I don't understand why any self-respecting judge would acquiesce to such procedures. And I thought all judges were self-respecting.... But I guess there are sycophants everywhere.

The Bush administration is the 13th century with computers.

It would be tempting for federal judges to resign right now. But then the Chimp would just appoint worse people. You don't think a couple of the older members of the Supreme Court would like to retire? They'd rather go to their graves without a retirement than allow the Commander-in-Chief to appoint their successors.

Gotta consider the source. The New York Times obviously hates America. If they truly cared about saving lives, they wouldn't have published this either.

As Kos said yesterday, we're just not clapping loud enough.

"The Bush administration is the 13th century with computers"
I think the 13th century had it tough enough with the black plague and the great famine. You'd be cranky too if 3/4 of the population were covered with black pustules or starving to death.

I was kind of going for the pre-Magna Carta years before 1215.

And this is just the stuff that's somehow seen the light of day. Oh, well, W seems to have found the solution for Iraq: Iran.

No justice here, folks. That slimy little weasel, Alberto (VO5) Gonzales, made quite a spectacle of himself the other day in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee, stammering and backpedaling over the Candaian, Maher Arar. Maher Arar. That would make a nice, fearsome battle cry when we finally take to the streets.

Take deep breaths, all of you.

You are starting to hyperventilate.

Take to the streets? What, a heard of lawyers yelling Maher Arar?

In a recent Senate hearing:

Sen. Specter: Now wait a minute, wait a minute. The Constitution says you can't take [habeas corpus] away except in the case of invasion or rebellion. Doesn't that mean you have the right of habeas corpus?

Gonzales: I meant by that comment that the Constitution doesn't say that every individual in the United States or every citizen has or is assured the right of habeas corpus. It doesn't say that. It simply says that the right of habeas corpus shall not be suspended.

I think at the very least that Gonzales has a lock on the worst AG ever.

Gonzales makes me long for the days of wacko Ashcroft.

Just more of making Nixon look like Truman.

I think the silver lining of all this is that Bush's behavior is going to shake a lot of judges out of their slumber. Even Reagan appointees are beginning to take umbrage with Bush's belief that their job is to rubber-stamp the Commander-in-Chief's decisions. The President's behavior could radicalize a whole generation of judges against the idea of the imperial presidency.

When I read stuff like this, the only consoling thought I can have is: Please please please God, before we roll this back, let us at least be able to subject some of these yahoos to the insane system they've set up.

"George Bush: great president, or the GREATest president?"

Thank goodness for the lawyers working on this case. (These are not big firm lawyers, by the way, and they are not making money by doing this.) They have put vast amounts of time, and taken great risks given the political atmosphere of recent years, in an effort to protect basic constitutional rights.

The ONLY cause for optimism is that in two years Bush WILL be gone. Two years is a long time, but it's all we've have to hold onto for now.