Serious Implications

Could somebody please explain why military commissions are not a slippery slope to martial law?

In the Senate, Republicans Kyle and Graham have raised an outcry over Attorney General Holder’s decision to try Khalid Sheik Mohammed (KSM) in federal court, just like the government did with Tim McVeigh.

I’m hearing all kinds of stupid, feeble fear mongering, such as the spectacle of terrorist attacks during the trial. Let me get this straight, fear of terrorists crawling out the wood-work, not the U.S. Constitution, will decide how America tries terror suspects. Grow a spine, folks.

Then there’s the fear that civilian court will fail to convict. The idea is, civilian courts are incompetent. They can’t do the job. They are flawed, tend to coddle the criminal, and the rules of evidence will hand-cuff the prosecution.

This is the most troubling argument because it seems to be shared by most of the Republican Party, with the extreme irony that the right-wing pundits and politicians who tend to complain most about big government would love to strip away due process and have the government prosecution in a much stronger procedural position than the accused. Today it’s KSM, but tomorrow, maybe some political dissident – lefty or righty.

KSM will be tried in a civilian court and most likely convicted. He’ll likely be executed, same as Tim McVeigh. The trial will be above board. The judge will consider national security prior to allowing evidence and testimony. That’s the judge’s job.

We don’t need military commissions to try this creep. Those who argue for justice administered by the military, under the auspices of the Executive Branch, not the Judicial Branch, would undermine the constitution and our way of life. They would bring us closer to the end of constitutional government and the beginning of a military dictatorship. At that point, the terrorists win.

Sarah Palin has been accused of abusing the office of mayor. Allegedly, Palin threatened to fire the town librarian who wouldn’t go along with her banning books from the public library. More information is available here.

Which of the Candidates Know the Constitution?
Here is the U.S Presidential Oath of Office, administered in accordance to Article II, Section I of the United States Constitution. It has been recited by every U.S. president since George Washington in 1789.

“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

Notice the oath doesn’t say anything about cutting brush or being a “hockey mom.” It does specifically call on the president to be a champion of the U.S. Constitution. Who among the candidates for president and vice president are best prepared to do that? In order to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution” wouldn’t it help to actually know something about the Constitution? Let’s take a quick look at the candidates’ background. Here they are, in alphabetical order:

Joe Biden: BA History and Political Science, University of Delaware; Law Degree, Syracuse University. Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee 1987-1995.

John McCain: Naval Academy; POW, career navy officer; U.S. House 1983-87; U.S. Senate 1987-present; Republican Party Presidential Nomination, 2008.

Barack Obama: Harvard Law Degree; Editor of the Harvard Law Review; Illinois State Senator 1997-2005; Lecturer and Senior Lecturer, University of Chicago Law School 1992-2004; U.S. Senate 2005-present; Democratic Party Presidential Nomination, 2008.

Sarah Palin: B.S. Communications-Journalism, University of Idaho. Wasilla City Council 1992-96; Mayor Wasilla, AK 1996-2002; Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission 2003-2004; Governor of Alaska 2007-present.

During Obama’s twelve years at the University of Chicago, he taught 36 classes on Constitutional Law. Biden served eight years as Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The five freedoms guaranteed under the Constitution are freedom of the press, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly, and freedom of petition. I doubt Palin knows this, given her record with the Wasilla Public Library.

For voters who care about protecting Constitutional rule of law in America, the choice has to be Obama-Biden.