Beyond the Pale: Molly Ivins' Eulogy for Habeas Corpus...
As most of you know, I do by best to keep my lawyerly background deeply buried, but every now and then, it haunts me. I want to be appathetic. I want to drink the koolaid. I want to blithly go on with my life an ingore what this administration is doing to this country, the world and our standing in said world. But I can't. I can not pretend I do not understand what Habeas Corpus is. I can not listen to the talking heads as they either flat out LIE or so twist the truth that it not longer resembles anything close...well...the truth. I am embarassed that one of my congress women voted for this gross affront to the law. I am slightly embarrassed that the other, while not voting for it, did not vote against it...she knows it is wrong, but couldn't bring herself to stand against the lemmings of her party. I can not put it any better than Molly Ivins just did: Habeas Corpus - RIP (1215 - 2006).
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The bill simply removes a suspect's right to challenge his detention in court. This is a rule of law that goes back to the Magna Carta in 1215. That pretty much leaves the barn door open.
As Vladimir Bukovsky, the Soviet dissident, wrote, an intelligence service free to torture soon "degenerates into a playground for sadists." But not unbridled sadism -- you will be relieved that the compromise took out the words permitting interrogation involving "severe pain" and substituted "serious pain," which is defined as "bodily injury that involves extreme physical pain."
In July 2003, George Bush said in a speech: "The United States is committed to worldwide elimination of torture, and we are leading this fight by example. Freedom from torture is an inalienable human right. Yet torture continues to be practiced around the world by rogue regimes, whose cruel methods match their determination to crush the human spirit."
Fellow citizens, this bill throws out legal and moral restraints as the president deems it necessary -- these are fundamental principles of basic decency, as well as law.
I'd like those supporting this evil bill to spare me one affliction: Do not, please, pretend to be shocked by the consequences of this legislation. And do not pretend to be shocked when the world begins comparing us to the Nazis.
Labels: rantishness
posted by LuxMentis @ 9:48 PM
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Hello IJK and all,
The time has arrived to think outside of the box, or else...
Understanding and fixing the failings of politics and democracy for the benefit of everyone, everywhere
Politics is little more than greed, arrogance, falsehood, hero-worship, and injustice taken to extremes and organized into teams (nations, parties, interest groups, etc). It is the struggle for your group, hero, and viewpoint so you can profit at the expense of others. This forces others to do the same in self-defense, causing an endless loop, downward spiral, and no-gain effect. When money, religion, and politics are intermingled, they form a true inescapable trap or bottomless pit. It is the opposite of compassion, cooperation, justice, and wisdom and causes you to expend dramatically more effort, time, and resources than necessary to achieve lesser results than are possible when you simply cooperate and have compassion, empathy, and charity for each other. Harmony and cooperation are on the perfect path, while politics, religion and money are ignorance, strong lies, strong delusion, and utter folly.
The primary, though hidden purpose of politics is to effectively divide and conquer populations who support and participate in these great delusions. Politics serves to dramatically slow and confound progress towards common and common-sense goals that most people want to achieve. This is one of the reasons why major problems persist for centuries. When people finally cooperate to solve problems for the good of all, problems will finally be solved and stay solved. On the other hand, participating in and supporting politics causes problems to persist and even to reappear later, though they were apparently solved previously. Because of the ability of those who also control money and religion to reverse past progress and prevent true cooperation, politics is a great deception and a trap and the opposite of truth, wisdom, and justice.
Read More...
...and here...
Peace…
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