This story has been buried by Foleygate, which is a crime in itself. I had the honor of hearing Daniel Ellsberg and John Siegenthaler Sr. speak last night and the key subject was journalism in today’s political environment. We are one of the only countries in the world without an official secrets act, due in a large part to the uniqueness of our first amendment. Sadly this very bill puts us even closer to enacting such legislation and putting a muzzle on the media that would have prevented the extraordinary act of patriotism that Ellsberg exhibited, as well as those that followed in the entire Watergate scandal.
Transcript available below the fold.
Because the Mark Foley story began to break the night of September 28th, exploding the following day, many people may not have noticed a bill passed by the Senate that night.
Our third story on the Countdown tonight, the Military Commissions Act of 2006 and what it does to something called “habeas corpus.”
And before we reduce the very term “habeas corpus” to something vaguely recalled as sounding kinda like the cornerstone of freedom, or maybe kinda like a character from “Harry Potter,” we thought a Countdown Special Investigation was in order.
Congress passed The Military Commissions Act to give Mr. Bush the power to deal effectively with America’s enemies—those who seek to harm this country.
And he has been very clear about who that is:
“...for people to leak that program, and for a newspaper to publish it does great harm to the United States of America.”
So the president said it was urgent that Congress send him this bill as quickly as possible, not for the politics of next month’s elections, but for America.
“The fact that we’re discussing this program is helping the enemy.”
Because time was of the essence-and to ensure that the 9/11 families would wait no longer-as soon as he got the bill, President Bush whipped out his pen and immediately signed a statement saying he looks forward to signing the actual law…eventually.
He hasn’t signed it yet, almost two weeks later, because he has been swamped by a series of campaign swings at which he has made up quotes from unnamed Democratic leaders, and because when he is actually at work, he’s been signing so many other important bills, such as:
The Credit Rating Agency Reform Act;
the Third Higher Education Extension Act;
ratification requests for extradition treaties with Malta, Estonia and Latvia;
his proclamation of German-American Day;
the Partners for Fish and Wildlife Act;
and his proclamation of Leif Erikson Day.
Still, getting the Military Commissions Act to the President so he could immediately mull it over for two weeks was so important, some members of Congress didn’t even read the bill before voting on it. Thus, has some of its minutiae, escaped scrutiny.
One bit of trivia that caught our eye was the elimination of habeas corpus. which apparently used to be the right of anyone who’s tossed in prison, to appear in court and say, “Hey, why am I in prison?”
Why does habeas corpus hate America…and how is it so bad for us?
Mr. Bush says it gets in the way of him doing his job.
[video clip]Bush: “...we cannot be able to tell the American people we’re doing our full job unless we have the tools necessary to do so. And this legislation passed in the House yesterday is a part of making sure that we do have the capacity to protect you. Our most solemn job is the security of this country.”
It may be solemn…
[video clip] Bush: “I do solemnly swear…”
But is that really his job? In this rarely seen footage, Mr. Bush is clearly heard describing a different job.
[video clip]...to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States..
Countdown has obtained a copy of this “Constitution of the United States.”
And sources tell us it was originally snuck through the Constitutional Convention and state ratification in order to establish America’s fundamental legal principles.
But this so-called Constitution is frustratingly vague about the right to trial. In fact, there’s only one reference to habeas corpus at all. Quote: “The privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.”
But even Democrats who voted against the Military Commissions Act concede that it doesn’t actually suspend habeas corpus.
[video clip] Leahy: The bill before the Senate would not merely suspend the great writ, the great writ of habeas corpus, it would eliminate it permanently.
And there is considerable debate whether the conditions for suspending habeas corpus, rebellion or invasion, have been met.
[video clip] Leahy: conditions for suspending habeas corpus have not been met.
[video clip] Kerry: We’re not in a rebellion, nor are we being invaded.
[video clip] Specter: We do not have a rebellion or an invasion.
[video clip] Biden: The United States is neither in a state of rebellion nor invasion.
[video clip] Byrd: We are not in the midst of a rebellion, and there is no invasion.
Countdown has learned that habeas corpus actually predates the “Constitution,” meaning it’s not just pre-September 11th thinking, it’s also pre-July 4th thinking.
In those days, no one imagined that enemy combatants might one day attack Americans on native soil.
In fact, Countdown has obtained a partially redacted copy of a colonial “declaration” indicating that back then, “depriving us of Trial by Jury” was actually considered sufficient cause to start a War of Independence, based on the then-fashionable idea that “liberty” was an unalienable right.
