the tides will come and go
ironed_orchid tipped me off to this, but can i just say... THANK GOD THEY ARE DOING SOMETHING ABOUT THESE GOD DAMN TERRORISTS.
Its about fucking time. Seriously. There have been all these lunatics, running around, causing terror everywhere they go, and for ages, all we (and by we i mean the US govt) could do about it was lock them up illegally, torture them, and then sometimes send them home when their foreign ministers arent too gutless to ask for anything. But yeah. Here are some quotes as to WHAT IS BEING DONE (tm).
"The draft law authorises special military tribunals to prosecute the Guantanamo detainees, allows for secret CIA-run prisons and forbids "cruel and unusual" punishment of detainees, without further clarification of what falls in that category. Detainees will be deprived of all legal recourse to protest the conditions of their detention."
ABC news
And the New York Times gives us a bonza rundown on the excellent, terrorist crushing, fear relieving laws that have just (FINALLY, SHEEESH) been put in
"Enemy Combatants: A [excitingly] 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 [remix] 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 [not that that would EVER happen] 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 - [previously considered untill this progressive new law] 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 [happily] narrow, a virtual reprise of the deeply [essential] 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."
You know what? As i was catching the train home tonight, a fantastic wind of calm flew though my carriage. And now I know what it was. It was freedom. And the way I knew it was freedom, was that this wind instilled in me the same sense as every time i catch just a mere glimpse of... wait, how did george bush put it... ahh thats it, every time i catch a glimpse of "the beacon of hope and freedom that shines throughout the world". Ahhh glorious freedom. I mean think about it. If we live in a world where Schappelle Corby is locked up for like 20 years, and shes pretty hot, then how possibly could be find the time to be more lenient to David Hicks? We couldnt. Not whilst there are terrorists out there. Terrorists that NEED THE DETERENT THAT THESE LAWS WILL ULTIMATELY BRING.
Now if you scummy hardline religious nutbags out there think you can strip away my freedoms, liberties and overall goodness just by coming over to South East Asia and blowing up resort islands in Indonesia where i was considering going for a holiday, YOU WONT NOW. Not now that we have the power to ARREST YOU FOR NO REASON, LOCK YOU UP WITHOUT TRIAL, WHEN YOU DO GO TO TRIAL WE DONT EVEN HAVE TO USE *ACTUAL* EVIDENCE, AND WE PROMISE WE WONT TORTURE YOU (BTW, WE DONT CONSIDER RAPE TORTURE). So think twice about trying to destroy our way of life, bucko, or you will end up somewhere else...
Its about fucking time. Seriously. There have been all these lunatics, running around, causing terror everywhere they go, and for ages, all we (and by we i mean the US govt) could do about it was lock them up illegally, torture them, and then sometimes send them home when their foreign ministers arent too gutless to ask for anything. But yeah. Here are some quotes as to WHAT IS BEING DONE (tm).
"The draft law authorises special military tribunals to prosecute the Guantanamo detainees, allows for secret CIA-run prisons and forbids "cruel and unusual" punishment of detainees, without further clarification of what falls in that category. Detainees will be deprived of all legal recourse to protest the conditions of their detention."
ABC news
And the New York Times gives us a bonza rundown on the excellent, terrorist crushing, fear relieving laws that have just (FINALLY, SHEEESH) been put in
"Enemy Combatants: A [excitingly] 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 [remix] 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 [not that that would EVER happen] 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 - [previously considered untill this progressive new law] 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 [happily] narrow, a virtual reprise of the deeply [essential] 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."
You know what? As i was catching the train home tonight, a fantastic wind of calm flew though my carriage. And now I know what it was. It was freedom. And the way I knew it was freedom, was that this wind instilled in me the same sense as every time i catch just a mere glimpse of... wait, how did george bush put it... ahh thats it, every time i catch a glimpse of "the beacon of hope and freedom that shines throughout the world". Ahhh glorious freedom. I mean think about it. If we live in a world where Schappelle Corby is locked up for like 20 years, and shes pretty hot, then how possibly could be find the time to be more lenient to David Hicks? We couldnt. Not whilst there are terrorists out there. Terrorists that NEED THE DETERENT THAT THESE LAWS WILL ULTIMATELY BRING.
Now if you scummy hardline religious nutbags out there think you can strip away my freedoms, liberties and overall goodness just by coming over to South East Asia and blowing up resort islands in Indonesia where i was considering going for a holiday, YOU WONT NOW. Not now that we have the power to ARREST YOU FOR NO REASON, LOCK YOU UP WITHOUT TRIAL, WHEN YOU DO GO TO TRIAL WE DONT EVEN HAVE TO USE *ACTUAL* EVIDENCE, AND WE PROMISE WE WONT TORTURE YOU (BTW, WE DONT CONSIDER RAPE TORTURE). So think twice about trying to destroy our way of life, bucko, or you will end up somewhere else...