A Victory for Liberty

In December 15, 1791 the first 10 Amendments to the Constitution of the United States of America were ratified. These statutes, otherwise known as the Bill Of Rights, guaranteed certain liberties to each and every citizen. One of 'em, Amendment 6 says something about "the accused shall... be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation". That is - you just can't take a dude off the street, call em a bad man, and lock em up forever without charging them and taking them to trial.

Of course the Bushies tried to do just that in the case of Jose Padilla.

The matter was taken to court and the Bushies were told, no, you cant hold a person without charging them. The Bushies appealed. The Supreme Court said that another judge should try it (in a different state)... well, it's been tried again - and guess what? The other judge says the same thing - Padilla should be charged or released and that...

"to do otherwise would not only offend the rule of law and violate this country's constitutional tradition, but it would also be a betrayal of this Nation's commitment to the separation of powers that safeguards our democratic values and our individual liberties."

Don't get me wrong. Padilla is probably a very bad man who deserves to be taken out of circulation... but we have to maintain the FUCKING RULE OF LAW. We must adhere to the FUCKING BILL OF RIGHTS. To do otherwise, to have a President act as if he is above the law, to deny an American citizen the rights afforded to him by the Constitution... well, shit, if we allow that to happen then we have already lost the war on terror.