Another Prisoner to Be Released from Guano

But One Question Still Remains For the Raving Moderate

Glad to see work being done on closing Guantanamo. Thank you, President Obama. But once again, where exactly is the possible reasonable balancing of justice with paranoia in this limbo category of "can neither be tried nor released"?? They call it "Gitmo" for short, but I still sense that "Guano" might be more appropriate in this regard.

Evan Bayh Votes for the (fortunately defeated) Thune Amendment

Response sent to Evan Bayh's Office (http://bayh.senate.gov/contact/email/) after Bayh voted for this amendment -

Can't believe you voted for the Thune Amendment. The carrying of concealed guns would be nothing but a prelude to shootings breaking out in bars and on city streets, not to mention bringing cases of road rage one step closer to catastrophe. Let's keep in mind the first half of the Second Amendment - "A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State". The right to bear arms is in light of this necessity, and to be kept "well regulated".

Frankly, Indianapolis, Gary, South Bend and other cities in Indiana are dangerous enough already.

Perhaps this was one of those votes that wasn't going to make a difference anyway, so might as well as please a few Libertarians and Independents. Well, core Democrats have noticed, too. I like and often agree with Libertarians and Independents, but occasionally we need to keep individuals from infringing on each others' liberties, just as we more often need to keep government and large corporations from doing so. Concealed weapons will make the streets more dangerous, not safer.

New York Times: Bush Weighed Using Military in Arrests

My feeling was always that, bottom line, Bush and Cheney simply wanted unfettered power, with no limits and no accountability. The legal stuff was just a smokescreen for that, or at best a hurdle to be cleared. If innocent people were rounded up alongside terrorists, better that they should just disappear than ever have the chance to tell their stories. Why else would Bush and Cheney have feared Habeas Corpus for prisoners? Don't we, a constitutional democracy that holds itself up as a role model for the world, care just a little whether people in prison are really who we suspect them of being? Their argument was always to put a label on them, terrorists, enemy combatants, unlawful combatants, and then say that such people weren't entitled to any rights. But they didn't even seem to care whether or not the label actually fit, begging the question. At least a large part of the reason that our Constitution gives rights to criminal suspects is that they might actually be innocent. Using labels that begged this question was a huge erosion of this principle, since increasingly anyone could be labeled and immediately placed outside of Constitutional protection.

Note Sent to Senator Kennedy in response to NY Times "Kennedy’s Absent Voice on Health Bill Resonates"

All my best wishes to the Senator. The New York Times has described the mutual frustration felt by both Senator Kennedy and the Senate itself, that the Senator cannot be present for the current debate on the health care bill. I would like to suggest that when Senator Kennedy feels up to it, he should record his comments via video, and have those sent to the Senate floor, and of course invite C-Span to show them to the American people as well. His voice would be powerful at this time. I would also remind the Senator that, as shown in Michael Moore's movie, Sicko, and as I have experienced myself when visiting Scandinavia, health care in much of the industrialized world is simply covered. It is paid for by taxes to be sure, but no one in those countries need ever worry about being bankrupted by a health crisis such as the Senator is experiencing at this time, one which is well covered by the Senate's own plan for itself, but one which, even for a middle class family, could easily be financially devastating to most Americans, on top of the other pain it causes. I thank and congratulate the Senator for his years of tireless work and the historic point to which it has helped to bring us, and, again, wish him all the best.