Betraying Our Ideals

post from THE LIBERAL JOURNAL on 13 February 2008 09:44:00 AM. © THE LIBERAL JOURNAL

The NYTimes has a strongly worded editorial on the military tribunals of six alleged 9/11 conspirators:

The Bush administration?s decision to put six detainees at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, on trial before military tribunals and to seek the death penalty is both a betrayal of American ideals and simply bad strategy. Instead of being what they could and should be ? a model of justice dispensed impartially, surely and dispassionately ? the trials will proceed under deeply flawed procedures that violate this country?s basic fairness. The intense negative attention they will receive will do enormous damage to what is left of America?s standing in world opinion.

There is good reason to believe that Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and the five others may have been responsible for horrific acts. If convicted, they should be jailed for life, but that should happen under due process. Since Sept. 11, 2001, the administration has made clear that it wants to give people accused of terrorism as few rights as the Supreme Court will let it get away with.

[...]
Hanging over it all is the Kafkaesque fact that even if the defendants were somehow to beat the charges, they would not be set free. They would simply go back to being detainees in Guantánamo.
[...]
The administration can and should proceed against these six, and other terrorism defendants, in ordinary federal courts. That was what was done with Zacarias Moussaoui, Jose Padilla and others. Those trials protected the constitutional rights of the defendants, which protects the constitutional rights of every American. And, in the cases of Mr. Moussaoui and Mr. Padilla, resulted in convictions and long prison sentences that had credibility that verdicts in these current cases are sure to lack.

This is just what we feared would happen as a result of President Bush?s decision to go outside the law in dealing with terrorism: men who may well have committed crimes against humanity are being put on trial in a system so flawed that the results will seem unjust.

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Yesterday Was a Bad Day for the Fourth Amendment

post from Cafe Politico on 13 February 2008 09:43:08 AM. © Cafe Politico

…and a very good one for the telecom industry who had hundreds of lobbyists schmoozing members of Congress to help ensure they received retroactive immunity from prosecution for helping the Executive Branch violateof the Fourth Amendment prohibition of unreasonable search and seizure by not following the existing law at the time which requiring the govt [...]

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'If we are to teach real peace in this world,...'
by Mahatma Gandhi

post from uncomfortably numb on 13 February 2008 09:40:00 AM. © uncomfortably numb

"If we are to teach real peace in this world, and if we are to carry on a real war against war, we shall have to begin with the children." - Mahatma Gandhi 'If we are to teach real peace in this world, and if we are to carry on a real war against war, we shall have to begin with the children.' - Mahatma Gandhi Technorati tags: Mahatma Gandhi, quotes, quotations, peace, children

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l-peace-in-this.html

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South Dakota Superdelegate Endorses Obama

About a month ago we had a comment posted on our Superdelegate Endorsement List by Nicholas Nemec announcing that he endorsed Barack Obama last August. We searched high and low for a press release or news article to back him up but never found one.

We started our list in early January before superdelegates became the new buzzword. We decided that organizations like CBS, CNN and NBC made it easy for superdelegates to say they endorsed a candidate because their names were never mentioned. When a news article or press release shows a superdelegate's endorsement it's much harder for them to switch to another candidate.

After some debate between ourselves we decided that we're as much a news organization as any other source we've used.

I spoke to South Dakota superdelegate Nicholas Nemec today who announced he officially supports Barack Obama.

Mr. Nemec was elected to the South Dakota State Legislature in 1992 and served two 4-year terms. When his second term ended he was elected to be a member of the DNC.

Nemec, a resident of Holabird, South Dakota, told me he will be traveling to Denver for the convention along with his family. He plans on staying a few extra days and hopes to go white-water rafting in the mountains. - 2008 Democratic Convention Watch

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Distorting Obama

post from Crooks and Liars on 13 February 2008 09:31:56 AM. © Crooks and Liars

(h/t PatriotsMaxim) CNN calls Bush out for distorting Obama’s postions on Iraq and Pakistan when he appeared with Chris Wallace on FNS.

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WSJ reaches low for irrelevance

post from The Newshoggers on 13 February 2008 09:26:00 AM. © The Newshoggers

By Libby

Well, we all knew the WSJ would go further downhill once Rupert Murdoch got his clutches on the rag, but this editorial surely sounds the final death rattle of any sense of reason coming from their editorial office. I had to look at the masthead twice to make sure I'd hadn't inadvertently clicked into Faux News. They have of course been cheeringleading for telecom immunity for weeks now but this cheap shot at Obama for voting for the rule of law, takes the definitions of inane and mendacity to a whole new universe of meaning.

Don't even bother to click the link. It's a waste of three minutes that could be better spent in higher pursuits, like taking out the trash. But here's their closing graf to give you a sense of how far they've fallen from meaningful discourse.

The defeat of these antiwar amendments means the legislation now moves to the House in a strong position. Speaker Nancy Pelosi is in the Dodd-Obama camp, but 21 Blue Dog Democrats have sent her a letter saying they are happy with the Senate bill. She may try to pass the restrictions that failed in the Senate, and Republicans should tell her to make their day. This is a fight Senator McCain should want to have right up through Election Day, with Democrats having to explain why they want to hamstring the best weapon -- real-time surveillance -- we have against al Qaeda.

I'm sure I don't need to point out how desperate these false memes look. It's sad really but I suppose on some level this pathetic abuse of bandwidth might be used as a primer by future generations who will someday study how once revered media commited suicide, so there is that.

Meanwhile, our last hope to overcome the snakes in the Senate who sold us out again and save the rule of law, now rests in Pelosi's hands. That point at least is true. You know what to do.

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But He's Very Serious!

post from Eschaton on 13 February 2008 09:25:00 AM. © Eschaton

Yglesias:

McCain even goes so far as to directly compare his vision of Iraq to the current situation in Kuwait, where in exchange for basing rights and oil we help prop up an unaccountable and corrupt dictatorship. Fear that this is what we're aiming for in Iraq is precisely why many Iraqis are fighting so hard against our troops, and our habit of acting this way in other Gulf states is a major driving force of anti-American sentiment throughout the Muslim world. The Bush administration has at least had the good sense to pursue this agenda quietly and in secret, but hot-head McCain can't keep his mouth shut to avoid gaffes and can't stop digging now that he realizes he's in a hole.

Yglesias fails to understand that this kind of talk helps maintain Leon Wieseltier's sagging post-9/11 priapism, which is what's really important.

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Today's quote from George Washington, 'As Mankind
becomes more liberal...'

post from uncomfortably numb on 13 February 2008 09:18:00 AM. © uncomfortably numb

"As Mankind becomes more liberal, they will be more apt to allow that all those who conduct themselves as worthy members of the community are equally entitled to the protections of civil government. I hope ever to see America among the foremost nations of justice and liberality." - George Washington 'As Mankind becomes more liberal, they will be more apt to allow that all those who conduct themselves as worthy members of the community are equally entitled to the...

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Florida and Michigan Count

Florida and Michigan Count A prominent civil rights leader has told the Democratic National Committee that refusing to seat delegates from Florida and Michigan would disenfranchise both states’ minority communities. In a Feb. 8 letter to[...]

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Obama (The Candy Man) on a roll after three big
wins

Oh, who can take tomorrow, Dip it in a dream, Separate the sorrow and collect up all the cream? The Candy Man, Oh, the Candy Man can. The Candy Man can 'Cause he mixes it with love And makes the world taste good.read more | digg story

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