Guantanamo Ruling

The dueling court rulings continue over whether the United States Constitution and the Geneva Convention are still alive and well. A federal judge has ruled that some of the terror suspects held in Guantanamo Bay can use American courts to challenge their indefinite confinement without trial.

U.S. District Judge Joyce Green said last year’s Supreme Court ruling applies to more than 50 detainees whose claims she is handling. She said their indefinite detention -- with no formal charges -- violates their right to due process.

The attorney for the Center for Constitutional Rights, who is representing the plaintiffs, praised the judge’s ruling, saying “her opinion sends a message to the rest of the world that democracy is still here.”

The Justice Department has been arguing all along that the detainees in Guantanamo Bay are “enemy combatants” rather than soldiers, and therefore are not covered by the Constitution or the Geneva Convention.

On January 19th, a different federal judge had the opposite ruling, agreeing with the Bush Administration that “enemy combatants” are not covered by the Constitution or the Geneva Convention. Both rulings will probably be appealed to the Supreme Court.

________________________________

That loud THUD you heard a few weeks ago was the sound of thousands of conservatives doing a simultaneous flipflop. Now they’re in favor of affirmative action.

Apparently they all got the memo: play the race card, Now! And like good soldiers, the conservative columnists and bloggers are all screaming from the rooftops that Condoleezza Rice is an African-American woman, and Alberto Gonzales is Hispanic.

How’s this for a drinking game? Every time hear or read Gonzales’ or Rice’s ethnicity being stressed by a rightwinger, take a swig of your favorite poison. You’ll be crocked in no time.