Thursday, June 29, 2006
No Star Chamber -- Strike umpteen for Bush
Given the stream of bad news from the Supreme Court (e.g. re the militarization of warrant service, jerrymandering, etc.) it's at least good to hear they did not capitulate to the Bush administration on the issue of a Star Chamber for Guantanamo. Whether the administration will pay any attention to the ruling is unclear, since it may conflict with the doctrine of the "unitary presidency" (formerly known as "divine right of kings.")
Interesting is Justice Thomas' dissenting argument that actual trials for detainees undercut the President's power by involving the judicial branch. Yes, that's the whole point, Clarence. These conservative "strict constructionists" don't have even minimal interest in the Constitution and rule of law. Also interesting is that U.S. military lawyers are generally happy about this decison, as they believe that the Bush administration is making a shambles out of the Uniform Code of Military Justice -- the military law and procedures.
This is a good time to take to the hills... and in fact, that's exactly what I will do. This evening I'll assemble with four friends (three humans, one canine) in Columbus, Montana to begin another attempt at the scaling of Granite Peak. I'll return to blogging in July -- assuming we don't decide that the mountain goats have developed a better civilization and simply join it. (This may also depend on the goats' policy on immigration, but I have it on good authority that the goats are unanimously opposed to biometric IDs and internal passport checks.)
Interesting is Justice Thomas' dissenting argument that actual trials for detainees undercut the President's power by involving the judicial branch. Yes, that's the whole point, Clarence. These conservative "strict constructionists" don't have even minimal interest in the Constitution and rule of law. Also interesting is that U.S. military lawyers are generally happy about this decison, as they believe that the Bush administration is making a shambles out of the Uniform Code of Military Justice -- the military law and procedures.
This is a good time to take to the hills... and in fact, that's exactly what I will do. This evening I'll assemble with four friends (three humans, one canine) in Columbus, Montana to begin another attempt at the scaling of Granite Peak. I'll return to blogging in July -- assuming we don't decide that the mountain goats have developed a better civilization and simply join it. (This may also depend on the goats' policy on immigration, but I have it on good authority that the goats are unanimously opposed to biometric IDs and internal passport checks.)
