I wonder if I should pit the liberal tedia for its utter failure to even mention the profuse apologies and lavish compensations showered upon these men by our chastened and repentant government. Shirley, if we slammed up a bunch of innocent people for three years and treated them like evil, evil terrists, they were accorded a decent apology? And some compensation? Of course they were, to imagine otherwise is unthinkable! And yet the scurrilous AP doesn’t even have the decency to mention it, leaving the foul impression that these people were simply kicked loose without so much as a “Oooopsy! My bad!”.
And now on to Mr. Padilla…
Yep, that’s right. Lost his marbles. What a weak sister, huh? Coming unglued after a mere three or so years of gentle and humane incarceration in a clean and hygenic cell, lavishly appointed with a toilet, and entirely free of the vexations of human interaction.
The whole gitmo thing has really pissed me off. Any mention of due process, Geneva Convention rights, or opposing torture is met with a chorus of “why do you want to coddle terrorists” and how these are the “worst of the worst”. But you never hear anyone talk about how we know if the incarcerated are guilty of anything.
You could have said the same thing about the Lacrosse players: “why are we letting these gang rapists go free” and “why should we give these people due process when they did not give the dancer due process before raping her”. The only problem is that after the hysteria died down we find that they are probably innocent after all.
I haven’t followed the Padilla case very closely, but the Gitmo situation is just incomprehensible to me-- it so wrong and so shameful, I don’t even know where to begin. And the crazy part is that it’s also stupid! It is accomplishing exactly the opposite of what it’s supposed to be doing-- making us less safe from terror atacks rather than more safe. I suspect that for every “alleged terrorist” we hold there, we’ve created 10 or more **real **terrorists (or jihadists, if you prefer) in reaction to it. And the foot dragging that Bush et al have done with the court cases is just disgusting. I don’t mean just the slow processing of the detainees, but the constant appeals that have had to be made to the SCOTUS every step along the way.
Yet another thing that is going to be left to “future presidents” to deal with.
Actually, it is. You can pick just about any time in US history and find some pretty damn objectionable things going on. That’s **not **to excuse Bush’s debacles, nor to minimize them, but an entire country is not defined by just its worst actions or aspects. Bush will be gone in 2 years (yeah, that’s 2 years too long), and I have faith in our system that we’ll get back on a better track once that happens.
At least the far-right conservatives in the '50’s only put “In God We Trust” on the money. These fuckers we gots the last few years are some serious loonies.
It is a great country. However, I don’t swell with pride about having the Secretary of Defense facing prosecution for war crimes. A spot of bother, that.
As I said, he’s not facing prosecution for war crimes. Those cites do not prove otherwise. Didn’t you particpate in the threads where these were discussed?
Every thing the United States Government has done because of the attack on 9/11 has made every aspect of world terrorism worse. Every thing that the cowards who call for more security, and the bigots who call for more killing, and every thing that allows the exact same people who sat and voted to allow their puppet dictator/president to continue to represent the United States to the world has proven that we are a nation of cowards, and bullies. I am waaaaay past being ashamed of my government. I am ashamed of my fellow citizens.
But, as long as I have cheap gas for my SUV, I am gonna keep supporting the President!
Go back and look at the thead and you decide. In the meantime, though, I’d love to place a little wager with you on whether Rumsfeld is facing prosecution for war crimes. How much would you like to plop down? $100? More?