Flight Pundit

Checks and balances at work:

The US Congress is ready to craft legislation to prosecute Guantanamo war-on-terror prisoners after the government’s plan for military trials was rejected by the Supreme Court, top senators said.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham told the Fox News Sunday television program that Congress could conceivably pass a new law allowing the government to try the prisoners by military commissions by September.

Congress can’t afford to mess this up and I don’t think they will. I think they’ll act quickly on this.

Some interesting thoughts about the Hamden ruling and the Supreme Court:

The Supreme Court’s decision in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, invalidating for now the use of military commissions to try al Qaeda and associated detainees, may be a setback for U.S. policy in the war on terror. But it is a setback with a sterling silver lining. All eight of the justices participating in this case agreed that military commissions are a legitimate part of the American legal tradition that can, in appropriate circumstances, be used to try and punish individuals captured in the war on terror. Moreover, nothing in the decision suggests that the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay must, or should, be closed.

You wouldn’t go away with this opinion after reading some of the reactions from the left.

Amid all of the antiwar cheering, we should also point out what Hamdan does not do. It does not shut down the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, or question the President’s right to hold unlawful combatants for the duration of hostilities. It also does not apply to most of the prisoners there–only 10 of the roughly 450 Guantanamo detainees are immediately affected by the ruling. And it does not reclassify enemy combatants as ordinary prisoners of war, as many in the European left and ACLU would prefer.

Uh oh. Europe and the ACLU will be speaking a different tune, you can bank on that. The central issue for these leftards - they want the detainees- AKA terrorists- to be treated not only as POW, but as American citizens. It speaks to a mindset that is very warped and in a way, very sick. A terrorist hates life. Americans love life.

Moreover, Hamdan affirms that military commissions are Constitutional and an appropriate part of American law. This would have been hard even for the liberal Justices to deny, given that commissions have been used in some form by strong Presidents in the past, including Washington, Lincoln and FDR.

Presidents past, current and in the future will use military commissions despite the temper tantrums from the left. We hear it all the time- checks and balance. Congress will step up to the plate on this and act in the President’s favor, I predict.

So instead the Court declared that the Pentagon’s current version of military commissions violates Article 36 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which provides guidelines for the rules to be followed by both military commissions and courts martial. The language of Article 36 happens to be broad and deferential to Presidential prerogatives. (Its very title is, “President May Prescribe Rules.”) Yet the Justices found that the Pentagon’s current rules allowed too much hearsay evidence and denied a combatant-defendant’s appearance at some moments at trial.

It’s all about petty little issues. These people, detainees, do not have the rights Americans have. If you think they should have this, you’re dumb and blind and probably a far leftard for sure.

More from Senator Graham (who isn’t one of my favorites BTW):

“The court is telling the administration go back to the Congress, work with the Congress,” Graham said.

“I intend to sit down with the administration … to come up with a process that holds terrorists accountable, to give them a fair trial, but to make sure that if they did do the things that we’re alleging, they’re fairly punished,” he said.

“Every enemy prisoner, terrorist, is entitled to be tried in a military commission format, not civilian format.”

Uncivilized animals, terrorists, don’t deserve a civil trial.

Democratic Senator Jack Reed told Fox News that the minority Democrats are likely to cooperate with Republicans and the White House to pass the legislation enabling detainee trials.

“This has to be a process where we understand and recognize that we have to have a legitimate procedure — legitimate in the eyes of the court, legitimate in the eyes of the American people, that we can move quickly to try these individuals and do justice,” Reed said.

We’ll see…I can’t imagine the Democrats doing anything less that what is right here. But then again…look who is holding those offices (Harry Reid, John Kerry…Murtha)

…Graham said he disagreed with the court’s “breathtaking” ruling that Guantanamo prisoners had to be treated fairly based on Article III of the Geneva Conventions, holding that stateless fighters like members of Al-Qaeda don’t deserve Geneva protections.

“The question for this country is, should Al-Qaeda members who do not sign up to the Geneva Convention, who show disdain for it, who butcher our troops, be given the protections of a treaty they’re not part of?” he said.

“My opinion, no. They should be humanely treated, but the Geneva Convention cannot be used in the war on terrorists to give the terrorists an opportunity to basically come at us hard without any restrictions on how we interrogate and prosecute,” Graham argued.

