Category Politics

It’s Not a Timeline, It’s a “Time Horizon”

George Bush has long been opposed to timetables for withdrawal from Iraq. So when prime minister Nouri al-Maliki started pointedly looking at the clock and asking whether American troops didn’t have a plane to catch, obviously Bush couldn’t just set a timetable for withdrawal. However,

President Bush and Iraq’s prime minister have agreed to set a “general time horizon” for bringing more U.S. troops home from the war, a dramatic shift from the administration’s once-ironclad unwillingness to talk about any kind of deadline or timetable.

Of course, the thing about a horizon is that no matter how long you walk toward it, it never gets any closer.

The Comedy Just Writes Itself

Republicans (natch) have introduced yet another “Defense” of Marriage amendment bill.

It’s co-sponsored by Larry “Wide Stance” Craig and David “Diaperman” Vitter.

This has got to be a joke. No one can be that irony-blind.

What’s Pissing Me Off Today?

At a time when I, like a lot of the country, was starting to suffer from outrage fatigue, it seems that today brought a higher-than-usual number of news stories in the “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me” department.

One of Erik Prince’s companies (no, not Blackwater; another one) invokes Shari’a law when it’s convenient:

RALEIGH – To defend itself against a lawsuit by the widows of three American soldiers who died on one of its planes in Afghanistan, a sister company of the private military firm Blackwater has asked a federal court to decide the case using Islamic law, known as Shari’a.

Last year, they tried arguing that the airline was a government contractor, and individuals can’t sue the government, but judges didn’t buy that. So now they’re arguing that since the crash was in Afghanistan, the case is subject to Afghan law, which is basically Shari’a.

Remember when questions like “Is it okay to torture people as a matter of government policy?” were no-brainers?

Ah, those were simpler days. Yesterday, John Yoo, the guy who came up with the legal rationalization for Gitmo and torture, in testimony before Congress wouldn’t say whether the president has the right to order that someone be buried alive.

In a blast from the past, Cheney’s chief of staff David Addington regales us with last year’s hit single, “The Vice President Isn’t In the Executive Branch“.

No Point in Gitmo Anymore

The BBC reports:

Foreign suspects held in Guantanamo Bay have the right to challenge their detention in US civilian courts, the US Supreme Court has ruled. […]

The Military Commissions Act (MCA) passed in 2006 removed the right of habeas corpus and set up tribunals to try detainees who were not US citizens.

This is, of course, excellent news for human rights, and I’m glad the SCOTUS has done the Right Thing. Presumably this also means that the original reason for keeping these people in Guántanamo—in Cuba, and therefore outside the jurisdiction of US law—is gone.

Now, I’m sure that even now, a bunch of people are complaining about how the detainees in Guántanamo are terrorists and how we shouldn’t be coddling them.

I don’t doubt that a lot of the detainees are, in fact, enemy fighters, or terrorists, or generally supporters of America’s enemies, people who ought to be locked away for a long time. But the thing is, we’re supposed to have this thing called justice. And justice, being blind, applies to everyone, whether they’re pillars of the community or murderous scumbags. It’s one of those things that defines a civilized society.

As I understand the article, this ruling simply restored the right of habeas corpus to prisoners in Gitmo. For those who’ve forgotten, habeas corpus is when the government has to show that it has a good reason for keeping someone locked up. Basically, if a cop arrests you for looking like a drug dealer, he then has to prove that there’s good reason to believe that you really are a drug dealer, or else let you go.

Which brings me to the part that blew my mind:

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who voted against the ruling, warned that “it sets our military commanders the impossible task of proving in a civilian court … that evidence supports the confinement of each and every prisoner”.

WTF? Did he just say that it’s too much trouble to have to show to a court that every person currently locked up, should be locked up? I hope the reporter got this wrong, because the alternative is that we have an insane Supreme Court justice.

Politico’s Ways to Save the GOP

Politico has an article, compiled from advice from prominent Republicans, on how to save the GOP, if not from its current implosion, then at least in the long run:

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Religious Group Wants Special Rights for Churches

According to the Wall Street Journal, the Alliance Defense Fund, a nonprofit organization in Arizona, is unhappy about the IRS rules saying that churches can’t endorse political candidates. They’re asking preachers to engage in acts of civil disobedience by preaching about politics. Then, the plan is to get sued and have the IRS rule declared unconstitutional, on the grounds that churches have the right to free speech, and the government shouldn’t be telling them what they can and can’t say.

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Is It Too Much to Ask For?

Maybe I’m being too demanding, but five years after the start of the war in Iraq, wouldn’t it be nice if people at the US embassy, in the heavily-fortified Green Zone, didn’t have to worry about being killed by rocket and mortar fire? I’m sure their families would also rather not take time out from their busy days to receive a flag-draped package at the airport.

‘Cos, you know, people might not realize just how much progress we’re making. Some might even mistake our success for a clusterfuck.

Huckabee at UMD

I was going to write up Mike Huckabee’s visit to UMD, but Ariel Alexovich than I would have. Plus, her article has a photo that might plausibly have me in it (the second guy on the rent-a-cop’s shoulder).

Mike Huckabee at UMD
(Photo: Chris Maddaloni for The New York Times)

Okay, a few comments below the fold.

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Classy, Mitt. Real Classy.

Mitt Romney, bowing out of the race:

Now, if I fight on, in my campaign, all the way to the convention … I want you to know, I’ve given this a lot of thought – I’d forestall the launch of a national campaign and, frankly, I’d make it easier for Senator Clinton or Obama to win.

Frankly, in this time of war, I simply cannot let my campaign be a part of aiding a surrender to terror.

Asshat. Is fearmongering really all the Republicans have left?

Huckabee and Obama at UMD; What to Ask?

For anyone in the DC area, Mike Huckabee and Barack Obama will be visiting the UM campus in the next few days.

I’m considering going to see Huckabee. I don’t know whether there’ll be a question-and-answer period, but just in case, I’d like to have a question or two prepared. Anyone got any suggestions? (Preferably ones that won’t get thrown out immediately if questions are screened.)