DOES THE THIRD AMENDMENT PROHIBIT DRAWING OF SOLDIERS, OR ONLY QUARTERING?
The hideous "Hurray, We Can Torture Ragheads & Other Bad Guys Bill," which passed last month with little or no meaningful opposition on either side of the aisle, is set to go into law today in a "signing ceremony," with Bush scheduled to use his pen to repeatedly poke detainees in the eye, throat, genitals and anus.
Ok, he's only gonna use it to sign the damn thing, but what's the difference really?
Remember a few things, as Election Day is but three weeks away: no lawyers, hearsay permitted, no writ of habeus corpus, the President interprets & applies the relevant international standards, and most importantly, please remember which of the elected officials in your district either voted in favor of, or did nothing to prevent, the passage of this piece of shit bill.
Torture & Secret Trials: Done in our name, under our flag, ostensibly to advance our system of Constitutional government. In three weeks, we get the chance to tell em what we think about it.
Ok, he's only gonna use it to sign the damn thing, but what's the difference really?
Remember a few things, as Election Day is but three weeks away: no lawyers, hearsay permitted, no writ of habeus corpus, the President interprets & applies the relevant international standards, and most importantly, please remember which of the elected officials in your district either voted in favor of, or did nothing to prevent, the passage of this piece of shit bill.
Torture & Secret Trials: Done in our name, under our flag, ostensibly to advance our system of Constitutional government. In three weeks, we get the chance to tell em what we think about it.
posted by Mike at 6:23 AM
13 Comments:
The scary thing is, I don't know if enough of us care or even fathom what's happened. Maybe that new book, Tempting Faith, will get through to those who don't.
Mike, why do you hate America? Don't you know that Bush is trying to protect us? Don't you know that your opposition is only emboldening the enemy?
And that's about all of the talking points that I can remember.
Oh, yeah, you're a terrorist lover. And, they wouldn't be in prison if they weren't guilty.
See, living in Texas, you learn these things.
The best part is the fact that other crimes are being recast as terrorism, so that the looser standards can be applied to them.
For instance, protecting an animal testing facility from accross the street will be an act of terrorism if one bill is passed.
That means that some forms of peaceful protest can lead to indefinite detainment and torture.
Another bill will make violent sex crimes, acts of terrorism. This will make it legal for police officers to use torture to extract confessions in these cases.
The slippery slope begins, soon suspects of drunk driving, vandalism and jaywalkers might be legally tortured in order to gain their confessions.
I personally won't rest until telemarketing becomes a terroruist crime.
drunk driving
Ve haf vays of making you tell us vere you bought that last drink. Vunce ay-gain, WHO GAFE YOU THE THIRD PINT OF BUDVEISER?
You are the lawyer, but it scares the bejesus out of me when habeus corpus can be suspended in a situation no more dangerous than that created by the 9/11 attacks.
I am afraid this is worse than before because congress has now lent legitimacy (or a least a fig leaf) to these lunatic ideas.
WFTA-
I don't even know what to say most of the time. I'm serious. As a nation, we've had our bouts with this sort of thing before(1800-1804 or so, Civil War, Red Scare/Palmer Raids/Sedition Act during and after WWI, late 40s-early 50s), but I'm not sure it's ever been this long or this profound. Maybe the Civil War, but that was the invasion/rebellion that the Habeus Corpus clause of the Constitution foresaw.
Scary times.
I don't know, Mike. Either I'm seeing the threat all out of context or a lot of my fellow citizens are.
I love America. I love the idea of America. And I hate that the president, vice president, attorney general, secretaries of state and defence, speaker of the house, senate majority leader and a bevy of bluebloods, pundits and think tankers could not show more contempt for the constitution without wiping their asses with the original document. I don't know what it is they really want, but I will kiss your ass if it is to "protect the American people."
Over and out. It's cocktail hour.
I'm sorry if I wasn't clear: I'm very, very concerned abouty this, and I don't think your fears are overblown.
I was just noting that many people, me included, are almost numb to the destruction of the Rule of Law in our country.
I don't know what to do except vote, hope the bad guys lose, and pray that their no Diebold craziness to screw it all up.
Sorry. I didn't mean to give the impression that I was taking offence.
I've seen a bumper sticker that says,"if you are not appalled, you're not paying attention."
I wish I was seeing it a lot more often. If I didn't live in Houston, I'd really be bummed.
Appalled because you'd expect to see more of them somewhere else?
People I know from Texas have told me that Houston, far more than Dallas or West Texas, is relatively liberal/Democrat.
Did I misunderstand?
Yeah, Houston is a hotbed of liberalism—in the gay/punk stronghold of Montrose and a few blocks immediately surrounding Rice University. I live in suburban west Harris County where you might see a permanent sign on somebody’s lawn demanding that we get out of the United Nations.
Let me put it this way, if you have been reared in rural south Alabama, it is a pretty big shock to learn in middle age that it wasn’t even close to being the cultural heart of the Peckerwood Nation.
Olbermann had a good rant last night about it, putting the whole thing in perspective. At least his viewers will understand what's just happened.
Having never been to Houston, and having never actually watched Olbermann's show, I'll have to take both your words for it.
I've been to Dallas, and I've read the transcripts of Keith's rants lately, but I guess those don't count.
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