Today, thanks to modern, post-9/11 thinking, those rights are now fully alienable.
The reality is, without habeas corpus, a lot of other rights lose their meaning.
But if you look at the actual Bill of Rights—the first ten amendments to that pesky Constitution—you’ll see just how many remain.
Well, ok, Number One’s gone.
If you’re detained without trial, you lose your freedom of religion, speech, the press and assembly. And you can’t petition the government for anything.
Number Two? While you’re in prison, your right to keep and bear arms just may be infringed upon.
Even if you’re in the NRA.
Three?
No forced sleepovers by soldiers at your house. OK. Three is unchanged.
Four?
You’re definitely not secure against searches and seizures, with or without probable cause - and this isn’t even limited to the guards.
Five… Grand juries and due process are obviously out.
Six. So are trials, let alone the right to counsel. Speedy trials? You want it when?
Seven. Hmmmm. I thought we covered “trials” and “juries” earlier.
Eight—So bail’s kind of a moot point…
Nine: “Other” rights retained by the people. Well, if you can name them during your water-boarding, we’ll consider them.
And Ten—powers not delegated to the United States federal government seem to have ended up there, anyway.
So as you can see, even without habeas corpus, at least one tenth of the Bill of Rights, I guess that’s the Bill of “Right” now… remains virtually intact.
And we can rest easy knowing we will never, ever have to quarter soldiers in our homes… as long as the Third Amendment still stands strong.
The President can take care of that with a Signing Statement.
Bank of America Lied to Homeowners and Rewarded Foreclosures, Ex-Employees Say
 . '/' . substr('9781888451788',-6,3) . '/' . '9781888451788' . '.jpg'; ?>)
Email 
Print
Share
Email to a friend
Newsletter 
Like Us
Follow Us
Get Our Feed
By Jouranlist_, October 12, 2006 at 2:02 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
Muslim Teacher arrested at USA airport, LOLZ
NEW YORK - A public school teacher was arrested today at John
F. Kennedy International Airport as he attempted to board a flight
while in possession of a ruler, a protractor, a set square, a
slide rule, and a calculator.
At a morning press conference, Attorney General John Ashcroft
said he believes the man is a member of the notorious Al-gebra
movement. He did not identify the man, who has been charged by the
FBI with carrying weapons of math instruction.
“Al-gebra is a problem for us,” Ashcroft said. “They desire
solutions by means and extremes, and sometimes go off on tangents
in a search of absolute value. They use secret code names like ‘x’
and ‘y’ and refer to themselves as ‘unknowns,’ but we have determined
they belong to a common denominator of the axis of medieval with
coordinates in every country. As the Greek philanderer Isosceles
used to say, ‘There are 3 sides to every triangle.’
‘When asked to comment on the arrest, President Bush said, “If
God had wanted us to have better Weapons of Math Instruction, He
would have given us more fingers and toes.” White House
aides told reporters they could not recall a more intelligent or profound
statement by the presiden
Lol this is Intersting, this was on http://www.islamicity.com’s form site its soo fantastic,
Report thisBy Abdifatah Suleiman Musse, October 11, 2006 at 8:34 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
this law is to resist those who will try to big the power back to the American people, its a law that will make the Zionist more powerful, they will jail anyone and you can not talk about it! how does that sound? this law is targeting only the Americans who trys to make a change, in the future this law will make the Zionist president to jail who ever they want, so they decide , you obay them or you will go to jail, this law will not last that long, saviours are on their way,
I ask the Zionist to test their law with me,If your succeed that means there is no watcher over us and you know We don’t allow that it’s our Job to Protect our slaves from the oppressers and its our Duty to give all means of power to our Slave, that was Wisdom from the Angels, I want you Bush to test My guards, My Kingdom will be Just like the one of Prophet Suleiman, I will Use the President Himself to serve me, Bush Stop abusing this people before I set up my World Government, Bush when will you learn? how are you aiding the enemy of this nation and you are taking their freedom so the Zionist can jail those who wil stand up for this nation? Bush You know how Real my claim Is because you knew me before I learned who I was, and For sure you know the Kingdom of your Boss the Zionist has few years to last, we are talking about before you obay our law, and you know the next great world Government is Typing now, I ask You bush to test me, you will only help me setup my government, the day they test me will be the day An angel will hand me a sword and all that is moving will stop no weapon will work except swords and my special sword will be unstoppable So light and so effective, in our knowledge everything is easy for us, my boss I Represn on earth says Only be and it will became reality, Know that there is only one King the lord and I Represent him, how powerful will be a one who is representing the King of the Earth of the Heavens? We can only Imagine,
Bush Stop signing A law that you will not follow, a law that will only target the weak , Bush if you are a man enough came test your so called power on me, and We will witness things together,
