John McCain, who was tortured by the Vietnamese, and Joe Lieberman, who to the best of my knowledge isn't even tickled by a conscience, have introduced
The Enemy Belligerent Interrogation, Detention, and Prosecution Act of 2010. McCain's press release calls it "A clear, comprehensive policy for the detention, interrogation and trial of enemy belligerents who are suspected of engaging in hostilities against the United States. This legislation seeks to ensure that the mistakes made during the apprehension of the Christmas Day bomber, such as reading him a Miranda warning, will never happen again and put Americans' security at risk."
Apparently, John McCain is so disgusted with the rule of law that he has introduced a bill so vile and repulsive that it shocks principled, conservative Americans to their very core. Rather than demonstrate compassion and morals, McCain is now calling for what was done to him, to be done to others.
The bill creates a new legal term, "Unprivileged Enemy Belligerent," gives the Office of the President unilateral and unchecked authority to define the term, provides no distinction for US citizens vs. foreign nationals, and consigns those people to a legal limbo known as "The reasonable delay for intelligence activities."
The law is so repulsive and reprehnsible, so counter-factual, so driven by the notion that the
rule of law is an archaic fantasy and that we must bow to barbarism in order to persevere as a nation, no matter how tattered and corrupt our soul may have become.
Never mind that the pantybomber squawked like a crow. Never mind that the military intelligence people are telling us that the civilian system is effective, efficient, and provides harsher penalties. Never mind that the rule of law has worked time and again against those who would harm the United States. It's all got to go: the rule of law is for pansies. Real men stink like Jack Bauer.
John McCain was once a good man. Maybe Joe Liberman was more than an egoist, once upon a time. But this shameless pandering to the bloodthirsty right has got to be stopped. Now.
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