AG Gonzalez Hunts Broader Unconstitutional Powers
The big news of the last few days has been the arrest of a suspect in the JonBenet Ramsey murder rather than the ruling against the NSA Spying Program, which Attorney General Alberto "Nut Case" Gonzalez has vowed to appeal, refuses to believe is illegal as ruled by the Judge, and will be seeking a stay on the ruling until an appeal can be fully processed.
The judge in this case was a Carter appointee, but has a reputation of being a "by the book" judge who does not come to the bench with a political agenda. In a metric of her performance as a judge, she has ruled in favor of, and against, politically charged cases with an apparent disregard for the politics. While she comes from a background of civil rights, she has not--despite the claims by ultra-conservatives--brought any extremist or activist views to her rulings.
The decision handed down by Judge Anna Diggs Taylor is thoughtful, reasoned, basd upon precedents going back to 1765 and as curent as 2006. Yet, the ultra-conservatives are making claims of political motivation and influence. Of course, these are the same folks that thought the SCOTUS decision that handed the election to Dubya was a fair and reasoned decision.
But not even waiting for the court decision, AG Gonzalez has decided to beging greasing the wheels to undo another prcedent and principle of justice and law enforcement in our nation. Since the British authorities have allowed themselves to hold a person for 28 days without being charged, without access to an attorney, and without recourse to a writ of habeas corpus, which requires a demonstration of cause and due process when a person is detained without charge, Gonzalez is charging up to Capital Hill with the notion that we, too, should have a 28 day window.
Obviously, despite his experience as a judge on the Texas Supreme Court, Gonzalez has failed to read and understand the US Constitution and its prohibitions against unlawful detentions, suspension of habeas corpus, and other rights; failed to learn about the history of our nation where it was abuses of power by the BRITISH that brought about the American Revolution; and wants to ignore the hard fought lessons and battles for justice, equity and equal access to the law in our society.
Gonzalez has also failed to notice that there have been multiple claims that the broadly sweeping arrest efforts across the pond have grabbed innocent persons. Lo and behold, at least two of the persons grabbed in this overly-broad and quite possibly inappropriate approach to grabbing up terrorism suspect has been released without charges. Of course the British authorities are not releasing any details on the release of these two people, but that is because the UK law doesn't allow official comment on such things. Neither do the people wrongfully grabbed up and then released have any recourse to settle a wrongful police action against them when it involves terrorism charges. Maybe Gonzalez wants to put that provision into an American version of a law that would allow a 28-day window.
My question is why stop at 28 days? The British don't seem to want to stop there. Since we have our own precedent of keeping detainees for years without charges down at Gitmo and in Iraq and Afghanistan, why don't we throw the Constitution out completely and resort to methods practiced by the Nazi Gestapo, the Soviet KGB, the methods of the Chinese communists, the tactics of the North Koreans, the intelligence tactics of Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Israel... Hell, why don't we even throw out the presumption of innocence and make those accused confess or be shot... and charge their family for the bullet. The reason we shouldn't do those things--and the reason we shouldn't have a secret spying program or a 28-day window for detention--is that we are the United States of America and we don't allow our fears to undermine our principles of law and justice.
If you needed proof that the Bush administration is fascist, just read Gonzalez's own words, the headlines where Bush gang members are beating the drums to undermine our basic rights, the reports on Bush's signing statements, and the court decision against the NSA spying.
Maybe it's time for another revolution!
Gonzales Calls UK 28-Day Detention Policy Useful Anti-Terror Tool
Interesting that Gonzalez would call for a side-by-side comparison of US law and the law of a foreign nation when he and other ultra-conservative has been beating up on any magistate, judge or justice that has the temerity to use foriegn laws in a court decision in any manner.
It is interesting that Gonzalez took this opportunity to reinforce the idea that the US treats its detainees and prisoners in accordance with the Geneva Conventions, even though this administration has blatantly held to the theory that the Geneva Conventions did not apply to the detainees at Gitmo and other places run by US authorities but not on US soil. It is also interesting that the United Nations has identified the treatment of prisoners at Gitmo as being outside of the parameters of the Geneva Conventions, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and other provisions under the United Nations Charter. It is also interesting that Gonzalez would continue to claim that detaining people at Gitmo is still necessary even though over 400 detainees have been proven not ot be enemy combatants or terrorists of any kind.
Another important feature of these issues is that good old-fashioned police work and human intelligence was what led the British law enforcement authorities to the alleged terrorist suspects. The wiretaps in this instance were authorized after the alleged suspects were tagged and identified by Pakistani intelligence and law enforcement authorities... They did not use indiscriminant data mining or unlawful, broadly sweeping electronic surveillance to make the bust.
I'm not sure, but I think it's time we start forming some good old-fashioned militia units to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States of America." At the very least we need to start leveling lawsuits at the Bush administration on a daily basis. If all of the suits don't win that would be okay, just as long as we tie the bastards up in court long enough so that they can't do any more damage.
The judge in this case was a Carter appointee, but has a reputation of being a "by the book" judge who does not come to the bench with a political agenda. In a metric of her performance as a judge, she has ruled in favor of, and against, politically charged cases with an apparent disregard for the politics. While she comes from a background of civil rights, she has not--despite the claims by ultra-conservatives--brought any extremist or activist views to her rulings.
