Say all you want about the "war on terrorism" (sorry, at which point did Congress actually declare war? And against whom? But I digress), the fundamental issue is that habeas corpus in the USA no longer exists. It it now totally and completely LEGAL for the US government to arrest you, declare you a military combatant, put you in a military prison, not charge you with any crimes, and deny you access to: legal counsel, the evidence against you, a judge or jury. Oh yes and you can be held indefinitely. That means forever.
So, this is the great bastion of freedom and democracy?
3 comments:
There is no country without problems. The problems with the U.S.A. are magnified by its "importance" in the events of the world.
The 20 million people in Sri Lanka are totally messed up but the world cares not one whit.
Papa
Agreed there are no countries without problems. But all the other countries that claim the moral high ground and simultaneously wreak havoc on their and other populations never had a decent democratic foundation in the first place. I expect Sri Lanka, North Korea, and most of Western Africa to have such problems given their dictators and despots and religious fanatics.
If you told the typical American citizen even just 5 years ago that it would be standard practice to be treated like a criminal when trying to board a plane (no shaving cream! no shoes!) and that he could be thrown in jail indefinitely for no particular reason with no recourse, the reaction would be horror and shock.
The travesity of America is not the situation it is in; it is the fact that it used to be so much better and yet has degraded into a gestapo-lead shell of a democracy where all the citizens have been scared into compliance, for fear of "The Terrorists".
If I recall my time in Japan with a motorcycle, I was advised against riding without a license as the Japanese police have the same policy...
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