Your Fascist State Begins In 5, 4, 3, 2...
While the Mark Foley scandal is the hot topic du jour on the internets right now (and please read Tom Hilton's excellent post at If I Ran the Zoo detailing why he is somewhat uncomfortable about getting too happy over it -- he echoes my feelings about this incident almost exactly), my concern is more for the under-reported (especially lately, what with illicit teenage gay sex and Congressional IM'ing to orgasm dominating the news cycle) Military Commissions Act of 2006 that is poised to soon become the law of the land and cement our position as the new Fourth Reich. My good friend nashtbrutusandshort, over at Categorical Aperitif, has written an outstanding post detailing just why this particular piece of legislation is so ominous, and since he's already done the heavy lifting, I'll just defer to him.
Because while I'm more than happy to see Republican hypocrisy exposed and their morally bankrupt practices brought into the light of day, ultimately the harm done in the Foley scandal (despite the "What about the children™?!?" aspect of it) affects very few people, and will prove to be short-lived. The harm in tossing aside habeas corpus -- a concept embraced as law ever since the Magna Carta was signed in 1215 -- and concentrating power in the hands of a unitary executive -- especially one as malevolent and vindictive as this one is -- is so much further-reaching, and has the potential to affect each and every one of us for years to come. This is a shameful and obscene -- not to mention patently unconstitutional -- piece of legislation that should have been opposed by every Congressperson with even half a brain and a sense of justice and history. Unfortunately, as could have been predicted, the rubber-stamp Republicans fell all over each other in their eagerness to hand their president the power to imprison and torture their constituents at will; what's worse is that a number of Democrats, apparently fearing that they would otherwise be subject to charges of being "soft on terrorism," joined them in voting for this abomination.
We are all on the slipperiest of slopes right now, and the America that you and I learned about as we were growing up is rapidly disappearing. As may any one of us that the president decides is an "enemy combatant" once his power grab is complete. See you at Gitmo, kids.
Because while I'm more than happy to see Republican hypocrisy exposed and their morally bankrupt practices brought into the light of day, ultimately the harm done in the Foley scandal (despite the "What about the children™?!?" aspect of it) affects very few people, and will prove to be short-lived. The harm in tossing aside habeas corpus -- a concept embraced as law ever since the Magna Carta was signed in 1215 -- and concentrating power in the hands of a unitary executive -- especially one as malevolent and vindictive as this one is -- is so much further-reaching, and has the potential to affect each and every one of us for years to come. This is a shameful and obscene -- not to mention patently unconstitutional -- piece of legislation that should have been opposed by every Congressperson with even half a brain and a sense of justice and history. Unfortunately, as could have been predicted, the rubber-stamp Republicans fell all over each other in their eagerness to hand their president the power to imprison and torture their constituents at will; what's worse is that a number of Democrats, apparently fearing that they would otherwise be subject to charges of being "soft on terrorism," joined them in voting for this abomination.
We are all on the slipperiest of slopes right now, and the America that you and I learned about as we were growing up is rapidly disappearing. As may any one of us that the president decides is an "enemy combatant" once his power grab is complete. See you at Gitmo, kids.
posted by Generik at 10:03 AM
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