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Send the Roto Rooter Man
Apparently John McCain and those who think like him are confusing our
court system with plumbing. They are worried that a little thing like
habeas corpus might clog things up, and for that reason John McCain
calls the Supreme Court's upholding of this basic human right "the
worst decision in History!"
There have been worse decisions, John. And this one doesn't qualify. You running for president might qualify, however.
Let
me put it this way: Is the possibility of a few more court cases really
more important than standing for what America always stood for -
fairness, equality under the law and decency? Have you eaten the magic
George Bush pill that makes you totally disinterested in human rights,
international treaties, conventions and morals? Have you forgotten that
some of the people tossed into jails like Guantanamo are INNOCENT!
When
one innocent man or woman is railroaded into prison without any rights
whatsoever, we don't have America. We have tyranny. And if there's one
thing I think Bush desires, it's tyranny. If there's one thing that
Cheney clearly desires, it's tyranny. So, John, are you with them or
with America?
Comments (17)
Here, here!
June 13, 2008 6:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hear, hear!
Hey! I got to correct Lis!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hear_hear
June 13, 2008 7:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
She'll be by to spank you and take your hat. ;)
June 13, 2008 8:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
(Laughing out loud, to the point where I have to comment):
I don't mind standing, corrected, when I've made a typo or used a mis-spelling.
AND, I've always wondered: Is it "Here here" as "I am here, here, with you on this," or is it "Hear, hear, READ this and HEAR it and LISTEN to it!".
Now I know. Now I hear hear.
June 13, 2008 8:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oops. I meant to say, "as IN", not just "as".
Then again, after my late-night deep-throated first-ever experience with someone by the name of kosmik, I'm not sure I ever want to mention the word "in" again.
June 13, 2008 8:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
That was a freakin' train wreck!
June 14, 2008 12:11 AM | Reply | Permalink
King George IV has no robe!
June 13, 2008 6:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
I like your all caps "innocent." McCain has not forgotten. He believes like Bush and Cheney. His conscience irritated him only momentarily. It was a minor lapse of from lust for power.
It's the mindset. Obama has said he will work on eradicating this mindset. One aspect of this mindset is that if we imprison certain people then we are safe. As a result, not only do we have a bloated prison economy on the rise here at home, but Guantanamo has children, aged men, charity workers, journalists and people who sold themselves, family members and neighbors to the U.S. military for bounty money.
My favorite part of yesterdays court story is Scalia bemoaning that the majority's ruling extends the habeas statute to the four corners of the world. I paraphrase and badly.
But I laughed out loud when I heard that, as I was driving home from work yesterday. It's ok to blow up civilians with clusterbombs, drop candy on kids to make them love us, imprison people in Abu Ghraib like settings, all in the name of bringing Democracy to a people at gunpoint. But habeas? Hell no!
June 13, 2008 7:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Democracy handed not on a silver platter, but with a silver bullet.
I, for one, am tired of the cowboy mentality. I'm sure other countries all around us on this little planet we call earth feel the same way.
BTW, Cricket, I see you have not yet changed into a mini-skirt. But that's okay by me, now, because I know you're out there on the prairie with your sword, protecting America from the terrorists within. You know, those terrorists who are fighting against terrorism for the sake of Blackwater, et. al. Those terrorists who are seeking to inspire fear and shock and awe NOT in other countries, per se, but in their OWN.
Keep wearing that long dress, luv. It suits you, looks great on you (it brings out your hourglass shape), it goes perfectly with your sword (nice accessory, btw...not the usual Coach bag...I like it!), and best of all: It's blue!!
June 13, 2008 8:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
Lis, just so you know, you are one of the many reasons I like TPM - you are unpretentious, honest, out here just as you are and you don't shun people just because you can. I admire that.
Keep it up. ;)
June 13, 2008 9:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
There there.
June 13, 2008 9:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
raider, I'd also like to add that I love how you gave all-caps to the word INNOCENT.
We all know that many innocent people have been imprisoned all around the globe. We all have read if not witnessed cases where new DNA testing proves an incarcerated person really is innocent of a crime, and gets to go home after years of unjust prison time. It makes my heart wrench.
I used to really feel for John McCain, who was a prisoner of war for over five years in Hanoi.
But now, watching McCain talk about war, I understand what he already knew -- prisoners of war take their punishment and loss of freedom as a part of their duty to their country. They already know that they are pawns on a chess board. They already know the protocol if they are captured and detained.
Innocent people who are mistaken for terrorists (or drug dealers, or rapists, or murderers or pedophiles or tax evaders) and who are jailed do NOT have the inner calm that a pawn on a chess board is trained to have. Innocent people wrongly imprisoned are justifiably WRONGED and act accordingly.
June 13, 2008 9:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks Lis... This was pretty much a spur of the moment post, but it really offended me how his argument was that the courts would get clogged with bogus habeas corpus cases - as if any habeas corpus case is bogus.
As for McCain's POW experience, I really don't know what happened to him, but I also have sympathy for that. However, that doesn't make him presidential material. The fact that he has vaulting ambition and a ruthless disdain for facts or consistent positions on just about anything, and the fact that his POW experience was a long, long time ago, all point to someone who deserves less sympathy now than scrutiny. Less admiration than wariness.
And, yes, there are a lot of innocent people in jails and still in slavery all over the world. And as much as it has always been an unsavory part of our own legacy, at least most of us fight for freedom for everyone, believe in the vision of our Founding Fathers, and, I think, believe that standing for our values, even when it's a tough thing to do, is what makes us great - not nuclear weapons and the exportation of our worst principles of greed and entitlement.
So let's hear, hear it for having a moral compass that always points to the Constitution and the Bill of Rights instead of whatever political lodestone seems to be convenient in the moment.
June 13, 2008 9:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
In my experience, Republicans will become Democrats the minute they get arrested for something they didn't do.
It just happens more often to people who aren't privileged or favored by society.
June 14, 2008 12:18 AM | Reply | Permalink
So how come Mr. "I Have a Wide Stance" Craig is still a Republican, if he didn't do what he was arrested for doing?
June 14, 2008 1:36 AM | Reply | Permalink
As you know, the Republicans will be invading St. Paul soon for their nominating convention. A friend and I have had stickers made up that say "No Republicans Beyond This Point". We will be installing them along the bottom edge of all bathroom stalls in the Twin Cities shortly before the convention. Hopefully, that will cut down on any future stance-related problems for members of the Republican Party.
June 14, 2008 10:41 AM | Reply | Permalink
Good stuff.
June 14, 2008 9:42 AM | Reply | Permalink
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