfeld, for example).
Here’s the fundamental point: Abu Ghraib was not an opportunity for political points: Abu Ghraib is (hopefully) a one-off outrage. Something to be apologized for. The President made being American something dirty. In short: IT WAS WRONG. Just as holding people arbitrarily, even if apparently for our safety, in violation of treaties, laws and our constitution, IS WRONG.
This wasn’t a matter of risking swing voters in Franklin County, Ohio or Orange County, Florida… this was a matter of RIGHT AND WRONG, things that no HUMAN BEING should stand for, let alone an American, let alone an American seeking the presidency. WRONG. Not inconvenient, or ugly, or inexpedient… WRONG.
But neither Senators Kerry nor Edwards dared even mention these outrages. Any wonder 58 or 9 million people seemed unconcerned with them too?
tdog
Well said! The question is “Why didn’t they?” (I can’t, for the life of me, figure it out.)
djmm
Abu Dooby as the reason Kerry lost? Man, that marathon running affect your thinking. I got Abu Dooby every day here, and my people love me (or die).
Ha Ha Ha!!
That’s the punch line to the world’s greatest joke, which finishes…..
OK…But first, Abu Dooby.
You have a point. I think it might have made the difference between win / lose for Kerry if he had riffed on Abu Ghraib, because it was wrong. And stupid. You don’t get good intel from torture; you just get what you expect to hear, anything to stop whatever is being done to you. Amateurs!
I want to comment on what you said here:
Here’s the thing: if you put the Bill of Rights to a vote right now before the American people, it might well lose. As I alluded to recently, Americans are downright mean: they are much more interested in inflicting punishment on someone else than they would be on protecting even their own rights. It is, of course, why we HAVE a constitution and courts to enforce them that transcend any individual democratic decision… it’s our constitution and tradition of protected freedoms that make this country great, not the fact that in some respects our republic resembles a democracy.
Americans are downright mean? Are you high? If I go to Madison, Berkeley or any other liberal bastion I would agree with you but to make this blanket statement for all Americans is not only ignorant, it represents well the blame-America/hate-America crowd who backed Kerry and was instrumental in his loss.
The majority of people are tired of that line of shit. Why do you think you liberals got skunked last week?
You never learn. It’s just bitch and whine and hate…that, to me, is mean.
And I see it mostly on the Left.
As for the scumbags being held down in Cuba…I am amused that liberals give such a shit about a few Taliban douchebags being held indefinitely while never finding equal cause to mention the many people who died on 9/11.
There is not a great conspiracy to set a precedent that can see you arrested for no reason and detained indefinitely on some Carribean island.
Finally, as far as I’m concerned, the worthless lumps of flesh (is that mean…maybe I need sensitivity training…at least I don’t direct such vitriol at my own country) at the “American gulag” are to remain there until this war is over…historically this has proven to be the prudent thing to do. If the war never ends then tough shit.
And read your history book to learn what a gulag really is because compared to that the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay is a resort community.
But that would be negative campaigning.
No, I’m not being snarky, I’m serious. Frankly, it’s not the responsibility of the opposing candidate to keep on and on reminding the voters that they must vote the torturer out. If you are against torture you’ll kind of remember that all by yourself without prompting.
I don’t think I buy the idea that the people of America really cared that the President did this horrible thing in their name… but then forgot and voted for him. “forgot” and “really cared” just don’t go together.
Oh, and Jihad Jay? Cut the “look what you made me do!” malarkey. Voting for the mean guy out of spite because being called mean hurt your feelings is downright mean.
I don’t know, Derek. Leaders lead.
Kerry gets to tell us what he thinks is important. If he tells us that he thinks that a President of the United States authorizing and/or ordering TORTURE (something not, as far as we know, ordered by such war presidents as Lincoln, Roosevelt, Truman, Johnson/Nixon, Bush I, et al.) IS IMPORTANT, and that IT IS WRONG, not merely “outrageous”, an overused word, but WRONG, an underused word in this context, then people will, or will not go along. Its more a matter of he had them– Bush people disgusted enough to stay home from the polls– and in less than 90 days… poof. That disgust shifted entirely against gays and lesbians. That says A LOT about Kerry’s “leadership” skills (and lots of other things, I’m afraid).
All I know is that Bush was finished as of late July. The Swift Boat bullshit was a lifeline to Bush. For whatever reason, caught up in defending his own ego, Abu Ghraib was never heard from again (certainly from either Senator John).
Jay, I say to you again… WTF?
I think you make an excellent point about the inherent meanness of (SOME, A LOT) Americans. They like the blood of people they think are weaker than them and they worship arbitrary power. Why?
Derek,
I don’t know from what planet you are coming from nor how you are interpreting what I’m saying. I suppose it’s just this kind of inability for the Left and Right to speak the same language that will further the Great Political Divide.
The American people don’t give a dead dog’s dick (no offense, talking dog) about Guantanamo Bay or Abu Graib. There are more pressing matters at hand. If you can’t see them then you’ll see the reason why Republicans are in greater control.
The Constitution is not going to be burned and the very nature of war precludes the perfect utopian lifestyle you liberals would like to enjoy.
I am not against torturing. It works some of the time. Applying our Western values to a conflict against an enemy who despises them is pussified, ignorant and dangerous.
And what the hell is this:
Voting for the mean guy out of spite because being called mean hurt your feelings is downright mean.
I voted for the man with conviction to kill scumbag terrorists – not because my feelings are hurt. What kind of liberal nonsense is that interpretation?
Being mean is inherent in the original post for this thread.
I see some dodging of points by you folks, too.
Talking Dog,
Gays and lesbians? What…where…how the hell are you people wired. I’m confused but willing to try and understand.
Taking Dog..WTF?
Describe for me precisely what was bullshit about the Swift Boat veterans stand on things.
The liberal media did all they could to leverage Abu Ghraib against Bush. It failed because the American people see the big picture.
That liberals do not is the reason Bush got four more years.
Kerry lost because he was a horrible candidate without conviction, without resolution, and with too many special interests. The American people were dying (literally) for a change, but he offered nothing, and repeatedly proved that he could not be trusted. This election was a slam dunk (thanks, Mr. Tenet) for the Democrats, but they offered their B team at the primaries, and ended up with Kerry. Bush II was a far bigger walkover than Bush I, but the Dems offered no viable alternative.
I don’t know if the Democrats have an A team, but they had better be ready next time.
As for Jihad Jay:
JIHAD? That sounds like a Terrorist Name. Perhaps you should report to Guantanamo Bay Resort Community for the duration of the war. Trial? You don’t need no stinkin’ trial.
I agree on the bit about Kerry. Dean would’ve been better had he not gone insane. Lieberman would have been ideal but he’s not a Clintonite.
The American people are not dying for a change. Otherwise Nader would have gotten more votes and the media would not have had to work so hard trying to convince they need to die for a change.
The election was never a slam dunk for the Dems. It may have been close here and there – but never a slam dunk.
This election proved that the next Dem candidate better be more on reality and less on bullshit. That candidate better articulate the big picture that is congruent with the interests of this country in spite of the blame/hate-America crowd, some of whose rhetoric can be found sprinkled on this blog.
As for Jihad Jay, I adopted this name when openfire.us was constructed. Up until then my war was against socialism, political-correctness and the idiots who love them.
Now, it is clear to me in the post-9/11 world that the only jihad worth a shit is the American Jihad. That jihad door swings both ways – and it better swing both ways otherwise someday you and me will be swinging.
So the Jihad part of my handle is a rightful twist on what must be waged against our enemies.