The decision handed down by Judge Anna Diggs Taylor is thoughtful, reasoned, basd upon precedents going back to 1765 and as curent as 2006. Yet, the ultra-conservatives are making claims of political motivation and influence. Of course, these are the same folks that thought the SCOTUS decision that handed the election to Dubya was a fair and reasoned decision.
But not even waiting for the court decision, AG Gonzalez has decided to beging greasing the wheels to undo another prcedent and principle of justice and law enforcement in our nation. Since the British authorities have allowed themselves to hold a person for 28 days without being charged, without access to an attorney, and without recourse to a writ of habeas corpus, which requires a demonstration of cause and due process when a person is detained without charge, Gonzalez is charging up to Capital Hill with the notion that we, too, should have a 28 day window.
Obviously, despite his experience as a judge on the Texas Supreme Court, Gonzalez has failed to read and understand the US Constitution and its prohibitions against unlawful detentions, suspension of habeas corpus, and other rights; failed to learn about the history of our nation where it was abuses of power by the BRITISH that brought about the American Revolution; and wants to ignore the hard fought lessons and battles for justice, equity and equal access to the law in our society.
Gonzalez has also failed to notice that there have been multiple claims that the broadly sweeping arrest efforts across the pond have grabbed innocent persons. Lo and behold, at least two of the persons grabbed in this overly-broad and quite possibly inappropriate approach to grabbing up terrorism suspect has been released without charges. Of course the British authorities are not releasing any details on the release of these two people, but that is because the UK law doesn't allow official comment on such things. Neither do the people wrongfully grabbed up and then released have any recourse to settle a wrongful police action against them when it involves terrorism charges. Maybe Gonzalez wants to put that provision into an American version of a law that would allow a 28-day window.
My question is why stop at 28 days? The British don't seem to want to stop there. Since we have our own precedent of keeping detainees for years without charges down at Gitmo and in Iraq and Afghanistan, why don't we throw the Constitution out completely and resort to methods practiced by the Nazi Gestapo, the Soviet KGB, the methods of the Chinese communists, the tactics of the North Koreans, the intelligence tactics of Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Israel... Hell, why don't we even throw out the presumption of innocence and make those accused confess or be shot... and charge their family for the bullet. The reason we shouldn't do those things--and the reason we shouldn't have a secret spying program or a 28-day window for detention--is that we are the United States of America and we don't allow our fears to undermine our principles of law and justice.
If you needed proof that the Bush administration is fascist, just read Gonzalez's own words, the headlines where Bush gang members are beating the drums to undermine our basic rights, the reports on Bush's signing statements, and the court decision against the NSA spying.
Maybe it's time for another revolution!
Gonzales Calls UK 28-Day Detention Policy Useful Anti-Terror Tool
US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on Wednesday praised new British anti-terrorism laws that helped thwart a terror plot to explode jetliners traveling over the Atlantic Ocean, saying that the provision that allows British authorities to detain terror suspects for up to 28-days without charge is a useful tool. The UK detention policy differs sharply from US laws, where American authorities must charge or release a suspect within 48 hours under the civilian court system, although detention of "enemy combatants" under the jurisdiction of the Defense Department may be much longer. Gonzales, however, added that such a change to US laws is not on the horizon yet and any amendments to US terror law must comply with requirements in the US constitution. Earlier this week, Gonzales called for a side-by-side comparison of US and UK counterterrorism laws.
Interesting that Gonzalez would call for a side-by-side comparison of US law and the law of a foreign nation when he and other ultra-conservative has been beating up on any magistate, judge or justice that has the temerity to use foriegn laws in a court decision in any manner.
Gonzales, responding to questions after a speech in Pittsburgh, also denied that the US uses torture as a means of obtaining information from terror suspects in the name of national security, adding that US authorities treat terror detainees humanely under the guidelines of the Geneva Conventions. Lastly, Gonzales noted that the widely criticized US detention center at Guantanamo Bay is necessary for counterterrorism efforts, saying that the "perception is much worse than the reality."
It is interesting that Gonzalez took this opportunity to reinforce the idea that the US treats its detainees and prisoners in accordance with the Geneva Conventions, even though this administration has blatantly held to the theory that the Geneva Conventions did not apply to the detainees at Gitmo and other places run by US authorities but not on US soil. It is also interesting that the United Nations has identified the treatment of prisoners at Gitmo as being outside of the parameters of the Geneva Conventions, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and other provisions under the United Nations Charter. It is also interesting that Gonzalez would continue to claim that detaining people at Gitmo is still necessary even though over 400 detainees have been proven not ot be enemy combatants or terrorists of any kind.
Another important feature of these issues is that good old-fashioned police work and human intelligence was what led the British law enforcement authorities to the alleged terrorist suspects. The wiretaps in this instance were authorized after the alleged suspects were tagged and identified by Pakistani intelligence and law enforcement authorities... They did not use indiscriminant data mining or unlawful, broadly sweeping electronic surveillance to make the bust.
I'm not sure, but I think it's time we start forming some good old-fashioned militia units to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States of America." At the very least we need to start leveling lawsuits at the Bush administration on a daily basis. If all of the suits don't win that would be okay, just as long as we tie the bastards up in court long enough so that they can't do any more damage.
posted by Jim Downey at 8:04 AM
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