I wonder who qualifies for or what calculus is used to determine who is entitled to civil rights and who is not?
Certainly, the label “terrorist” is the great borax of civil liberty removal because obviously you become sub human once said label is applied. Witness the reluctance in the US, that great city shining on the hill we all aspire to, to shut down the services of Guantanamo Bay where people are being held without due process. Liberal Viewer from you tube adds more light to the subject using, of course, the Daily Show to bring the issue into sharp relief. It is disquieting to see the demure acquiescence of the major news media in the land of the free, and it must be a comedy satire show that sounds the clarion call on such important issues.




4 comments
March 28, 2011 at 9:19 am
Vern R. Kaine
It’s an interesting discussion. I’ve followed a lot of Glenn Greenwald’s commentary on it and I can see both sides of the issue. I’ve got to think, though, that there’s much more to it than we get to see if even a Democratic President who promised to shut it down not only doesn’t once he’s in office, but then decides that he won’t during his term and decides to continue with the military trials as well.
Besides, I don’t see what the big concern is. Apparently enough of them get released “without due process” only to go back to the battlefield to claim Canadian and American lives anyways.
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March 28, 2011 at 10:37 am
Vern R. Kaine
Funny how Liberals take the following statement so lightly:
“…if it is necessary to protect against a significant threat to the security of the United States.”
No public citizen, be them Liberal or Conservative, Thomas Friedman, LiberalViewer, or otherwise, can possibly have a clue as to what a “significant threat” is or not, and they can have no clue as to what is necessary because no one here is in the intelligence community or has EVER seen the enemy face to face. Friedman can speak intelligently about the philosophical/symbolic impact of what a Gitmo is vs. the Statue of Liberty, but he has no clue how to wage or win a war.
Obama may not either, but unlike all of us out here he’s got insiders who do. Once he got inside the loop he was able to speak to them who are on the front lines fighting this enemy daily. He obviously sees more than he did outside of that loop, which is information protected from us because we have no real clue as to how to protect a nation from such an enemy (although we like to pretend that we do.)
We can all stand outside the fence and wish we could be in there hugging those “poor terrorists”, apologizing to them, and giving them a “there there now” with a good pat and a cry, but keep in mind they’re also the ones who would love to slit our throats as we do it for reasons that go back thousands of years and have nothing to do with us.
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March 30, 2011 at 3:47 pm
The Arbourist
Thanks Vern, I know I am hitting the right chord if I manage to raise your nationalist ire. :)
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March 30, 2011 at 7:07 pm
Vern R. Kaine
Haha – that you do, Arb! :) I hear the national anthem playing behind me whenever I respond. That, and the sound of cash registers, are music to my ears!
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