L, L, and the P of H: 2015 Edition (bringing the Founding Fathers into 2015)

Last week, I wrote about my history as a blogger and included a post I wrote for my blog on, the now defunct website GuerrillaNews.com.  I wrote that post over ten years ago and felt it was still pretty accurate. In fact, the sentiment behind it is probably more accurate in 2015 than it was in 2004. So, I thought I'd post an updated version.  Here goes:

L, L, and the P of H: 2015 Edition

Fri, 4 Sep 2015 13:00:00

We, in America, were always taught to revere the Founding Fathers.  They had the wisdom and strength to not only conceive of the Great Democratic Experiment, but to see it all the way through to fruition.  And they did so in the face of a mighty empire and its king who oppressed them all with unfair taxation.  What wise and brave men they were!

So, wise that for the past two-and-a-half centuries,  we have looked at the words they wrote and the system that put in place as almost sacrosanct.  On more than one occasion, regarding more than a few issues, our leaders, our news media, our idiot Television pundits have asked "what were the intentions of the founding fathers?"

As though, it's not fairly obvious when you consider the context of the Founding Fathers and the men themselves.

As though, culture hasn't changed dramatically since 1776.

As though, the Declaration of Independence, the US Constitution, and the Bill of Rights were not written in English as a set of instructions to run a government.

As though, these documents were holy writ, words of deities written in another language and handed down to us, through millennia.

Senate passes bill that removes the most basic human right AND reminds us: only Americans are human.

Senate passes bill that removes the most basic human right AND reminds us: only Americans are human., a photo by thepetecom on Flickr.

Capped this last night (source: bit.ly/tRP0Vr):

"The Senate on Thursday passed a giant defense bill that includes a new policy for detaining and trying suspected al Qaeda terrorists"

That was CNN's simple explanation of the bill, but if you continue to read a few paragraphs in you get to see, not only how the US Senate is pissing the US Constitution down their leg, but also how the media is still just repeating what they are told and not actually doing any challenging of our leaders. Hell, they don't even question things in the article where no politician can directly challenge them back--but I'm getting ahead of myself. Here's a cutting from the article that shows us how the US Senate agrees that if you're not American, you're not human:

"This country is special because we have certain values, and due process of law is one of those values," Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein, D-California, argued on the Senate floor.  "I object to holding American citizens without trial. I do not believe that makes us more safe."

Pretty neat, huh? Feinstein, a Democrat, does not object to holding non-Americans without trial despite our founding documents declaring that all humans are created equal. I guess Senator Feinstein believes that if you're not American you're not human. Why else shouldn't all people have the right to be free from unlawful imprisonment?

More from the article:

"You have people on the left who hate saying 'the war on terror,'" responded Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina. "They would never ever use the military and always insist the law enforcement be used because they don't buy into the idea that we're at war. They want to criminalize the war."

HA! The phrase "criminalize the war" is laughingly nonsensical enough but the straw-man argument Graham spins is laughably typical. As though the legal system is somehow inadequate for keeping Americans safe. Apparently, the FBI and the cops and the judicial system sucks so much ass, America would fall apart if it was trusted with going after terrorists. No, WE NEED A WAR!

It's politicians like Feinstein and Graham that totally miss the point of OUR FOUNDING PRINCIPLES and make me want to give up on "America" as a concept. I mean, seriously--what the ability to hold anyone indefinitely does is remove the first human right (essentially) ever established: the right of Habeas Corpus. Going back as far as the 1300s, Habeas Corpus is the right that everyone needs guaranteed because it allows a prisoner to challenge their detention. And EVERYONE needs this right, not just Americans--why? Because of mistakes.

Let's say Diane Feinstein or Lindsey Graham were mistaken for Canadians who inadvertently supported a pro-Palestinian terrorist group. How would they be able to challenge their detention?

Read more about Habeas Corpus on Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habeas_corpus

Read the rest of the CNN article to see how wonderful a job they do of contextualizing this bill in a way that allows you to see how unConstitutional it is: bit.ly/tRP0Vr OH WAIT, they don't do that at all, instead, completely ignoring it's obvious conflicts with our founding documents.

Just a quick reminder: 1 in 2 adult men will get cancer. The craziest, most extreme Al Qaeda guy only wishes he was that effective. How about a War on Cancer, Senators Graham and Feinstein, hmmm? I'm totally down with indefinite detention of cancer tumors, in fact, let's kill them on sight.