Sandals at the Gate

If you think it unlikely that the following is as bad as it sounds... that US Citizens cannot be pursued under the following draconian measures... listen to the President and members of the Right in this country conflate the Democratic oppostion to these laws as "aiding and abetting the terorists" or as our new dictator in chief says that opposition "buys into the enemy's propaganda."

It seems as if that "god-dammned piece of paper" has just been put to rest. With the passage yesterday of the Military Commissions Act passed by a spineless Senate, the constitutional republic called America was dealt a fatal blow, and the dictatorship of George W. Bush has, de facto, been established.

Today, the House of Representatives has passed the warrantless wiretapping legislation pending in that body, and it will soon pass to the Senate to do likewise. Let's look at the implications of this for the power of the Presidency and ask ourselves what remains of the rule of law for our country:

- The President now has the authority to determine "enemy combatant" status for anyone he chooses based simply on the general category of "purposefully and materially supporting hostilities against the United States." This can easily be applied to political dissenters, vocal critics, newspapers that report badly about the Administration, reporters who expose illegal action by the Administrations, etc;

- Judicial review of cases brought against the Administration is now virtually impossible. The Judicial branch has been excised from this legislation;

- Habeas corpus has been suspended. The accused may not hear evidence against them;

- Torture is now interpreted by the President as he sees fit. Evidence obtained by torture can now be used against the accused;

- Folks who torture on behalf of the Administration and at the whim of the President are now shielded from criminal charges;

- If passed, the warrantless wiretapping bill will then allow the President to invade the privacy of citizens in order to amass evidence against anyone and then determine individuals to be "enemy combatants" subject to detention and then to the jurisdiction of the kangaroo courts established above;

So we have enabled the President to cast aside the Constitution, aribtrarily surveille the population, root out enemies based on criteria he determines, detain them indefinitely, torture them at whim, try them without telling them what they may be charged with, or not try them at all and simply hold them, prevent them from access to the courts to challenge their detention; act as judge, jury and executioner, AND NEVER FACE LEGAL ACTION OR EVEN JUDICIAL REVIEW FOR HAVING DONE SO!

Is this America? Where is the outrage?! Can the Republic have been so easily cast aside without so much as a whimper? Where is the opposition?

SHAME SHAME SHAME! The Republicans are a disgrace, but the Democrats are even worse. Where were they? Shamefully more interested in preserving their own careers, they cast aside the good of the nation for their own personal gain.

Not only did we place the President outside the rule of law, we granted him power and authority beyond measure to do heinous things in our names. Today, weep for America.

She is dead.

technorati tags:constitution, georgewbush, dictatorship, habeascorpus, endoftherepublic