Politics Elevated

While posting about Cheney’s Worldview, Tim Lynch captures the perspective that drives my thinking on subjects such as torture and indefinite detention:
So we shouldn’t let the terrorists see us get “caught up in arguments” about the wisdom of our foreign policy, about whether our country should go to war, about our country’s treaty obligations, [...]

Like the second amendment, the eighth Amendment leaves no room for exceptions.
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
There are those who would argue that not all the rights in the Constitution and Bill of Rights apply to non-citizens. Depending on your definition of “rights” there may [...]

I have written before about our national propensity to use government when it is not the proper tool for the job. Scott summed my point up very succinctly in a recent post:
There is a proper tool for every job. Use of the wrong tool often produces substandard results. Sometimes it is necessary to make do [...]

photo credit: stublog
The military prison established at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba is once again in the news, with Congress rejecting Obama’s proposal to close up shop. As usual, observing the arguments on both sides of the aisle has become an exercise in maddening frustration and sheer stupidity. And of course, that means I have [...]

The big question in the debate over torture right now is “who knew what and when did they know it?” That question is being used by Republicans right now to implicate Speaker Nancy Pelosi as having done nothing with what she knew and thus being complicit in any torture committed under the previous administration. The [...]

photo credit: galleryquantum
When trying an individual for a crime, the government calls upon witnesses and other relevant persons to give testimony and offer the judge and/or jury compelling information to understand and judge the facts laid before them. This judicial system is intended to allow the person to face his accusers and attempt to disprove [...]