September 28, 2006 by lonbud
Well And Truly F*cked
President George W. Bush came one step closer today to wielding the power to undo nearly 800 years of human progress with the stroke of a pen.
By a vote of 65 – 34 (Maine’s Olympia Snowe could bring herself to neither a yea nor a nay on the matter), the U.S. Senate approved The Military Commissions Act of 2006, which is, in the august chamber’s quaint description, “a bill to authorize trial by military commission for violations of the law of war, and for other purposes.”
Earlier this week the House approved its version of the legislation roundly acknowledged to bestow upon the Executive authority to designate certain persons to whom the legal and humanitarian concordance of the past millennium does not apply.
The Writ of Habeas Corpus, a right to become informed of the charges upon which one might find oneself in a dungeon, or suspended above a pot of boiling oil, or strapped to the seat of an airliner on the way to a prison that doesn’t exist, or even under house arrest, a right whose observance in the year 1215 informed the very foundation of this idea we call “civilization” — that will no longer be available to some.
Articles IV, V, VI and VIII of The Bill of Rights, wherein a body’s right to be free of search or siezure absent some oath or affirmation of charge; to the due process of law in deprivation of life, liberty, or property; to be confronted with witnesses against one and to have the assistance of counsel for one’s defense; to be free of cruel and unusual punishment, all fundamental principles upon which the United States of America was founded, which have been enshrined in the fabric of our very legitimacy as a nation and a people since 1791 — those will no longer apply to some.
The Rules of War, a set of conventions and “best practices” which so-called civilized nations have been dedicated to formalizing and observing since 1864, along with very specific understandings of the rights of persons captured in wartime dating from 1949 — those will be observed no longer.
The buzz has to be staggering for the former pep squad member and notorious party boy. The best the old man could manage was selling out American hostages to win an election, and puking in the Japanese Prime Minister’s lap. The son gets to undermine the stability and security of the entire planet. The mother must be proud.
Paul Burke - September 29, 2006 @ 7:01 am
It will get struck down by the Courts as Unconstitutional – and is part of the Republicans’ tough on terror re-election rhetoric. Even Spector tried to warn his colleagues about that. Let’s hope the Court stands up for the Constitution or we’ll all end up in the pokey for speaking out against King George and his oil cronies. It is truly sad how the Coke fiend in Chief has no understanding of history or the importance of our laws how they came about and why. If you don’t know history you are doomed to repeat it and this lame brain and his henchmen are clueless. Their behavior is really treasonous. You can not defend liberty abroad and abandon it at home.
Lore Cailor - September 29, 2006 @ 4:00 pm
That about says it all!! I’ve long thought that Busch should be impeached for the liar and traitor he is. OOps! he didn’t have oral sex like Clinton so I guess there were no grounds for impeachment.
Jeseppi Trade Wildfeather - September 29, 2006 @ 7:45 pm
Q: Why did Patrick Henry say, “Give me liberty or give me death”?
A: I think he was a student of history. Those who by cunning and stealth vest themselves with the loathesome priviledges of tyrrants, and who undermine the just and natural human rights of others, are depicted in history as requiring cupbearers, tasters, and many armed guards, both in public and private life. George Washington knew that since they choose violence and treachery to gain the ascendancy for themselves and their families, their defiled consiences sequester and shackle them by default in the deepest psychological dungeons where no light of trust may be found. Even Bush must know by now that eventually, like Hitler, they all go mad, creeping around networks of disguised and subtle deceivers, full of vicious envy, all blushing together in the same wicked, self serving hypocritical orgy of those whom they call “friends”. Samuel Adams certainly realized that the fear they produce in others returns to them in their beds a hundredfold. They no longer regard any place safe enough to abide, least of all the annals of history. And finally, Johnathan Edwards probably preached that their names are forever marred and stained with ignomany, shame and disdain, — that the innocent blood of their victims, unalterable through vain rhetoric or ceremony, is a haunting terror in their lives, and that their greatly esteemed patrimony is a legacy of death. I can hear his thunderous voice bellowing throughout the Church, “Those who draft such criminal designs drink unquenchable fire for eternity in the same demonic hell they are responsible for here on God’s good earth.” Respectfully submitted with all due kindness and respect, – Jeseppi Trade Wildfeather
Tam O’Tellico - September 29, 2006 @ 7:58 pm
Well, we’re finally seeing some progress with the bush administration. We’ve gone from kill a commie for Christ to torture a terrorist for Christ. At long last, mr. bush, have you no shame? (That’s a rhetorical question).
