the Military Commissions Act

[johncomic]

[at least as I understand it]:

an "unlawful enemy combatant" is now defined as "anyone that the President or designated sections of the government says is an unlawful enemy combatant". There's nothing about needing proof, or even needing a reason, to say so.

And once they say you are a UEC, they can lock you up without charge and without trial, as long as they feel like. This applies to US citizens at home, it applies to foreign citizens in their own nation [as long as there happens to be CIA agents around with a secret prison nearby].


Please correct me where I've gotten it wrong, I hate being misinformed.

PS: please also allow me to refer you here for a more eloquent rant on the same topic...

Comments

[ginsu.livejournal.com]

You aren't wrong.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_they_came...

[johncomic.livejournal.com]

Huh. Normally I enjoy being told that...

[ginsu.livejournal.com]

My advice to you: Move to Canada.

I'm giving it serious thought.

http://www.canadianalternative.com/

[johncomic.livejournal.com]

I'm having trouble reading you here, sir -- are you makin' a funny with me or did you honestly forget?

[ginsu.livejournal.com]

Door A, Mr. Smug-in-Guelph.

My satisfaction -- living in Mr. Bush's home state capital, which voted overwhelmingly for the other guy -- is pretty feeble compared to your Canadian high ground.

[johncomic.livejournal.com]

Colour me faked out. :)

Strangely enough, I don't feel much sense of "high ground" "looking down my nose" in all my pontificating about this sutff... I feel more genuinely upset by it all, even though it doesn't affect me as directly. I feel more of a sense of "and I can't even do anything about it, being as I'm way up over the border -- no one in a position to take action's gonna listen to me"... y'know?

[ginsu.livejournal.com]

I don't mean high ground in a personal sense; I mean it in a national sense. It's quite clear to me that Canada has done a better job this millennium of living up to stereotypically American ideals than America has.

Your sense that no one will listen to you is mirrored here; a staggering percentage of people in this country see no further than a week or two into the future, and no distance at all into the past, and so have no problem approving of an administration whose policies are wildly counterindicated by both.

Despite this, I'm hopeful the midterm elections next month will cripple Bush at a stroke by removing his party's majority in Congress. Presidents do not make law; not even this Congress could be foolish enough to allow that to happen. So, should he find himself in Clinton's position -- surrounded on all sides by a hostile party which has no incentive to give him what he wants -- things may actually get better for the US.