News of this power-grab brings my mind back to 1971, when the Kennedy Center invited Nixon to attend the premiere of Leonard Bernstein's Mass, a work commissioned by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis in honor of her late husband. (Yes, I like Mass, despite the many cringe-inducing displays of Hippie Triteness. This is the guiltiest of my guilty pleasures.) Nixon declined the invite but -- ever suspicious of anything linked to the Kennedy family -- sent out his underlings to spy on the rehearsals. The Nixonites sent back the troubling report that the Latin sections of the work probably contained "secret messages" from the rebel underground. Lenny went on Dick's "enemy's list."
I tell that story to illustrate just how deep presidential paranoia can run. Imagine how Nixon might have proceeded if he possessed the expanded powers Bush now hopes to obtain.
Look at how W hopes to amend the law:
(To read the rest, click "Permalink" below)
B) "Unlawful" enemy combatants are persons not entitled to combatant immunity, who engage in acts against the United States or its coalition partners in violation of the laws and customs of war during an armed conflict. Spies and saboteurs are traditional examples of unlawful enemy combatants. For purposes of the war on terrorism, the term Unlawful Enemy Combatant is defined to include, but is not limited to, an individual who is or was part of or supporting Taliban or al Qaeda forces, or associated forces that are engaged in hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners.This bit is to be removed:
to have committed a belligerent act in aid of such an organization so engaged, orIn other words, to be an enemy combatant, you need no longer commit a billigerent act. You need merely act against the current administration's war policies in any way -- for example, by protesting or writing an editorial against the war. Furthering the point, we have the following:
(C) to have directly supported hostilities in aid of such enemy armed forces.
The President is authorized to establish military commissions for the trial of enemy combatants for violations of the laws and customs of war...At present, this line refers to "alien enemy combatants." By striking out the word "alien," the Bushites have signaled their intention to Gitmo-ize domestic dissidents. Which explains why the administration plans to expand the Guantanamo gulag.
Even the old Trickster wouldn't have dared.
4 comments:
Jesus. Sometimes I'm surprised at my own surprise that many, if not most American presidents, have been as mentally ill as your average...I don't even know anymore. I'm normal paranoid, not psychotic Nixon/.W paranoid. My GOD, where does it end?? Next thing you know, we really are going to be needing those detention centers.
Um, I just posted "needing" where the word "in" should have been. Because I am very, very tired. It's a good thing I haven't tried to post about the real reason I'm quite certain Mel Gibson was framed. Because I would leave a million typos in it and make people real upset.
I'll be back in a week or so, I think. At which point, I will have slept a lot.
"Spies and saboteurs are traditional examples of unlawful enemy combatants."
And who gets to determine what is Spying and what is Sabotaging? Because the terms don't have very specific definitions. Webster's says of Spy, for example, "1. to watch or observe closely and secretly, with unfriendly purpose, and 2. to catch sight of.., and 3. to examine closely, inspect carefully, scrutinize."
That applies to bloggers like you and Brad, Joseph.
And check out the definition of Sabotage. You can be a Saboteur, for example, through "intentional obstruction of or damage to some productive process, organized activity or effort, etc." Thus, even exposing a conspiracy for electoral fraud could be called Sabotage.
Essentially, any resistance to the new Bush Kingdom will constitute Spying and Sabotage, and those who resist will be "enemy combatants."
But you can bet our new SCOTUS will not find this proposed law "overly broad" or "vague."
When one takes all of this at face value, it's difficult not to roll one's eyes and say, "Yeah, right." But based on what we've seen transpire in this country and elsewhere over the last few years, it's becoming more and more difficult to discount such things as mere figments of our collectively active imaginations. Suddenly, some things thought previously to be outlandish don't seem to be quite so outlandish anymore. In some ways, there may, indeed, be some things to fear besides fear itself. Ugh.
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