54 online
 
Most Popular Choices
Share on Facebook 5 Printer Friendly Page More Sharing
OpEdNews Op Eds    H2'ed 6/12/08

Not Dead Yet

By       (Page 1 of 1 pages)   2 comments
Message Mike Malloy
Become a Fan
  (9 fans)

Maybe all that's needed is for someone to tell George W. Bush that today's ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court regarding the rights of detainees is really not about him; not about his phony "war on terror"; not about the fun it must have been for Bush and his creepy circle of chicken hawks to decide on different torture techniques; and damn sure not about his failed presidency.

Someone (Laura? His mama? Jeb?) should tell this pathetic sonofabitch that today's decision was about the rule of law; about legal rights in a supposedly lawful society; about Justice Anthony Kennedy's comment in the ruling that, "The laws and Constitution are designed to survive, and remain in force, in extraordinary times."

Not that such a comment would have meaning to Bush. At a news conference in Rome with yet another neo-Fascist - Prime Minister
Silvio Berlusconi - he said: "We’ll abide by the court’s decision. That doesn’t mean I have to agree with it."

Agree with it? George W. Bush agree with the foundational elements of the U.S. Constitution? Especially those concerned with maintaining a balance of power among three co-equal branches of government? Please.

Bush believes one thing: He's the Decider. Constitution? Geneva Conventions? Decisions rendered and definitions inscribed into law at Nuremberg? Pure horseshit to George W. Bush. Stuff to be shoveled out of his way, pushed aside, ignored, derided.

As reported in the NY Times, the issues that were weighed in Thursday’s ruling went to the very heart of the separation-of-powers foundation of the United States Constitution. "To hold that the political branches may switch the Constitution on or off at will would lead to a regime in which they, not this court, say ‘what the law is,’ " Justice Kennedy wrote, citing language in the 1803 ruling in Marbury v. Madison, in which the Supreme Court articulated its power to review acts of Congress.

See what I mean? As far as Bush is concerned, that comment may as well have been written in Urdu. Bush know about Marbury v. Madison? Get outta here. Sounds like something from a cigarette ad, right Mr. Chucklenuts?

The four dissenters in the decision were the usual gang of four, two of whom were Bush nominees the Democrats were oh-so-glad to confirm - Sammy "The Fish" Alito, and John "Player" Roberts. They were joined by Anthony "Fat Tony" Scalia and his hand puppet Clarence "Pubic Hair" Thomas. Jesus, what a group.

Using a tone usually reserved for secret Opus Dei witch-burnings, Scalia said that the United States was "at war with radical Islamists," and that the ruling "will almost certainly cause more Americans to get killed. The nation will live to regret what the court has done today," Scalia added.

Further, the Times reports the detainees at the center of the case decided today are not all typical of the people confined at Guantánamo. True, the majority were captured in Afghanistan or Pakistan. But the man who gave the case its title, Lakhdar Boumediene, is one of six Algerians who immigrated to Bosnia in the 1990’s and were legal residents there. They were arrested by Bosnian police within weeks of the Sept. 11 attacks on suspicion of plotting to attack the United States embassy in Sarajevo — "plucked from their homes, from their wives and children," as their lawyer, Seth P. Waxman, a former solicitor general put it in the argument before the justices on Dec. 5.

So.

Just when it becomes easy to believe the United States has truly become enmeshed, trapped, immobilized, in George W. Bush's brand of corporate controlled Fascism, the Supreme Court rules as it did today.

Maybe there is hope for our abused and battered nation.

 

Rate It | View Ratings

Mike Malloy Social Media Pages: Facebook page url on login Profile not filled in       Twitter page url on login Profile not filled in       Linkedin page url on login Profile not filled in       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in

Mike Malloy is a former writer and producer for CNN (1984-87) and CNN-International (2000). His professional experience includes newspaper columnist and editor, writer, rock concert producer and actor. He is the only radio talk show host in America to have received the A.I.R (Achievement in Radio) Award in both (more...)
 
Go To Commenting
The views expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
Writers Guidelines

 
Contact AuthorContact Author Contact EditorContact Editor Author PageView Authors' Articles
Support OpEdNews

OpEdNews depends upon can't survive without your help.

If you value this article and the work of OpEdNews, please either Donate or Purchase a premium membership.

STAY IN THE KNOW
If you've enjoyed this, sign up for our daily or weekly newsletter to get lots of great progressive content.
Daily Weekly     OpEd News Newsletter
Name
Email
   (Opens new browser window)
 

Most Popular Articles by this Author:     (View All Most Popular Articles by this Author)

Washington Post By God

Israel: One of the "most oppressive and brutal regimes in the world?"

The Savage Weiner

Move Over, Mother Teresa

Collateral Damage?

Remember, Remember, the 5th of November...

To View Comments or Join the Conversation:

Tell A Friend