One word away from absolute tyranny
Alien.
That single word is all that keeps King George from locking any and all of us up as enemy combatants and throwing away the key for the rest of our lives, without recourse to the legal system.
The Military Commissions Act of 2006 strips the right of habeas corpus to any “alien” residing in the United States:
“No court, justice or judge shall have jurisdiction to hear or consider an application for a writ of habeas corpus filed by or on behalf of an alien detained by the United States who has been determined … to have been properly detained as an enemy combatant or is awaiting such determination.”
The original draft of this bill stated that only those “combatants” captured outside the US or those at Gitmo would be effected. The signed version removed this stipulation.
This law will not withstand a legal challenge. The question that must be asked- again, because some of us have been asking it since the Supreme Court installed the shameless, soulless piece of shit in the first place- is what will happen when Bush decides to not follow the ruling of the court? Or if this bill already contains signing statements taking habeas from the rest of us?
I’ll tell what will happen. Nothing. The vast majority of people in this country couldn’t tell you what habeas corpus is, to begin with. (It means the right of the accused to face a judge). It is what separates us from Stalin. Or Mao. Or any number of tinpot despots such as Idi Amin who simply tossed their foes into cells- or graves- to sustain their power. No, most good little germans won’t give a damn about this ruling- or any to come- because they believe the propaganda force-fed to them by a compliant, lying media that tells them that we are in a battle of good vs. evil, and that we, by virtue of our geography (not in a desert) or skin tone (not dark) means that we are ordained by god to kill in the name of peace.
As of Tuesday the 17th, we are now, in a legal sense, midway between a civilized nation and one run by beasts. Which way we go- back to a nation ruled by laws, or a flock of sheep tended by a brutal tyrant- largely rests on the events of November 7th and how we react to them.
And when it turns ugly- and friends, we ain’t seen ugly yet, trust me- I don’t know about the rest of you (I wish you either peace or anonymity, whichever you need) but perhaps some of us will be here:
“One word away fr-X041”
If you plan to visit, call ahead. We ain’t gonna cotton much to strangers at the compound.
