Don't Kill Our Feedoms To Save Them!

Yesterday in Seattle, Al Quada terrorist Ahmed Ressam was sentenced to 22 years for an attempted bombing of Los Angeles International Airport.

This proves that we can fight terrorism without compromising the freedoms and ideals that make America great.

US District Judge John Coughenour made the following comments:

The message I would hope to convey in today's sentencing is two-fold: First, that we have the resolve in this country to deal with the subject of terrorism and people who engage in it should be prepared to sacrifice a major portion of their life in confinement.

Secondly, though, I would like to convey the message that our system works. We did not need to use a secret military tribunal, or detain the defendant indefinitely as an enemy combatant, or deny him the right to counsel, or invoke any proceedings beyond those guaranteed by or contrary to the United States Constitution.

I would suggest that the message to the world from today's sentencing is that our courts have not abandoned our commitment to the ideals that set our nation apart. We can deal with the threats to our national security without denying the accused fundamental constitutional protections.

Despite the fact that Mr. Ressam is not an American citizen and despite the fact that he entered this country intent upon killing American citizens, he received an effective, vigorous defense, and the opportunity to have his guilt or innocence determined by a jury of 12 ordinary citizens.

Most importantly, all of this occurred in the sunlight of a public trial. There were no secret proceedings, no indefinite detention, no denial of counsel. The tragedy of September 11th shook our sense of security and made us realize that we, too, are vulnerable to acts of terrorism. Unfortunately, some believe that this threat renders our Constitution obsolete. This is a Constitution for which men and women have died and continue to die and which has made us a model among nations. If that view is allowed to prevail, the terrorists will have won.

It is my sworn duty, and as long as there is breath in my body I'll perform it, to support and defend the Constitution of the United States.

We will be in recess.

Can we nominate Judge Coughenour to one of the upcoming Supreme Court slots?

Not So Fake News

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer posted this letter today:

Bush enters familiar phase of presidency

So now we've entered the "I-am-not-a-crook" phase of this president's administration. Why do we have to rely on Jon Stewart to call a spade a spade? With all the outlets for news today, isn't it ironic that the straightest talk comes from a fake news show?

Steve Garber
Seattle

Without the burdon of appearing "objective" Jon Stewart exposes every Bush administration hypocracy by contrasting their recent statements against what they said last month, last year or three years ago.

Iraq: Not Black & White

In over simplified media discussions of Iraq, it seems like there are only two possible positions:

1) Support Bush 100 percent, or
2) The war is wrong, and our troops should be withdrawn immediately.

I don't agree with either position, since both are wrong. Here's why...

Bush does not deserve our support. The Bush administration has NEVER been honest with anyone about the real reasons for persuing this war. Instead, they used various rationals that have proven to be irrational:

• Weapons of Mass Destruciton. This whole rationale was based entirely on worst-case interpretations of intelligence data, mis-information accepted unquestioningly, outright fraud, and pure speculation. When Saddam Hussain agreed to admit weapons inspectors in the last few months before the war, there existed an opportuinity to verify this intelligence theory, but when the inspections did not produce the desired results, they were cut short by the commencement of the war.
• Remember 9/11. How many times do people have to be reminded that Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11!!! How many more times will our government insult the intelligence of thinking people by trying to confuse us by talking about 9/11 and Iraq in the same context?
• "We fight them there so we don't have to fight them here." This slogan may have poetic rhythm, but it is logically stupid. The bombers in London apparently didn't know they were supposed to go to Iraq if they wanted to blow something up. Apparently Al Quada is supposed to not be smart enough to know that you attack your enemy where they are vulnerable, not where they are well-defended. The insurgents and terrorists in Iraq are persuing their objectives in Iraq. Anyone who wants to hurt Americans will do it here. And since we're persuing a war that plays into Al Quada's message to the Arab world that the USA wants to oppress them, they'll have plenty of reqruits.

But on the other hand, it would be detrimental to withdraw troops at this point. Here's why:

• We broke it, we bought it. Since we actually did remove an oppressive governement from Iraq, it is now our responsibility to ensure that the next goverment of Iraq is kinder to its people than the last one. It would be irresponsible and a betrayal of the Iraqi people to allow their country to fall back into control of Saddam Hussein's cronies or people who put beheading videos on the Internet.
• Premature withdraw sends the wrong message. It would send the message that insurgency and terrorism actually does work against the USA, which would encourage more terrorism and insurgency.

So the correct course of action at this point is to

1) Stay the course in Iraq until there is a democratic goverment stable & strong enough to retain power, and

2) Elect someone in 2008 who can hopefully repair all of the messes created by George W.

Independence Day

As a male, I have fond memories of growing up with July 4th being about family time and lighting things on fire. As for acknowledging what the holiday is supposed to be about, I had thought about hanging an American Flag over a John Kerry poster to make it clear what we do and do not support and celebrate, but that didn't happen.

Instead, we went down to a beach near by where we could enjoy fireworks set off be people around us, as well as two professional shows in Seattle. It was very nice, a contrast to two years ago when we hung out near the "war zone" next to an Indian fireworks stand where they sell the dangerous & insane stuff.