September 28, 2006. A day that will live in infamy.
Yes. Yes I know I’m ripping off FDR. But FDR had a point. There are some days, some days when something so terrible happens, that change the world forever. September 28, 2006 was one of those horrible, horrible days that will live in infamy. On this day, the fuse that was lit on September 11, 2001 finally exploded. The terrorists won. The terrorists won because the President, the Congress and the Senate conspired with them to destroy what Americans treasure most–our freedoms. Or have we forgotten?
On September 11, 2001, I took comfort in the conviction that the terrorists could kill Americans, but they could never destroy our FREEDOM!
On September 28, 2006, I was proven wrong. No, the terrorists can’t destroy our freedoms, not by themselves. But today they had help. They had the help of the U.S. Senate, which voted today for S 3930.
Can the terrorists make the United States issue a blanket amnesty for war criminals? Not without the help of the Senate.
Can the terrorists make the United States revoke habeas corpus? Not without the help of the Senate.
Can the terrorists make the United States “re-interpret” the Geneva Conventions and tolerate inhumane and degrading treatment? Not without the help of the Senate.
On September 28, 2006, the terrorists won. Our freedom was destroyed. And they couldn’t have done it without the U.S. Senate.
- Create a secret committee appointed by Bush and Rumsfeld that has the power to declare any person, even a US citizen, to be an enemy, instantly depriving them of their legal rights
- Revoke habeas corpus
- Revoke protection of prisoners of war under the Geneva Conventions
- Allow police to search your home without a search warrant
- Give amnesty to war criminals and protect George W. Bush from being impeached for any war crimes he has committed
- Allow for people to be put on trial in front of a military tribunal – even if they aren’t in any military, and have not engaged in military attacks against the USA
- Make it legal for the government to use testimony extracted through torture and end the legal right to be protected from forced self-incrimination
- Allow the government to imprison people without telling them what crimes they are being charged with
- Allow the government to convict people of crimes on the basis of secret evidence that the accused never sees and remove the right of the accused to cross-examine witnesses
- Allow for the records of trials to be kept secret from the American public
- Revoke away the right to a speedy trial
- Enable trials to begin even before a thorough investigation of the alleged crime has taken place
Please, call the offices of your United States Senators today and implore them to oppose the passage of S 3930
Earlier this month, we talked with Jeeni Criscenzo, a Democrat running for Congress against Darrell Issa in Southern California. Criscenzo is one of a few congressional candidate endorsed by ImpeachPAC, a political action committee devoted to supporting pro-impeachment candidates. Check out some of the remarkably direct things she has to say. Did you ever think that you’d hear this level of truth from a congressional candidate:
“He’s ignoring the law. The wiretapping is just the tip of the iceberg. He lied to Congress to get the power to go into Iraq, and somehow, in his mind, he thinks that’s going to give him the power to go into Iran.”
“I think that the rationale for an impeachment this time is just so compelling that it’s not going to be a long, dragged-out affair. So many people are so angry, when I talk to people in the street, and I say that I’m running for Congress, and I have a two-to-one ratio of Republicans to Democrats, I can tell you, it doesn’t matter any more what party you belong to. People are just fed up with what’s going on.”
I’ll put this plainly: Senator John McCain and George W. Bush are lying about their new torture law. Here’s the truth. Don’t believe me? Read the law yourself.
1. The law would remove the right of habeas corpus. That means that, whatever laws are in place protecting the other legal rights of people imprisoned by the federal government, they have no practical effect. After all, if a prisoner does not have the right to be legally acknowledged by the judicial system of the United States, then that prisoner has no legal access to any legal protections at all. This measure endorses the international system of CIA prisons established by George W. Bush.
2. The new version of the legislation actually provides fewer legal protections for people than the earlier version proposed by Bush did. Don’t believe me? Believe the Washington Post, which runs the story on its front page this morning: Detainee Legislation to Have Fewer Restrictions.
3. The legislation takes away the right to a speedy trial.
4. The legislation removes the freedom to choose not to incriminate oneself. That freedom is guaranteed to all people, citizen and non-citizen alike, in the 5th Amendment to the Constitution in the Bill of Rights.
5. The legislation would deprive people of the right to know what why they are being imprisoned, including what criminal charges are being made against them. Section 810, article 10 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice states that “When any person subject to this chapter is placed in arrest or confinement prior to trial, immediate steps shall be taken to inform him of the specific wrong of which he is accused and to try him or to dismiss the charges and release him.” The McCain – Bush legislation would nullify Section 810, article 10 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
6. The McCain / Bush legislation would permit the use of testimony that was forced from prisoners through the use of torture. That’s currently prohibited, even in military trials, by the Uniform Code of Military Justice, Section 831 d, which reads, “No statement obtained from any person in violation of this article, or through the use of coercion, unlawful influence, or unlawful inducement may be received in evidence against him in a trial by court-martial.” The new law removes this protection. Torture away!
