Progressive Minds

If someone could find my country and give it back to me, I would be much appreciative.

There used to be a time when we said that even the President of the United States was not above the law; was not beyond reproach.

Well, the United States Congress made sure tonight to put the final nail in that coffin.

The United States Senate passed a bill this evening, which is on its way to Bushie's desk for the Master's signature, that will in effect declare Bushie judge and jury, and allow him to deny you, Mr. or Mrs. American citizen, indefinitely, without any justification.

The New York Times lays it out on the line in a wonderfully written op/ed.  From the Times:

These are some of the bill’s biggest flaws:

Enemy Combatants: A dangerously broad definition of “illegal enemy combatant” in the bill could subject legal residents of the United States, as well as foreign citizens living in their own countries, to summary arrest and indefinite detention with no hope of appeal. The president could give the power to apply this label to anyone he wanted.

The Geneva Conventions: The bill would repudiate a half-century of international precedent by allowing Mr. Bush to decide on his own what abusive interrogation methods he considered permissible. And his decision could stay secret — there’s no requirement that this list be published.

Habeas Corpus: Detainees in U.S. military prisons would lose the basic right to challenge their imprisonment. These cases do not clog the courts, nor coddle terrorists. They simply give wrongly imprisoned people a chance to prove their innocence.

Judicial Review: The courts would have no power to review any aspect of this new system, except verdicts by military tribunals. The bill would limit appeals and bar legal actions based on the Geneva Conventions, directly or indirectly. All Mr. Bush would have to do to lock anyone up forever is to declare him an illegal combatant and not have a trial.

Coerced Evidence: Coerced evidence would be permissible if a judge considered it reliable — already a contradiction in terms — and relevant. Coercion is defined in a way that exempts anything done before the passage of the 2005 Detainee Treatment Act, and anything else Mr. Bush chooses.

Secret Evidence: American standards of justice prohibit evidence and testimony that is kept secret from the defendant, whether the accused is a corporate executive or a mass murderer. But the bill as redrafted by Mr. Cheney seems to weaken protections against such evidence.

Offenses: The definition of torture is unacceptably narrow, a virtual reprise of the deeply cynical memos the administration produced after 9/11. Rape and sexual assault are defined in a retrograde way that covers only forced or coerced activity, and not other forms of nonconsensual sex. The bill would effectively eliminate the idea of rape as torture.

Read the full article here: http://www.nytimes.com/auth/login?URI=/2006/09/28/opinion/28thu1.html&OQ=_rQ3D5Q26orefQ3DsloginQ26orefQ3DsloginQ26orefQ3DsloginQ26orefQ3Dslogin&REFUSE_COOKIE_ERROR=SHOW_ERROR (registration required!)

As if that wasn't enough, the House of Representatives tonight passed a bill that in effect wrote Bush's ILLEGAL warrentless domestic spying program into law.  The fact that the House felt the need to retroactively write Bush's illegal behavior into law, tells you all you need to know. 

Thankfully though, that bill is NOT on its way to the Emperor's desk for signature.  There are major differences that need to be worked out between the House and Senate versions of the bill.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060929/ap_on_go_co/congress_eavesdropping