How cool I am, when I see things Like this where this President who Took all My worldly thing away: confusing and playing with peoples life makes me remember all the Bad things He has done, But the fact is he lives his life and i life my life, I don’t live in his country I live in my Lord’s world, and I am representive for the one who created this land, i respect the people who abide in this land Including this so called administration because its my responsiblity to respect mankind as their leader. and also I will like to remind you mankind Your lord gave you Freedom its upto you weither you live in a dream which the evil created or you live in the reality , this evil bill is to Shut your Brain activity up so they will not face a straight thinking human who will challange them, Know that I am not the only human who has angels Guarding him! Mankind has Angels front on him Back on him and on Both sides left and right that Guard him from illegal Harm, except, yes their is exception! there are no angels to Guard the evil human who doesn’t apperitate the life, the guarding and all that their lord provided them, No Gurad for the evil humans who wronged themselves, and there are extra Protection and ablities for the choosen Slaves of the lord those who serve him Spread the light to his Creations, For example the abilites that This adminsitration witness from me, and they are free to discover more ablities,
Report thisYou are living the worst era of the earth and you will wittness the best of the best, you will relax and live life where the dead will ask their lord if they could return to the earth because how peaceful it will be, (peace and security)
By Erik, October 11, 2006 at 5:30 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
http://www.cafepress.com/habcorp
Report thisHabeas Corpus-Don’t Be Taken From Home Without It
By TDW, October 11, 2006 at 12:03 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
So, what is this supposed to do, keep us all from rebelling, which is exactly what we should be doing, if not now, then if another election is stolen?
Since when is rebellion against swiftly creeping fascism a bad thing? Does our Declaration of Independence not demand it?
Jeebus, wake up America!
Report thisBy Patricia Payró (aka Pinegrove), October 11, 2006 at 10:48 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
Last week, I heard a radio show debating this “suspension of the Writ of habeas corpus”. The proxy for the Bush administration was a Law Professor at Claremont College and he actually stated that we were clearly invaded given the number of terrorist cells in the U.S. and the fact that 9/11 happened… I couldn’t believe my ears! His more democratic debater obviously decided at that point that no sensible discussion was possible and gave up.
I really would like to see “invasion” defined.
Report thisBy Manny, October 11, 2006 at 10:40 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
We now have a goverment that can target anyone of us and there is nothing we can do about it. In the year 2006, Americans surrendered their Constitutional rights to the state. What George Orwell wrote about is slowing becoming a reality, ” Big Brother” will now take over our lives and they will dictate our humanity for us. What I can not understand is why so many Americans are allowing this to happen ? As fear become the dictator of rational thought ?
Report thisFriends, in time ever Web site that dares expose the truth will be under attack by the state.
We will follow Chine’s lead in censuring our Web sites. Lets us enjoy our freedoms because ” Big Brother, ” is coming.
By osisbs, October 11, 2006 at 6:36 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
We’re growing as a nation now. The rights we once enjoyed were nothing more than youthful indiscretions. We’re now older, wiser, and throwing rocks at children playing in our yard, losing our false teeth, and jailing anyone who disagrees with us. We’ll soon be dead and it won’t matter.
Report thisBy DaWhistler, October 11, 2006 at 5:21 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
Perhaps Bush has not signed the Military Commissions Act because he wants to wait until election day is almost here and then declare marshal law? It seems to be the ace in his hand. How much more screwing can the American people take? We Americans are getting the government we deserve.
The fact is our Republic is now a Bipartisan nightmare. Either or…you have no REAL choice.
...perhaps like all other Democracies ( thug rule ) this is only the natural outcome?
Report thisBy Bufo Americanus, October 11, 2006 at 4:24 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
Didn’t people see this coming as soon as we made the NSA?
Report thisI wonder if there is a connection between the fact that WWII was the greatest generation, we had no trouble getting people to enlist and it was the last war before we enacted it. I know it’s dangerous to go without it, but the alternative is aristocracy… If the media cannot inform the public, we are removed from a “fact based world” and placed into a world, which, as we see, the ruling class is free to “Create reality.” If they are creating reality, then we are not, and cannot be free… In fact, it almost sounds like GW is trying to prove that we are “Imprisoned by a false freedom,” like those who preach Jahalia say we are.