7. Under the new law, prisoners could be put on trial on criminal charges even before an investigation into the charges took place! Section 832 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice makes this guarantee: “No charge or specification may be referred to a general court-martial for trial until a through and impartial investigation of all the matters set forth therein has been made.” What kind of criminal trial could you have before an investigation into the charges has been made? the trial of a kangaroo court, that’s what. A kangaroo court is just what John McCain, George W. Bush and Ray Meier have proposed.
8. Under the new law, prisoners will not have the right to cross-examine witnesses against them. In the new system, someone can testify against you and you’ll never have the opportunity to question or refute what the witness claims.
9. Have you heard that the new “compromise” legislation guarantees protection under the Geneva Conventions? John McCain says it does. John McCain is lying. Here’s verbatim text from the new law: “Geneva Conventions Not Establishing Source of Rights- No alien unlawful enemy combatant subject to trial by military commission under this chapter may invoke the Geneva Conventions as a source of rights.”
As much as I am discouraged by the accomodation of George W. Bush’s crimes by the Congress, I am encouraged by people who are refusing to sit back and let the lack of oversight from Congress be the final word.
People across America are taking control of media that was once out of reach, and using it to speak the truth that our leaders only dare mumble about: George W. Bush is ripping America apart, taking our cherished freedoms out of the core of our national identity. Individual activists and activist organizations are creating songs, films, and pieces of art to spread the word in creative ways that our liberty is in grave peril.
The following is a trailer for an example of this new blossoming of activist media. It introduces UnConstitutional, The Movie, which is now available on DVD and VHS. Buy a copy, and invite your friends and neighbors over to have a look. Impeachment will be built in this way – from house to house.
George W. Bush said that he was going to liberate Iraq. He said that he was starting a war in Iraq in order to save people from the cruelty of Saddam Hussein. Now, many Iraqis are saying that the cruelty is worse than it was under Saddam Hussein.
I’m not just saying that. It’s the professional opinion of Manfred Nowak, a special official of the United Nations, who specializes in researching the use of torture and coercive cruelty around the world. “The situation as far as torture is concerned in Iraq is now completely out of hand,” says Nowak. “The situation is so bad that many people say that it is worse than in the times of Saddam Hussein.”
Worse than Saddam Hussein? That’s got to be pretty bad. How bad? Corpses are routinely being dropped off at morgues with:
- missing eyes
- teeth pulled out
- their skin removed
- acid burns
- chemical burns
- broken bones
- holes made by nails and power drills
Manfred Nowak reports that there is reason to believe that many of these corpses have been tortured at prisons run by Americans. Nowak is asking for permission to go to Iraq and visit American prisons there to investigate these allegations. Now, what do you think the chances are that the Bush White House will allow him to make those investigations?
It think it may be no coincidence that George W. Bush is asking Congress to give him the power to torture prisoners with impunity at the same time that Nowak’s report is coming out. Bush knows he’s in trouble. Bush knows of even more revelations of widespread torture conducted with his knowledge. He’s looking for legal coverage for himself, and that’s why he wants Congress to pass a law forbidding the prosecution of war criminals. George W. Bush knows that he is himself a war criminal, and he doesn’t want to go to prison.
Congress must not compromise with President Bush on this matter. It is immoral for a nation’s laws to be changed just to protect one man, even if that man is the President himself.
If we allow Bush to have his way, America will no longer be the land of the free and the home of the brave. America will become the land of the lawless, and the home of the torturers.
America is on the verge of going to a very, very dark place. We need to step back from the brink and say no to torture and war crimes. Now is the time for America to impeach Bush, and put him in prison, where he belongs.
As we work toward the impeachment of George W. Bush, it makes sense for us to pull back every now and then in order to try to gain perspective on our effort. The opportunity for such reflection is provided by the new book, The Genius of Impeachment, written by political reporter John Nichols
In this book, Nichols examines the history of the concept of impeachment in order to enrich the understanding of the role that impeachment plays in American democracy. He concludes that “Impeachment is as American as apple pie.”
That’s an interesting point to me. Those who oppose impeachment as too radical a response to President Bush’s many obvious and grave crimes are really suggesting that the Foundng Fathers of the United States of America were too radical. They are, in effect, suggesting that America re-accept many aspects of the political model that existed before the Revolution, including the idea that rulers ought to be beyond accountability, and immune to the disapproval of the people.
That implication is recognized by John Nichols, who gives his book the subtitle The Founders’ Cure for Royalism. Thanks, Mr. Nichols, for giving this idea the attention that it deserves. Here in the 21st century, America ought not to embrace a return to the political philosophy of monarchy.
One is for the times you spy on me.
Two is for the torture overseas.
Three the war that’s very, so unnecessary.
Four, secret prisons, and the planes to them that ferry.
Bush wil be impeached before too long.
That’s the reason that I wrote this song.
Then, he’ll go to prison,
Beind bars in every season.
W your time is through.
