Politics
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Military Commissions Act vs U.S. Citizens
Any person is punishable as a principal under this chapter who commits an offense punishable by this chapter, or aids, abets, counsels, commands, or procures its commission,” according to the law, passed by the Republican-controlled Congress in September and signed by Bush on Oct. 17. Another provision of the law states that “any person subject
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For the Record
Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.–Benjamin Franklin Those words were quoted last night in Keith Olberman’s commentary on the consequences of the Military Commissions Act, which is an evil piece of legislation if ever there was one. I thought his piece last night
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The Devil Quoting Scripture
The new book by David Kuo, an Evangelical Christian who was second in command of the Bush administration’s office for Faith Based Initiatives, has a new book out entitled Tempting Faith: An Inside Story of Political Seduction. Reports about the book indicate that Kuo is a principled Christian conservative who was appalled at the political
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A Rotten Structure in Collapse?
When the catalog of evils associated with this regime is toted up, the repugnant behavior of Mark Foley will be ranked relatively low. All the media attention is as nauseating as the revelations it’s feeding on. But it’s fitting that after last week’s disaster with the torture bill, things this week should play out the
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When the Best Lack All Conviction
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere The ceremony of innocence is drowned; The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity. –From Yeats, "The Second Coming" I’m going to be posting here less frequently. With the
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Torture is Legal Now
"This is wrong. It is unconstitutional. It is un-American," said Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the committee’s top Democrat. He said it was intended to choke off access to Guantanamo to "ensure that the Bush-Cheney administration will never again be embarrassed by a United States Supreme Court decision reviewing its unlawful abuses of power." Quoted in
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We’re in Trouble
Yes, the NY Times gets it. But it’s not telling the whole truth. The truth is that the United States government is presently holding, torturing, and even murdering countless numbers of people who have no chance in hell of obtaining a lawyer, let alone anything resembling a trial. The government is doing this under the
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Torture & the American Soul
Other countries, of course, practice torture in violation of international law. As has now been clear for a while, we have been in their company for some years. The latest twist, however, is that we now won’t show any shame about it. Rather than simply violating the laws to which we have agreed to adhere,
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Torture: Slipping Down the Slippery Slope
Vladimir Bukowsky in a 12/05 WaPo article. By way of Digby’s "Unleashing the Beast": Apart from sheer frustration and other adrenaline-related emotions, investigators and detectives in hot pursuit have enormous temptation to use force to break the will of their prey because they believe that, metaphorically speaking, they have a "ticking bomb" case on their