Still Think The DOJ Isn't Politicized?

He was against indefinite detention before he was for them. He being Neal Katyal, a lawyer with the Obama justice department. Just 3 years ago, in 2006 however he was defending prisoners at Gitmo in front of the Supreme Court.

Before joining the Obama administration as the top deputy in the solicitor general's office, Katyal won a big victory in the Supreme Court in 2006 when he represented Guantanamo Bay detainees facing military commission trials. The Supreme Court found that President George W. Bush's military tribunals violated the constitutional separation of powers, domestic military law and international law. That ruling also applied international law to the Bush administration's conduct of the war on terror. The court embraced Article 3 of the Geneva Accords which prohibits humiliating and degrading treatment.

Now he is in court again representing the Obama administration in a case regarding 3 detainees held at Bagram in Afghanistan who are trying to earn their release, and this time he is arguing that Bagram is in a war zone so none of the rulings that were made regarding prisoners at Guantanamo Bay apply to prisoners in Bagram. Rulings that he helped to get while defending the prisoners!

Gee what a difference an election makes. He was part of the group that defended the terrorists at Gitmo, which ultimately resulted in our Attorney General deciding that those prisoners could be brought to New York for trial. In an earlier post about Jane Harman I wrote that Bagram would be the next cause celebre in the terrorist supporting faux outrage parade and it certainly looks like it is shaping up to be just that.

Gitmo Problem Solved

Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be free. Or something like that. The world's favorite Spanish-speaking, long-winded, non-teleprompter using, Socialist dictator Hugo Chavez says he is open to taking the Gitmo prisoners.

What could possibly go wrong? Between making nice with Sean Penn's other pen pal Ahmadinejad, allowing Russian planes and naval ships access to his country, and chasing the devil out of the UN, why should this latest overture be a surprise?

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says he would be willing to accept prisoners from the Guantanamo Bay detention center, which U.S. President Barack Obama has said he will close, the Venezuelan government said Thursday.

This was reported by Al Jazeera. As for that that long-winded part, it was a 90-minute interview. If Obama went that long without a teleprompter they would have to hook him up to life support. And yes, he went on to meet with the Iranian president.

No More Enemy Combatants At Gitmo

In a filing today with the federal District Court for the District of Columbia, the Department of Justice submitted a new standard for the government's authority to hold detainees at the Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility. The definition does not rely on the President's authority as Commander-in-Chief independent of Congress's specific authorization. It draws on the international laws of war to inform the statutory authority conferred by Congress. It provides that individuals who supported al Qaeda or the Taliban are detainable only if the support was substantial. And it does not employ the phrase "enemy combatant."

You read that right. They are only detainable if their support of the Taliban or Al Queda was substantial. What the hell does that mean? What is substantial support?

Of course the Attorney General, Eric Holder, says this makes our country stronger. Really? It sure don't make me feel any safer. But safety isn't important is it? Only our standing from a public relations standpoint counts or matters. This administration keeps chasing after this drug induced, 60's hippies, magical unicorn belief that if we just play nice everybody will love us.

Notice they also talk of meeting some sort of international standard.

The government's new standard relies on the international laws of war to inform the scope of the president's authority under this statute, and makes clear that the government does not claim authority to hold persons based on insignificant or insubstantial support of al Qaeda or the Taliban.

Pray very hard that this administrations misguided and non reality based line of thinking does not come back to hurt us, but I don't see anyway that can be avoided. The Islamic radicals will exploit any weakness, perceived or real to strike hard. If I was them all I see coming out of this administration is weakness.

Murtha Voters Open Arms For Gitmo Guests

Recently Jack Murtha (Traitor-PA) was caught on tape saying he would have no problem having the Gitmo guests housed in his district. Well, not all of his constituents agree with him.

You know what? Y'all sent him back to Congress instead of a real American hero, William Russell, and then continue to send this scumbag to Congress, so maybe it's time for the good people of his district, whom Murtha calls rednecks and Obama says cling to their guns and bibles a little too tightly, paid a price for their actions.

An often used phrase is elections have consequences. Well, maybe the people of PA need to feel the consequences of their actions.

First Gitmo Detainee Status Overturned

Well, that didn't take long. The first guest of the Gitmo Hilton has had his day in court and as expected the Federal Appeals Court in DC overturned his classification as an enemy combatant. In issuing the ruling the court told military authorities to either release him, transfer him or hold a new proceeding. Well, I don't know where they expect us to transfer him to. Send him home. Screw it.

He is a Chinese citizen who belongs to a group known as the Uighurs. They are Chinese Muslims. I am sure China doesn't play any of this habeus corpus BS and will deal with him accordingly.

The court told the defendant that he could petition for immediate release if he wanted to.

For the real kick in the groin, the three-member appeals court panel was made of one judge appointed by Reagan, one by Clinton, and one by George W Bush.

The story can be accessed on the Fox News Website. Since in abiding by the AP rules and not having a ton of dough to send them, I won't link directly to the article lest I violate one of their rules, and until I can find a non-AP source for this source.

It gets downright maddening sometimes.