Bush and his people, despite their antipathy to France and persons of French heritage, are the now the agents of our own Norman Conquest.
Other far more modern legal concepts were nullified on Sept. 28 of this year by the radically new and broad definition of the term "enemy combatant."
Bush can now freely designate legal residents of the United States, as well as foreign citizens living in their own countries, as "enemy combatants" subject to summary arrest and indefinite detention with no hope of appeal.
These so-called "enemy combatants" could then, under the terms of this bill, be subjected to coerced evidence - translate that into pure and simple torture.
This trampling of rights also nullifies a precept of our first president, George Washington.
After capturing 1,000 Hessians in the Battle of Trenton, he ordered that enemy prisoners be treated with the same rights for which our young nation was fighting.
In an order covering prisoners taken in the Battle of Princeton, Washington wrote: "Treat them with humanity, and let them have no reason to complain of our copying the brutal example of the British Army in their treatment of our unfortunate brethren.... Provide everything necessary for them on the road." So recalls young Robert F. Kennedy in a Dec. 17, 2005, article in the Los Angeles Times.
Then, there's the Geneva Conventions, finally codified in 1949, now to be repudiated a half century later. As well as the use of "Secret Evidence," which has the sweaty fingerprints of Mr. Richard Bruce Cheney all over it. How Mr. Cheney loves his little dark secrets.
Other sweet little provisions of this new law are dispensing with judicial review. Courts would have no review powers, except for verdicts by military tribunals.
Appeals and legal actions based on the Geneva Conventions would be extremely limited in their scope. Bush could simply declare someone an illegal combatant and have that person locked up forever, without trial.
Oh, and rape and sexual assault? A totally acceptable form of torture.
I don't know about you, but I guess I have to stock up on some smelly old bearskins and go hunting around for some nice clubs for my little cave arsenal.
I know that I will not look well in ratty old bearskins, and I'm not too keen on eating rotten, raw meat, but it goes with the new rules of the game, a la Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld.
Originally published in the Federal Way Mirror, Washington State.
Other far more modern legal concepts were nullified on Sept. 28 of this year by the radically new and broad definition of the term "enemy combatant."
Bush can now freely designate legal residents of the United States, as well as foreign citizens living in their own countries, as "enemy combatants" subject to summary arrest and indefinite detention with no hope of appeal.
These so-called "enemy combatants" could then, under the terms of this bill, be subjected to coerced evidence - translate that into pure and simple torture.
After capturing 1,000 Hessians in the Battle of Trenton, he ordered that enemy prisoners be treated with the same rights for which our young nation was fighting.
In an order covering prisoners taken in the Battle of Princeton, Washington wrote: "Treat them with humanity, and let them have no reason to complain of our copying the brutal example of the British Army in their treatment of our unfortunate brethren.... Provide everything necessary for them on the road." So recalls young Robert F. Kennedy in a Dec. 17, 2005, article in the Los Angeles Times.
Then, there's the Geneva Conventions, finally codified in 1949, now to be repudiated a half century later. As well as the use of "Secret Evidence," which has the sweaty fingerprints of Mr. Richard Bruce Cheney all over it. How Mr. Cheney loves his little dark secrets.
Other sweet little provisions of this new law are dispensing with judicial review. Courts would have no review powers, except for verdicts by military tribunals.
Appeals and legal actions based on the Geneva Conventions would be extremely limited in their scope. Bush could simply declare someone an illegal combatant and have that person locked up forever, without trial.
Oh, and rape and sexual assault? A totally acceptable form of torture.
I don't know about you, but I guess I have to stock up on some smelly old bearskins and go hunting around for some nice clubs for my little cave arsenal.
I know that I will not look well in ratty old bearskins, and I'm not too keen on eating rotten, raw meat, but it goes with the new rules of the game, a la Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld.
Originally published in the Federal Way Mirror, Washington State.
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