October 18, 2006


IMPEACH BUSH




IMPEACH CHENEY


BUSH'S STAR CHAMBER

It is supremely ironic that right-wingers, always stamping their feet about "big government," have supported George W. Bush, who personifies the worst aspects of big government. Under Bush the government has expanded enormously. The powers of the executive branch have also expanded thanks to a milquetoast Congress. Bush has now signed into law a provision that allows him to declare anyone an enemy combatant, to arrest them, and to throw them in prison forever. This is all--to use an oxymoron--to keep us "free." This article by Robert Parry is at www.consortiumnews.com:

“It is a rare occasion when a President can sign a bill he knows will save American lives,” Bush said. “I have that privilege this morning.”

But the new law does much more. In effect, it creates a parallel “star chamber” system of criminal justice for anyone, including an American citizen, who is suspected of engaging in, contributing to or acting in support of violent acts directed against the U.S. government or its allies anywhere on earth.

The law strips “unlawful combatants” and their alleged fellow-travelers of the fundamental right of habeas corpus, meaning that they can’t challenge their imprisonment in civilian courts, at least not until after they are brought before a military tribunal, tried under special secrecy rules and then sentenced.

One of the catches, however, is that with habeas corpus suspended these suspects have no guarantee of a swift trial and can theoretically be jailed indefinitely at the President’s discretion. Given the endless nature of the “global war on terror,” suspects could disappear forever into the dark hole of unlimited executive authority, their fate hidden even from their families.