Goodbye "Inalienable Rights"

Gitmo 'Justice' for US Citizens?
By Robert Parry
July 21, 2008
A conservative-dominated U.S. Appeals Court has opened the door for President George W. Bush or a successor to throw American citizens – as well as non-citizens – into a legal black hole by designating them “enemy combatants,” even if they have engaged in no violent act and are living on U.S. soil.
The federal Appeals Court in Richmond, Virginia, ruled 5-4 on July 15 that Bush had the right, while prosecuting the “war on terror,” to hold Qatari citizen (and Peoria, Illinois, resident) Ali al-Marri indefinitely as an “enemy combatant.”
But some of the court’s more liberal judges expressed alarm, saying the legal reasoning that denied al-Marri meaningful due process not only trampled on American legal traditions but could be used to lock up U.S. citizens as well.
“For over two centuries of growth and struggle, peace and war, the Constitution has secured our freedom through the guarantee that, in the United States, no one will be deprived of liberty without due process of law,” wrote Judge Diana Motz, a Bill Clinton appointee, who dissented against the court’s approval of sweeping presidential powers.
[...] Currently, the U.S. Supreme Court has a slim 5-4 majority in favor of limiting Bush’s authority to deny basic constitutional rights to people designated “enemy combatants,” but the replacement of one member of the majority with another Alito or Roberts would tip the balance and effectively permit the rewriting of the U.S. Constitution.
Though the July 15 ruling was convoluted and did call for a federal District Court to afford al-Marri some more rights, the Appeals Court decision effectively upheld Bush’s assertion of nearly unlimited power to have people detained as “enemy combatants.”
The ruling suggested that even American citizens – if they are deemed “enemy combatants” – could be subjected to Bush’s military commissions, where truncated legal rights make proving a person’s guilt much easier than in civilian courts.
Stunned Realization
Previously, the New York Times editorial page and some liberal legal experts had criticized Bush’s high-handed approach toward non-citizens, but had assured Americans that the military commissions would not apply to them.
But at Consortiumnews.com, we noted that language buried in the Military Commissions Act of 2006 seemed to cover – indeed even target – U.S. citizens. [See “Who Is ‘Any Person’ in Tribunal Law? or our book, Neck Deep.]
For instance, one section dealing with penalties stated that “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.
Another clause stated that “any person subject to this chapter who, in breach of an allegiance or duty to the United States, knowingly and intentionally aids an enemy of the United States ... shall be punished as a military commission … may direct.” [Emphasis added]
[...] But it took the Appeals Court ruling – and the blunt language from Judge Motz about denying constitutional rights to U.S. citizens – to catch the New York Times’ attention.
In a July 20 editorial, the Times wrote that the Appeals Court's “decision gives the President sweeping power to deprive anyone – citizens as well as non-citizens – of their freedom. …
“The implications are breathtaking. The designation ‘enemy combatant,’ which should apply only to people captured on a battlefield, can now be applied to people detained inside the United States. Even though Mr. Marri is not an American citizen, the court’s reasoning appears to apply equally to citizens.”
[...] In effect, Bush’s interpretation of his own powers – allowing him to imprison, torture and kill at his discretion – trumps the Founders’ vision that everyone possesses certain “unalienable rights” that a government can’t take away.
[...] In siding with Bush, conservative Appeals Court judges noted al-Marri had offered only a general denial of the accusations against him and failed to rebut the specific charges. Al-Marri’s lawyers argued that their client should have a right to confront his accusers and not be put in a position of having to prove his innocence.
[...] “While a showcase of American values, an open and public criminal trial may also serve as a platform for suspected terrorists,” [Judge Harvie] Wilkinson [a Ronald Reagan appointee who is often cited as a possible Republican Supreme Court nominee].wrote. “Terror suspects may use the bully pulpit of a criminal trial in an attempt to recruit others to their cause. Likewise, terror suspects may take advantage of the opportunity to interact with others during trial to pass critical intelligence to their allies.”
[...] “A citizen, no less than an alien, can be an enemy combatant,” [my bold] administration lawyer David B. Salmons told the Appeals Court in oral arguments on Feb. 1, 2007, adding that the courts cannot interfere with the President’s wartime judgments on such matters.
Salmons insisted that Bush is not interested in using this power too broadly, but argued that the judgment on whom is deemed an “enemy combatant” must solely be at the discretion of President Bush. [NYT, Feb. 2, 2007]
What may be decided in Election 2008 is whether the U.S. Supreme Court will be stocked with like-minded legal theorists.
http://www.consortiumnews.com/2008/072108.html

