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Tuesday February 12, 2008
How's your Constitution?
"Uncle
Sam doesn't have a heart of gold, but he forgets no one." Adil
Charkaoui - from "The Bracelet"
The Times
Online
says that the death penalty trial of the six Guantanamo detainees is
"one of the stupidest mistakes that the Bush Administration has made."
Everything
about Guantanamo is an affront to the values the US says it is
defending in the War on Terror. The principle of holding hundreds of
people there without charge, for years; the fluid rules of the
“military commissions” used for the very few who will be tried; the
torture that the Administration acknowledges has been practised on
these six: all these are an assault on the US Constitution.
Canada loves to
emulate America in small but meaningful ways. We have our own
little Guantanamo
- a colossal waste of the tax payers' money since four of the original
five detainees are now "free" on rigid control
orders which are even more expensive.
And the Senate committee on anti-terrorism leglislation thinks it can
justify approving Bill C3
which violates our Charter of Rights because
Stockwell Day scared them into it with campfire stories of terror, and
they feel this is the best they can do to protect national
security.
So help me, at the Senate Committee hearing, Day might as well have
dimmed the lights and shone a flashlight under his chin.
Boooooooo!
I personally think that if we weren't bombarded all the time with the
spook stuff we'd find the courage to deal with the real stuff if and
when it ever happened. In the meantime, we're acting like idiots
to
allow this assault on the Charter and on justice itself.
Both Adil Charkaoui and Mohamed Harkat
came across as upstanding individuals in their testimony, and that was
acknowledged by the Committee. And they were horrified to hear
how
CSIS has behaved throughout and of the humiliations these men and their
families continually suffer. But jeepers, they just don't know
what
else to do about it. They kept saying, well the Bill isn't
perfect,
but ...
It was made perfectly clear to them that they have the option of
telling the government they can't approve the Bill. It remains to
be
seen if they have the courage. I think there are probably a
significant number of them, though, who side with Harper and the
melding of Canada's interests with those of the US. In any other
time
they would be seen as traitors, and history may well record them as
such.
The MPs, of course, voted for Bill C3 because they wanted to spare us
all an election. If you believe that, then I worry seriously
about
your mental state. The Libcons are openly working with the
Allcons
now. Have you noticed? (CTV:
Dion
said the wording of the motion [on extension of mission in Afghanistan
to 2011] has been carefully chosen to "maximize the possibility" of an
agreement.)
It's a coalition government, ramming through all the stuff
necessary to support the SPP, and two
tiered justice is the wave upon which we will ride into our glorious
future as Americans.
They've decided they don't want to have to campaign in the next
election on war, they'd rather campaign on crime (Canwest
- see final paragraphs). Getting tough on
crime is good for business and what's good for business is good for
everybody, so we're always told.
You can learn a lot more about the crime bill (Bill C2) here.
Once they get the prisons privatized, you'll see a lot more playing
around with the Charter. It was brought out at the Senate
Committee
hearing yesterday that the police are right now allowed to come into
court and give their opinion - their opinion! - with no proof
required - that certain people are associated with certain known gangs.
I find it ironic that although I've always thought of borders as enemy
makers, I can't accept a North American Union as long as the US
continues on its trend toward fascism, with Canada following in
lockstep.
Here's a list
of the MPs who voted for Bill C3, and you can find their email
addresses here.
Please do give them a piece of your mind. After you email the
Senators, that is.
NOWAR-PAIX
will be holding a march in Ottawa against the Security Certificate
on Saturday, 16 February, 12 Noon, Corner of Sussex and York.
Abolish the Security
Certificate ...
See
also: Stuff to watch, listen to
and learn from
Miscellany:
Xinhuanet:
Russian deputy PM warns against potential new Cold War
"Some
states strive to exploit antiterrorist
activities as a pretext to achieve their own geopolitical and economic
goals," he said.
Russian
President Vladimir Putin said on Friday the
United States and NATO are igniting a "new arms race" by planning to
establish the missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic.
"It is clear
that a new arms race has been unleashed
in the world," Putin said, "It is not our fault, because we did not
start it."
=================
You may have
heard that the Looking Good for Jesus makeup kit has
been pulled from
shelves in Singapore because some Catholics didn't like it.
Don't worry, you
can still buy it online. But you probably should buy
this first.
yayacanada
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