It mystifies me why this is still going on. I'm sure the President sees the injustice of what's happening. If he doesn't have the political capital to shut the entire operation down, can he at least let selected detainees go free?
Gitmo Is Killing Me
211–220 of 539 posts
Re: Gitmo Is Killing Me
#212Earlier quoted context omitted.
Something like a quarter of Americans also think the President is a crypto-Muslim. In the Wall Street Journal, today, for UN ambassador John Bolton and Bush Admin. legal adviser John Yoo are arguing that the administration signed up to a UN treaty intended to curb the global arms trade is really a cover for destroying the 2nd amendment and confiscating Americans' guns. I am, frankly, surprised that that nobody in the…
Impeachment is surely warranted for: 1. Assassination American citizens without trial (drone program) 2. War in Libya without congressional approval.
While I agree with you, can you think of a US president that hasn't committed an impeachable offence? We almost expect them (along with prime ministers, premiers, etc) to do rotten things, once in power. They are rarely held accountable for their crimes.
Re: Gitmo Is Killing Me
#213Earlier quoted context omitted.
The Constitution is supposed to protect the rights of individuals from the tyranny of "the people".
The Constitution is supposed to protect the rights of Americans from the tyranny of "the people." Alas.
The Bill of Rights doesn't use the word "Americans" or "citizens".
Re: Gitmo Is Killing Me
#214Earlier quoted context omitted.
January 22nd, 2009: "EXECUTIVE ORDER -- REVIEW AND DISPOSITION OF INDIVIDUALS DETAINED AT THE GUANTÁNAMO BAY NAVAL BASE AND CLOSURE OF DETENTION FACILITIES By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, in order to effect the appropriate disposition of individuals currently detained by the Department of Defense at the Guantánamo Bay Naval Base (Guantánamo)…
So if that is a standing order - then they are operating Gitmo in clear defiance of a direct order by the President of the United States? Gitmo is a prison run by the military, and he is the Commander-in-Chief, so every day any soldier performs any duty there - they are in clear violation of command? Seriously? How does a country operate like this?
Not exactly. The order concerns shutting down the prison on the base within one year, not the base as a whole. More importantly, it is contingent on the law and appropriations (i.e. money) to have any teeth. Within months, that part of the order effectively became impossible to fulfill.
Re: Gitmo Is Killing Me
#215Re: Gitmo Is Killing Me
#216Earlier quoted context omitted.
On days like these the US is Guantanamo Bay. The US is poverty and regular people without a home. The US is bad health care, as in only the rich can afford it. The US is drones, fired at civilians in the dead of night. The US is oil, as in that they want it all. The US is guns, like the ones likely to be pointed at you if you get robbed. The US is x-rays at the airport. And finally, the US is the land of the free.
This is not the kind of content I come to Hacker News for.
Unfortunately, you won't always find content you're looking for. It's just statistics. The article is political in nature and the comments are likely to be as well; if it's not what you're looking for, you may safely ignore it and rest assured that it's a statistical anomaly that won't undermine the entire community.
Re: Gitmo Is Killing Me
#217Earlier quoted context omitted.
Perhaps witch hunts were just performed under a different name. See also: the Medieval Inquisition (1184–16th century) the Spanish Inquisition (1478–1834) the Portuguese Inquisition (1536–1821) the Roman Inquisition (1542 – c. 1860) [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inquisition
The medieval inquisition was indeed a witch hunt in the figurative sense but it did not hunt witches. It was primary occupied with hunting heretics (particularly Cathars). Its involvement in hunting witches started in the late 15th century at the very end of the middle ages.
I think he was using "witch hunt" in a generic term like we use it today.
Re: Gitmo Is Killing Me
#218I understand what the author is saying. However, the title is wrong. He is killing himself with the hunger strike. Gitmo isn't doing that.
Re: Gitmo Is Killing Me
#219Earlier quoted context omitted.
The Constitution is supposed to protect the rights of individuals from the tyranny of "the people".
The Constitution is supposed to protect the rights of Americans from the tyranny of "the people." Alas.
this is false, FYI. Please reread the constitution. Sometimes it refers to citizens, sometimes it refers to people. The Bill of Rights applies to everyone.
The fundamental civil liberties protections of the Bill of Rights and Constitution apply to all “persons,” not just citizens. For example, every person in the United States has the right to due process and equal protection; to criminal proceedings that afford a right to counsel, a jury trial and freedom from double jeopardy; to freedom from cruel and unusual punishment; to freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures; and to freedom of speech, religion and association.
http://www.aclupa.org/issues/immigrantsrights/animmigrationg...
Re: Gitmo Is Killing Me
#220Earlier quoted context omitted.
Let's not forget that this comment of yours is in a thread about a guy sitting in that very same place, _asking_ to get home whatever the price would be. So the whole article that spawned this thread shows a very different position. That totally ignores my immediate 'citation needed' urges and my shock about this opinion.
And I responded to a comment which was simply saying "Just send them home". That can't be done for "them" all. I believe there is a wide variation within those imprisoned: some are innocent and were captured by mistake or worse (e.g. rivals were turned in by jealous neighbours, or whatever), others are actually hardened fanatics. And it is very difficult to know who is what.
And since when is being a "hardened fanatic" a crime? As long as they're not otherwise engaged in criminally acting that out, who the fuck cares what they think? If there was any actually solid evidence for anything real against them, they wouldn't be in limbo, would they.