Exactly. This is what it is. Can we afford to keep these terrorists in legal limbo for years- yes- if that’s what it takes to keep them away from our streets and away from the battlefields. Far left voices will scream about this because they see the detainees as human beings who have rights. I see the detainees as terrorists who should be shot. Congress, the President and the courts will come to a position somewhere in between. THAT’s checks and balances.

Cross Posted @ ARS

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Jiminy Carter the peanut farmer has some advice: Let’s be more like 3rd world countries who have excellent policies regarding sharing of government information.

The U.S. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) turns 40 tomorrow, the day we celebrate our independence. But this anniversary will not be a day of celebration for the right to information in our country. Our government leaders have become increasingly obsessed with secrecy. Obstructionist policies and deficient practices have ensured that many important public documents and official actions remain hidden from our view.

I’m SURE you have no secrets right? From your miserable failed term as President. Mr. Carter, my parents were lifelong Democrats until you came along, by the way. Your lack of action, your stifled pathetic reaction to the first attacks on freedom, by the Islamafreakoids, changed my parents politics.

The events in our nation today — war, civil rights violations, spiraling energy costs, campaign finance and lobbyist scandals — dictate the growing need and citizens’ desire for access to public documents.

We didn’t have these problems when you were President right?

Increasingly, developed and developing nations are recognizing that a free flow of information is fundamental for democracy. Whether it’s government or private companies that provide public services, access to their records increases accountability and allows citizens to participate more fully in public life. It is a critical tool in fighting corruption, and people can use it to improve their own lives in the areas of health care, education, housing and other public services. Perhaps most important, access to information advances citizens’ trust in their government, allowing people to understand policy decisions and monitor their implementation.

I’m sick and tired of people like you making these claims. There are very few pieces of information that are not available to the public, and you know it. People like you live in a bizzaar world of made up conspiracies. We need a term for this mental illness….oh maybe we already have that word: Liberalism is a mental disorder. Only dumb dipshits don’t trust their government if you live in America.

Nearly 70 countries have passed legislation to ensure the right to request and receive public documents, the vast majority in the past decade and many in middle- and low-income nations.

Let’s see what nations we’re talking about here.

In South Africa, a country emerging from authoritarian rule under the apartheid system, the act covering access to information gives individuals an opportunity to demand public documents and hold government accountable for its actions, an inconceivable notion just a decade ago. Requests have exposed inappropriate land-use practices, outdated HIV-AIDS policies and a scandalous billion-dollar arms deal. In the United Kingdom, the new law forced the government to reveal the factual basis for its decision to go to war in Iraq.

South Africa. A model. Lots of information is readily available to those who seek it. And don’t place GB in this group- they are not a third world developing nation. Sheesh. What an insult to them.

In Jamaica, one of the countries where the Carter Center has worked for the past four years to help establish an access-to-information regime, citizens have used their right to request documents concerning the protection of more than 2,500 children in public orphanages. Two years ago there were credible allegations of sexual and physical abuse. In the past year, a coalition of interested groups has made more than 40 information requests to determine whether new government recommendations were implemented to ensure the future safety and well-being of these vulnerable children.

I KNEW it. Somewhere in this letter old Jiminy HAD to pimp one of his centers. (THAT is what this is all about, this letter.)
And as for the allegations mentioned here, what of it? Have things changed? Are the kids better off? Or is it like so many other liberal missions- get the info, sit in AC rooms and talk, discuss, debate and make yourselves feel good, but do NOTHING but TALK and report.

Even in such unlikely places as Mali, India and Shanghai, efforts that allow access to information are ensuring greater transparency in decision making and a freer flow of information.

OH yes…Mali, India- the examples for the world. Unbelievable.

Comparing America to these nations is a joke Carter. You’re a joke. We have access to more information than every nation in the entire world combined; we have entire government dept.’s created JUST to gather information; we have more think tanks than all the above mentioned nations have people in power. We have activists groups, PACs, Senate committees’s, on and on I could go. But it doesn’t matter because you and your lot have decided America is bad and the few pieces of classified information are not worthy of being classified. The US has the most transparent government in the world. We’re not perfect but we come pretty damn close to it. It’s high time people like Carter and Bill Kellar and those who live in the reality based community to accept this and to be proud of this. Stop it with the hissy fits over those vital tidbits of info that are supposed to assist our elected President in honoring his most important duty: To protect and defend the Constitution. Which is nothing without we the people.

Cross Posted @ ARS

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