what?!?

A task force on the US prison camp at Guantanamo Bay has advised that 47 inmates should be held indefinitely without trial, officials say.

This is a US task force, mind you. We have a Constitution. I thought rule of law was back in style. Guess not.

And this, on the day when by executive order, Guantanamo was to be closed. And it said “The individuals currently detained at Guantánamo have the constitutional privilege of the writ of habeas corpus.”

Well, damn.

I’m thinking.

I am very happy about this Supreme Court decision. Ashamed that four justices would dissent, with the Chief Justice as the author of the dissenting opinion. Irritated that Scalia would claim “It will almost certainly cause more Americans to be killed.” Bullshit.

And I’m worried about what Siva Viadhyanathan points out: “Three of the five justices who voted in favor of the Constitution and rule of law are likely to retire in the next four years. Think about it.”

(I just learned about this cool wordle gadget thanks to Anne-Marie)

read all about it – now that it’s declassified

The infamous John Yoo legal  memorandum justifying  treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay has finally been declassified. You can read the whole, sorry thing now, though not too long ago it was just too sensitive. Turns out it’s just too damn stupid, so poorly reasoned the feds abandoned it. Thanks to the ACLU it’s finally seeing the light of day.

Today the Pentagon has also decided to rethink its intelligence unit. Remember when “military intelligence” was the classic example of an oxymoron? And remember when we thought having the military spy on dissidents was unconstitutional?

Looks as if “constitutional” may be coming back in fashion.