Despite yet another setback, the GOP is determined to use all of their blistering, public losses to their advantage. Unfortunately, many Democrats and some of the voters may be dumb enough to buy it.
Shockingly, the Supreme Court handed the Republicans their latest defeat. Bush has long been clamoring about military commissions for the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay who haven't managed to kill themselves yet. This is a flagrant end-run around the Constitution and the Geneva Convention and the Supreme Court struck the idea down. In the face of numerous human-rights violations at Gitmo, the administration still insists that most of the prisoners being held with no charges against them and no real hope of a trial are members of al-Qaeda or other terror groups.
The Court ruled that Congress must come up with new rules for trying these detainees, and make sure that the issue is put before the public so they know exactly what's going on. Many critics are using this as another weapon in the battle to have Gitmo shut down for good. It's defenders, predictably, are howling that closing the prison would put killers on the streets. This, despite the fact that the overwhelming majority of prisoners haven't been charged, much less proven a killer. Not to mention the US policy of rendering prisoners back to their home turf to be tortured and executed.
Once again, the GOP has dragged out their worn-down, listless, swaybacked one-trick pony. With their demands that Democrats back Bush on this thing, they're again threatening to brand the Dems as weak on terror if they oppose. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi has stated that the ruling "affirms the American ideal that all are entitled to the basic guarantees of our justice system." John A. Boehner, House Majority leader, attacked those comments, insisting Pelosi was advocating "special privileges for terrorists."
Only a right-wing spin doctor could advance that notion, considering the SUSPECTED terror suspects have been bereft of charges or trials to even begin to prove their affiliations. They don't have ANY privileges, much less "special" ones.
Terry Nelson, Bush's 2004 political director has said that "It would be good politics to have a debate about this if Democrats are going to argue for additional rights for terrorists." Other GOP strategists have insisted this is a good time for Bush to "put Democrats on the spot."
No, it isn't. I can't believe the utter gall of Terry Nelson; no one is arguing for "additional" rights here. People are demanding that the prisoners' original rights be restored. If Bush and Co. are so maniacally convinced that these detainees are terrorists, how hard should it be to prove it in a fair trail? Or to even come up with something to charge them with? Democrats had better find a touch of unity and refuse to be "put on the spot." This is a step forward! Stop being wishy-washy! Don't let the Republicans turn a ploughshare into a sword. This is a major, legal setback for an administration that should have toppled long ago. We need to give it a good, strong shove here and watch as it drowns in it's own criminal intent.
A majority of Americans favor holding prisoners at Guantanamo. 71%, however, also support charges being brought against them or identifying them as Prisoners of War. Let's give them what they want, Democratic Party. Let's come up with new rules so that these people can be tried. If their trials support the charges that they're terrorists, then we can enjoy some bipartisan unity. If, as many believe, the trials will not support such charges, then the American public's opinion of Guantanamo Bay will swing fully into the negative. If that happens, the GOP will finally have to swallow some bitter medicine, and maybe some Republican voters will realize the extent to which their party has deceived them by spinning obvious defeats into victories.
Wake up and resist.
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