Talking Sedition Blues with a Dirty Blonde

Smell the denim & chewin' tabakkie! It's Berkeley war hawkers defending their Marine recruitment center. Don't those kids look miserable? Probably wondering what drove their parental units to expose their young bodies in this manner. Well, mealy-mouthed Melaine made them do it! Melanie Morgan, that is, who tilts her head right, always. Besides posing cutesy for warmongers, she gets her rocks off accusing people she’s never met of being traitors worthy of gassing, posting email addresses to provoke spam attacks, and generally acting like a female with too much testosterone. I wanted to share this post where she rallies her knuckle-dragging minnions to "attack" (via email) organizations such as the nearly 100 year old War Resisters League, World Can’t Wait and Code Pink for working on counter-recruitment and anti-war actions, claiming they are "involved in criminal behavior" and implying WRL was responsible for the Times Square March 6 bombing. Maybe she mixed up her meds that morning because the WRL doesn’t do violence. Ever. Check out their fabulous photos of national actions against recruitment centers. One citizen's outrage is another's outasight inspiration!
Thursday, March 13, 2008, Behind The Scenes: Anti-War Activists Exposed
[...] Shockingly, individuals involved in the criminal behavior of attacking U.S. military recruiting centers have regularly boasted about their attacks. Others have provided counsel on how best to avoid detection and prosecution.
http://www.moveamericaforward.org/index.php/DailyFile/behind_the_scenes_anti_war_activists_exposed/rward.org/index.php/DailyFile/behind_the_scenes_anti_war_activists_exposed/

Maybe you want to send her an email! Here's another gem, Ms. Morgan's definition of sedition, provided without a whiff of irony:
In our challenged educational times, can anyone define the word "sedition"? Here's how the online dictionaries define it:
1. Incitement of discontent or rebellion against a government.
2. Any action, esp. in speech or writing, promoting such discontent or rebellion.
3. Archaic. Rebellious disorder.
We are watching. We are waiting. As the leftists say, ACT NOW.
http://worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=58875
Did she mean "Act Up?" Well, the details apparently are not so important in her world view. For a better idea of where the "lady" comes from, here's a profile of her from SourceWatch:
[...] Morgan also works with Russo Marsh & Rogers [(website, RM+R is unequivocal about its area of expertise: "When it comes to winning elections, few firms can match the success of Russo Marsh + Rogers, Inc...)], a public relations firm that specializes in electing Republican candidates; with help from the Pentagon, ran "Truth Tours" to Iraq for right-wing US media personalities; and receives funding from Iraqi Kurds to run advertisements on American television stations thanking the United States for the war. Morgan is chairwoman of the Russo Marsh & Rogers-run pro-war lobby Move America Forward.
[...] Morgan gained national notoriety in the summer of 2006 when she suggested that Bill Keller, an editor of the New York Times, be killed in a "gas chamber" for the crime of "treason" after the Times' reporting on US government spying on Americans. [3] In a July 2007 appearance on MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews, Morgan repeated her claim that Keller and other journalists who reported on the government's SWIFT program for tracking terrorist bank transactions "should be tried for treason. If they were found guilty of treason, I would have no problem with them being executed." [4]
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Melanie_Morgan#Calling_for_the_death_of_the_editor_of_the_New_York_Times