Political Hippo Circle Jerk - America, farg YEAH!

[ice grillin you]

well imo they have the right to show they are not a combatants


but anyway it sounded like to me he was saying they dont have rights hence the "no attorney no appeal" and that because eichmen wore a uniform him killing civilians was somehow different than a person not having a uniform and doing the same

[Cerevant]

McCain having been a POW feels the same way.

Well, he felt that way in 2005.  In 2008 he thinks that allowing Gitmo prisoners habeas corpus is the worst decision the SCOTUS has ever made.

[Phanatic]

McCain having been a POW feels the same way.

Well, he felt that way in 2005.  In 2008 he thinks that allowing Gitmo prisoners habeas corpus is the worst decision the SCOTUS has ever made.

Which is funny if you look at the history of the supreme court I imagine.

A quick Google brought this gem...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plessy_v._Ferguson

Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 (1896), is a landmark United States Supreme Court decision in the jurisprudence of the United States, upholding the constitutionality of racial segregation even in public accommodations (particularly railroads), under the doctrine of "separate but equal".

[rjs246]

One thing's for sure... they were snappier dressers.

Post of the day.

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

Which is funny if you look at the history of the supreme court I imagine.

A quick Google brought this gem...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plessy_v._Ferguson

Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 (1896), is a landmark United States Supreme Court decision in the jurisprudence of the United States, upholding the constitutionality of racial segregation even in public accommodations (particularly railroads), under the doctrine of "separate but equal".

Repost.  We went through this last week.  McCain wildly overstated his opinion, which has obviously changed in efforts to get elected over the last 3 years.

Does that sum it up?

[Phanatic]

He'll claim his position is nuanced. He can be against torture but for endless imprisonment.

If these guys get out and shouldn't be it isn't the Supreme courts fault. It's the yahoos that led us down this path 8 years ago by ignoring the existing laws and creating the loop hole in the first place. The first thing they should have done was define who they had and apply the appropriate rights to them. All people have rights under some law somewhere. Otherwise you've got yourself a human rights violation. Deserved or not...

[Diomedes]

What we've got now is a bunch of fargers the government has nothing on, who have been rotting in prison for six years being tortured, and whose home countries (nor any other) wants them back, so they'll probably become American citizens.

Hows that for irony?

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

What we've got now is a bunch of fargers the government has nothing on, who have been rotting in prison for six years being tortured, and whose home countries (nor any other) wants them back, so they'll probably become American citizens.

Hows that for irony?

They'll probably be prouder to be free Americans than most of us.

[Cerevant]

And so it begins:

A fairly stunning new ad from Oregon's Republican senator Gordon Smith leaves little doubt as to which way the wind is blowing there.

In the ad, Smith, running hard away from Bush, associates himself at length and explicitly with Obama.

"Who says Gordon Smith helped lead the fight for better gas mileage and a cleaner environment?" the female narrator asks. "Barack Obama."

How many other congressional republicans would be willing to concede the presidency to keep their seats?

[fansince61]

Look, even Adolf Eichmann got a trial.

BUT, he was a uniformed soldier in a war.  Non uniformed persons trying to kill soldiers or civilians can be shot, no appeal, no attorney, no CNN interview. 

wtf?

so soldiers are held to a lower standard than civilians...and who are we to determine who is a soldier and who isnt...we can bomb the poop out of another country and call it a war but when the people we are supposedly fighting attack us they are not soldiers because they dont have a fancy uniform?

hitler and eichman were infinitely worse worse than osama bin laden

Actually his point is that soldiers and civilians have rights. These "combatants" aren't even wanted by their own country as they'd as soon bomb an Egyptian prime minister as a US president. Hence they're kind of in limbo and not considered soldiers or civilians. That being said human rights should apply in all cases or we're no better then they are. McCain having been a POW feels the same way.
[/quote

[Cerevant]

I pointed out this poll-nerd's website before, but there is a table on his website that has some pretty stunning numbers:



This is from his mathematical model based on polls and demographics.

Some interesting insights:

• it is very unlikely that there will be a Gore-like popular/electoral conflict.
• Obama's chances tank if he can't hold on to Ohio
• If McCain doesn't do something big, the odds of an Obama landslide are just going to grow

[ice grillin you]

Supreme Court Shoots Down D.C. Gun Ban
Justices Find an Individual Has a Right Own Guns
By ARIANE de VOGUE
June 26, 2008—

The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the District of Columbia cannot ban a citizen from keeping a handgun at home, throwing out one of the nation's strictest gun control laws.

The 5-4 decision marks first time the court has ever definitively addressed the issue, which had been one of the great unresolved constitutional questions as experts debated whether the Second Amendment protects an individual's right to keep and carry a gun, or only a state's right to arm a militia.

While statistics show that overall violent crime numbers are down in most big cities around the country, there has been an increase in crime in Washington DC, Cleveland and Baltimore. In the nation's capital there were 181 murders in 2007.

The issue came to the high court after Washington, D.C., resident Shelly Parker sued the city over its gun control law, which has been in effect since 1976. The law bans handguns and requires shot guns to be locked up.

"The criminals have the guns," Parker argued. "If you are a law-abiding citizen, the law in this city says you do not have a gun."

But the city's mayor, Adrian Fenty, has fought to keep the gun control law on the books. He says tough gun laws are essential in the city, where the crime rate is among the highest in the nation.

"Whatever right the Second Amendment guarantees, it does not require the district to stand by while its citizens die," Fenty said.

There has been a deep split on the issue in lower courts. While a majority of courts have said that the right to bear arms refers in connection to service in a state militia, two federal courts have said the amendment protects an individual's right to keep a gun.

In supporting his gun law the mayor had said "The District of Columbia has too many handguns."

His lawyers argued in court papers that "handguns are the weapon most likely to be used in a street crime. Although only a third of the nation's firearms are handguns, they are responsible for far more killings, woundings and crimes than all other types of firearms combined."

But lawyers opposing the gun ban argued that the city's efforts to fight crime are falling short. In court papers they said that the city "consistently fights to secure its right to stand by while its citizens are victimized by crime."

Recent polls have found that most Americans believe an individual has the right to own a gun. According to Gary Langer, head of the ABC News Polling Unit, "While gun control in general is popular, banning handguns entirely is not; better enforcement is preferred to new legislation; three-quarters believe the Constitution guarantees individuals the right to own guns; and culture get more blame for gun violence than the availability of guns."

Gun's rights advocates will now turn their attention to other cities like Chicago with strict gun control laws and argue that those laws should be overturned as well.

Dennis A. Henigan, of the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, says that the "whole purpose of the litigation is to achieve a Supreme Court precedent that they will use to attack many other laws."

"This will inspire years and years of litigation and undercut the network of gun laws," he said.

[rjs246]

Good. The Constitution wins out, just like it should.

[Seabiscuit36]

Its one of the most retarded laws i've ever seen.  It's the illegal guns that are on the street that are the problem. 

[phattymatty]

It's also illegal for someone to carry mace or pepper spray in DC, which is dumb.  I think you might be able to carry it if you register.