The death of democracy
Habeas corpus – the right of the accused to hear the charges against them – is one of the cornerstones of our democracy. Withough habeas corpus, there is nothing to protect a person from false charges, particularly those brought by the government.
Did I say “is one of the cornerstones”? Make that “was.”
This is in direct response to the Supreme Court saying 6-3 in Rasul v. Bush (PDF) that the prisoners in Gitmo had a right to hear the charges against them in federal court (the ruling is on remand and not a single case has been allowed to get to federal court yet. None will, with this amendment. Rule of law, anyone?). Make no mistake about it, we are directly headed for life in a totalitarian state. Those black helicopters and jack-booted thugs? Those armies of despotic destruction aren’t being brought in by the UN, they’re being brought in by the GOP.
And four Democratic quislings.
Perhaps the GOP can spin this as just trying to follow in the footsteps of the great Abe Lincoln (whose one unforgiveable sin was suspending habeas corpus during the draft riots).
While we still have freedom of speech here, I’d like to give a particular fuck you shout out to the entire GOP (and when you try and put my back against the wall, I’m not going to make it easy for you), and a specific double fuck you to Lindsay Graham (R – SC) for sponsoring this assault on our civil liberties.
But my anger, no, my rage right now is directed against the four Dems who voted in favor of stripping habeas corpus rights from our prisoners and secured the passage of the Graham amendment. Without these four sellouts, the Graham amendment would not have passed. If you’ve read my site before, you’ll not be surprised in the slightest by the first entry on the list:
Fuck you, Joe Lieberman (“D” – MBNA/CT)
Fuck you, Kent Conrad (“D” – ND)
Fuck you, Mary Landrieu (“D” – LA)
Fuck you, Ben Nelson (“D” – NE)