Horse****. I thought your first post was toungue-in-cheek.

So what happens if a different political party gains power and decides
that your ilk are dangerous to society? There are very good reasons
why we have due process and Habeus Corpus. Sometimes the guys who
have to enforce the law make mistakes, and the court system is there
to (at least try) to sort those out according to a reasoned process.
These are basic human rights that date back to the 13th century, and
are not to be casually trifled with because the idea that some bad men
halfway around the world might come on camelback to get you makes you
**** your panties.

Law is an incremental process, they start small, with test cases to
establish a precedent. Once the precident is set, it becomes very
difficult to overturn- it's not impossible to disregard precedent, but
it is generally not done in our legal system. So they start with
"terrorists," (I use the word in quotes because without charges or
systematic review, any one of those people could be a grocer from Iran
who was just in the wrong place at the wrong time- the point is, we
can't know, because the evidence is hidden) and once that is
established, it can be applied in incremental steps to broaden it's
effective range of applications. Next might be home-grown militia
groups- I don't care for them, and chances are you don't either. Even
though they're citizens, they could easily be labeled terrorists. If
the courts uphold the suspension of Habeus Corpus for even one US
citizen, the precedent is firmly established, and can be broadened
through a series of small steps- maybe child molestors, arsonists,
murderers and thieves are next. Most of the people will so treated
will likely be guilty- if there's much doubt, the courts won't uphold
the initial cases.

So a few years from now, when the precedent is firmly established, it
can become a tool of politics. Chances are, you'll never end up in a
camp- but a challenger in a political race whom you may have wished to
vote for very well could. Or a newscaster who has a story that
embarrases the administration. Or a Union leader. You get the idea
(I hope.)

Nobody is for the goddamn terrorists. That's a cheap and dispicable
con game on the order of the old "So, have you stopped beating your
wife yet?" question. Just because someone disagrees with your 5th
grade understanding of the world and how it works, that doesn't mean
they're out to get you and yours. In this case, they're looking out
for your best interests, even though it seems fairly apparent that you
deserve anything you get- after all, you're *asking* for it.

If you really think that honest, hardworking citizens can't be
railroaded by a political trend, you need to do some research into
McCarthyism. Here's a link for you.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_McCarthy

It's not alarmist bull****. It happened. It's a matter of public
record, and it was not that long ago.


Even with Habeus Corpus intact, thousands of innocent citizens were
smeared by unfounded rumors and accusations that often cost them their
jobs and families. Most had nothing to do with Communism whatsoever-
it was a political tool, just as the term "terrorist" is. McCarthy
was able to ruin many lives with nothing more than rumor, innuendo,
and agressive "investigation" techniques. Think of how much more
damaging his reckless slander campaign might have been had he been
able to simply whisk the people he suspected away to a camp on foreign
soil- never to be seen or heard from again.

You must, I repeat, must, respect and defend the right of Habeus
Corpus in EVERY SINGLE instance. If you don't, one day your head
could be the one on the chopping block- and you will have no say in
the matter, having given your right to defend yourself away long
before. You might see the value of the right to see and challenge the
evidence against you then- but of course, that knowledge will have
come too late.

You sound like a wannabe ACLU scheister. Nobody is talking about
suspending Habeus
Corpus for American citizens. But why let the facts get in the way of
your fiery bombast?

I want my country to have the tools it needs to protect itself against
enemies of the state and not be hobbled by activists who will do
anything they can to castrate and beat America down using its own
democracy against itself.

Because their activities and endeavors often serve enemies of the state
better than it serves American society at large, I have to wonder where
the loyalties of these activists lie; are they good citizens trying to
protect democracy (at any cost to the general public) or do they have
an agenda that may not be so true blue?