But bush is not the only shameless character in this tragedy. I watched in utter amazement as the “pontificating patriots” in Congress feigned shock that so many of the slimeballs in the Hewlett-Packard fiasco took the Fifth when asked to testify about “pretexting”. Then the noble nabobs blustered for the cameras in full self-righteous indignation and swore they would pass legislation to insure that no one else in corporate America would ever use such unscrupulous methods again. What a crock of shit!
I screamed at the TV – What the fuck did you clowns expect when you encourage illegal wiretapping? What kind of morality do you expect in business when you slither around morality to make torture acceptable? Where do you think this going to end up when you trample all over rights that people have fought and died for for centuries?
Of all people, I would expect these Free-Market Freaks to be arguing for “pretexting” since after all, what’s good for General Motors is good for America – and thus corporate security is essential to national security. And it appears that behind the scenes that is exactly what’s going on since a bill to outlaw such practices was introduced months ago, but an anonymous hold was put on the bill in January. Lord, save us from our saviors!
And speaking of saviors, let us not forget that one of the primary purposes for pushing the No Prisoner Left Untortured bill was to provide a shield for the torturers when the chickens come home to roost and charges of “war criminals” start flying – which is bound to happen in other countries and possibly even in ours. I mean, if Clinton can get impeached for fibbing about a blow job, imagine what Democrats can do to bush and cheney for lying about WMD and the Saddam/Osama connection?
But sometimes I wonder if I’ve misjudged Bush; I wonder if he isn’t secretly laughing at this the nightmare he has brought to life. Most people in our country are now reduced to praying and begging for a merciful end to this administration and its “death of a thousand cuts”. Who knows? Maybe the man-boy who loves torture so much takes childish pleasure from causing the suffering of millions.
Perhaps he is especially enjoying the pain his travesty of governance has wreaked upon all those thoughtful and concerned citizens who have long known him to be a fool. It is only natural that the leader of the clan that believes sado-masochistic drivel like Mel Gibson’s Passion of Christ is high art and that such violence represents a meaningful representation of the teachings of Jesus – that such a man actually enjoys torture.
If you think I’m being harsh, think again; think about how deep and lasting was bush’s sorrow at the horrors he caused with his failure to respond to Katrina. But I suppose he comes by his disinterest honestly. Like his mother, I’m sure he just chalked it up to the fact that the dead and the displaced weren’t “our kind”.
lonbud - September 29, 2006 @ 11:47 pm
I meant to mention the perhaps symbolic, perhaps actual — who knows anymore — irony of the senate’s vote count, presenting as it did a mirror image of the public’s present approval of the president, and of the job his administration is doing in Iraq and with the WOT.
By a roughly 64 -35 margin, the sense of the nation is that things have gone awry.
But here comes Newt Gingrich today — I thought he died, or got sent to prison, didn’t he? — bloviating about “the national will” and how it ought to provide sufficient grounds for ignoring the Supreme Court and any potentially unpopular decision it might hand down.
Hey Newt: STFU. If “the national will” had anything to do with it, your Mr. Bush would be out of office and our troops would be home today.
You simply can’t have it both ways, folks.
Tam O’Tellico - October 1, 2006 @ 10:01 am
Newt: Although lizard-like in shape, the common newt has no scales, moves very slowly and never basks in the sun; it uses its sticky tongue to catch worms, slugs and insects, even other newts; it spends most of the year on land, hiding by day under logs and stones.
Does this fat reptile include Conservatives like George Will among his “national will”? If so, he better do a little re-reading of the winds of change. The Contract on America now having come to full bloom, and Americans having discovered that the Bushites are not Conservatives, but Monarchists in Libertarian clothing, the bloom is off the Lilliputians.
Furthermore, now we know why the sudden campaign afoot to “blame it all on Clinton”, such as the charge by Minute (as in tiny) Rice that “what we did in the eight months was at least as aggressive as what the Clinton administration did in the preceding years.” True only if Clinton did zip, zero, nothing, nada – which is what the Bush clan did about Al Queda during its first eight months in office. Fact is, the would-be emporer dawdled while NYC burned.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/30/AR2006093000282.html
bubbles - October 2, 2006 @ 10:30 am
“For Florida political junkies, consider this,” writes Steve Bousquet, the Tallahassee bureau chief for the St. Petersburg Times, at his newspaper’s Florida politics blog, The Buzz. “In all or part of eight Florida counties on Nov. 7, the general election ballot will feature Katherine Harris atop the Republican ballot followed by Mark Foley. (How’s that for a winning ticket?)” 😉
Tam O’Tellico - October 2, 2006 @ 7:43 pm
Having seen Katherine up too close and poisonal, I can see why Foley prefers boys. This sordid episode reminds of Louisiana politico Edwin Edwards who is supposed to have said “The only way I lose this election is if they catch me in bed with a dead girl or a live boy.”
lonbud - October 3, 2006 @ 12:13 am
The Surreal Meter is going into the red.
