June 15, 2008

More Boumediene Bothers and Bewilderments...

Hatched by Dafydd

Those ghastly Tribunals...

Here's a thought that should bring you up short:

Military tribunals are fair for American servicemen being courtmartialed; but foreign terrorists deserve better.

As Beldar wrote:

These commenters [on Beldar Blog] seem to be unaware that, in direct response to earlier suggestions from the Supreme Court, a bipartisan majority of Congress carefully crafted a system that balanced national security concerns against the need to provide fair, just hearings for these detainees. By no means did Congress rubber-stamp what the Bush-43 Administration suggested.

The resulting system closely resembled, and explicitly drew heavily from, the legal system already in place via the Uniform Code of Military Justice for our own servicemen and -women who are accused of crimes. The resulting statutes thus represented the will of the people as expressed through both of the elected branches of government, which -- not coincidentally -- are also the two branches of government given substantial responsibility by the Constitution with the declaring and conduct of war.

Beldar refers to the Military Commissions Act of 2006, which created a set of procedures for a fair hearing for each and every detainee in the Guantanamo Bay military prison; it provided for legal representation for every detainee, rules of evidence, and a standard of probable cause to hold the captured enemy combatant "for the duration."

That is what five justices of the Supreme Court -- the four ultra-liberals plus Anthony Kennedy -- ruled "unconstitutional"... for foreign terrorists captured on foreign soil during a war, that is. But the same procedure is evidently perfectly constitutional when it's merely our own soldiers, airmen, seamen, and Marines on trial.

Goose, no gander...

Why are the Democrats uniformly cheering and lauding this decision, which seemingly ties the hands of the president and Congress for all time... even during a Democratic administration? Don't they expect to win big in November?

Yes they do, but...

Democrats applaud Boumediene because they know that only Republican administrations will obey it. Democratic presidents will completely ignore the ruling -- and they'll get away with it using the argument attributed to Andrew Jackson: "The Court has made its decision; now let's see them enforce it."

I cannot imagine any other reason -- except a case of Bush Derangement Syndrome so overpowering that it even drives out their own self-interest -- why Democrats would be so united in applauding this wretched opinion, which is likely the worst Supreme Court decision of my lifetime.

Two, four, six, eight...

Finally, I wonder why Republicans and John McCain haven't jumped on a slogan as simple and obvious as this for the election:

Republicans say that foreign terrorists attacking our country have no rights. Democrats say they have more rights than American servicemen. You choose.

I think that succinctly sums up the difference between the two parties... don't you?

Hatched by Dafydd on this day, June 15, 2008, at the time of 8:53 PM

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Comments

The following hissed in response by: Jon S.

I like your slogan. Another variant plays off the phony 'Support the Troops, End the War' bumper sticker as follows:

"Support the Troops, Ignore the Supreme Court."

In debate and on the campaign trail, McCain should say:

"My opponent endorses the idea that five unelected members of the Supreme Court decreed that terrorists have more rights than American GIs, and furthermore thinks it's okay for the Judicial Branch to run the war on terror. For a guy who claims to be a constitutional scholar, my opponent doesn't seem to understand our precious system of separation of powers."

The above hissed in response by: Jon S. [TypeKey Profile Page] at June 16, 2008 6:24 AM

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