Michael Herdegen - October 3, 2006 @ 1:01 am
The Surreal Meter is going into the red.
Yeah – as I read the comments on this thread, mine did too.
lonbud - October 3, 2006 @ 8:19 am
I’d be pissed, too, Michael. Your party was doing such a good job of obfuscating the systemic corruption at its rotten core exposed by Jack Abramoff and Duke Cunningham, when Mark Foley had to go and bring SEX into it.
Everybody knows Americans will sit up and pay attention to anything that gets the blood flowing in their nether regions. The Republicans will be lucky at this stage to hold on to either one of the houses of congress.
The law of Karma is irrefutable. I predict a total rout and Impeachment hearings by Easter.
Tam O’Tellico - October 3, 2006 @ 10:04 pm
M: “”The Surreal Meter is going into the red.” Yeah – as I read the comments on this thread, mine did too.”
Let’s see if I’ve got this right, Michael – torture, wiretapping, nutty wars, no-bid cronyism, lobbyist bagmen, gross malfeasance, ignorance, incompetence, and now a sex scandal involving minor male pages and a probable cover-up by the Speaker of the House – none of that strikes you as surreal, but a few edgy smart-ass remarks here, does?
And if you’re referring to my snide remarks about Katherine Harris, trust me, the woman is beneath contempt. She is an absolute nut case, so much so that her own party doesn’t even want her, even though her Big Citrus family members are big Republican contributors in Florida. But you want her, you can have her.
As for the Foley/Hastert/Boner/Rumsfeld/Ney/Cheney/Libby/Bush/Rove/Abramoff/Cunningham, et al administration, you’re gonna ride this dead-ass horse to the bitter end, aren’t you?
Michael Herdegen - October 6, 2006 @ 4:41 am
I predict a total rout and Impeachment hearings by Easter.
I predict that the GOP will hold both the House and the Senate, and that impeachment hearings will begin on the 5th of Never.
Your party was doing such a good job…
Not really. In fact they’re doing a horrible job, and have been for a long time.
But of course, you don’t know to which Party I’m referring, because you’ve never bothered to ask me what Party I support, if any. You simply assume that I belong to a particular one.
Which is one of the meta-points that I’ve tried to get across, over the past year – that your habit of not validating your assumptions, (at least as shown by your writings in this forum), leads you to hold unsupportable ideas in the real world, and contributes to your surprise and dismay when events there don’t go as you think that they will and ought.
Let’s see if I’ve got this right, Michael – torture, wiretapping, nutty wars, no-bid cronyism, lobbyist bagmen, gross malfeasance, ignorance, incompetence, and now a sex scandal involving minor male pages and a probable cover-up by the Speaker of the House – none of that strikes you as surreal…
Those strike me as “business as usual”, as they would anyone with any knowledge of history.
I suggest to you that you would benefit from reading some history books, of either the “ancient” or “20th century” variety – you’ll be amazed at how common the things that you mention actually are.
…but a few edgy smart-ass remarks here, does?
LOL
Yeah – “edgy”. Way to flatter yourself.
What struck me was the total ignorance of history and current law; thus, “surreal”.
lonbud - October 6, 2006 @ 8:20 am
Fine. We’ll see soon enough whether Easter comes before the 5th of Never.
And what’s with the coyness regarding your party affiliation? I don’t care whether your voter registration card says Democrat, Republican, or Other. You’ve spent your entire time on this blog supporting every last impulse of what I refer to as “the ruling junta”, so don’t take me to task for tarring you with the shit-caked Republican brush.
I am not particularly surprised at all the way events have turned out in the real world. I and many like me predicted exactly the kind of FUBAR situation pertaining now in the Middle East and, yes, Afghanistan. You are the one with the appparent inability to come to grips with reality there, my friend.
I think the meta-point to be understood here is that you are now and have always been completely satisfied with “business as usual”, while I am not.