| Dred Scott Redux: Obama and the Supremes Stand Up for Slavery |
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| Written by Chris Floyd | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Friday, 18 December 2009 14:18 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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While we were all out doing our Christmas shopping, the highest court in the land quietly put the kibosh on a few more of the remaining shards of human liberty. In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s refusal Monday to review a lower court’s dismissal of a case brought by four British former Guantanamo prisoners against former defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld, the detainees’ lawyers charged Tuesday that the country’s highest court evidently believes that "torture and religious humiliation are permissible tools for a government to use."
"Another set of claims are dismissed because Guantanamo detainees are not ‘persons’ within the scope of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act – an argument that was too close to Dred Scott v. Sanford for one of the judges on the court of appeals to swallow," he added.
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Comments (32)
Black robed ?, Low-rated comment [Show]
john kelley
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Subscribe to this comment's feed |
... 'I wonder why they electrocute a man at the one o'clock hour of night And I wonder why they electrocute a man at the one o'clock hour of night Because the current is much stronger, when the folks has turned out all the lights' Blind Lemon Jefferson, 1928 |
Debbie(aussie)
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... Bloody Hell! We are now so far down the rabbit hole I can't see us getting out eva. |
scott douglas
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... They arrested Jose Padilla at O'Hare in Chicago. They had nothing on him. Jose Padilla is a native born citizen of the United States. John Ashcroft stood up in front of the Tee Vee cameras and made 'official' accusations against this punk. Only thing was, the accusations were not formal, nor were they judicially valid. They were just shit, thrown out by the Executive against one of our fellow American Citizens. Do you all get that? The Attorney General of the United States of America held a mini show-trial on 30 minute television, condemning Jose Padilla, a native born citizen of the USA, as a maniacal terrorist...The result? The young man was whisked away into incognito indefinite detention and tortured for so long that he lost his mind... I refuse to provide you with the links. If you are concerned, please look it up. Now Chris has clearly and emphatically explained to you that your new Hero is upholding all the transgressions of his Imperial Predecessor. Do you understand that this government is broken? Hell, I don't want chaos. The French Revolution terrifies me. But this has to stop. If we can't get the money out of the Congressional elections because the Supremes say that would limit free speech...while at the same time they tell us that they can look the other way and declare anyone they choose an enemy of the State and indefinetly detain, torture or kill that victim...well: Fuck. What are we waiting for? Scott |
Jimmy Montague
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It will start when -- It will start when some American citiizen has the nerve to start it. But it will not be called revolution. It will be called terrorism -- no matter what the perpetrators say -- until it is finally done. If the perps win, it will be called revolution. If the pigs win, it will be called terrorism for the rest of eternity in all 'official' records and histories. All it takes is youth, anger, and courage. That's what the Founders started with. |
jason bates
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... so, what's the significance of all this hoohah about "closing gitmo" and moving (most of) the prisoners to illinois? will they become "persons" again on US soil? somehow, i don't think so. rather, we'll all become unpersons. |
Jimmy Montague
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Closing Gitmo -- The much-bruited closing of Gitmo is a large load of bat guano. Gitmo will last as long as the empire -- no matter who says differently. |
john kelley
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... Guantanamo Bay, "The San Francisco Chronicle published an article on April 22, 2007, about the base, and the conditions under which the treaty would be rendered void.[17] The article states: "The 103-year-old agreement limits use of the Cuban territory to "coaling and naval purposes only," neither of which appears to cover the prison or tribunal operations. The agreement also expressly prohibits "commercial, industrial or other enterprise within said areas," but the U.S. base now sports a McDonald's, two Starbucks outlets, a Subway sandwich shop and other American concessions." According to the article, American business, political and cultural figures with regular contact with Cuban leaders say they have the impression that the Cuban government wants the U.S. military off the island but that the issue is not a priority now." (Wikipedia) My way or the highway, baby. |
Grandma Jefferson
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Welcome to the Gulag... You all get the salient point of this article: We are all serfs now. What has been done here does not shred the Constitution, it eliminates it completely, not just for "suspected enemy combatants" but for each and every one of us, from the minute this depraved abomination of a SCOTUS bowed to the hysterical conniptions of the Flunky-In-Chief and refused to consider reversing that barbaric decision which could have been penned by Torquemada himself. Let me repeat this: We are all serfs now, not "free people" in anybody's sense of the word. Re-read this incomparable essay, and contemplate your new status. Think about just what it means, because everything is GONE now, for all of us. Organize against it and guess what you become? Welcome to the Gulag, sisters and brothers, and it's going to get a lot worse. |
Grandma Jefferson
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Dear Admin ...I need to change my email address, and other address info on my profile, but don't have an "edit" tab showing there. Please help, it's greatly appreciated. ;-) |
Phylter
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America has bypassed Socialism, , morphing from Capitalism directly to Feudalism, where you get the right to work (if you can find work) so that you can empty your pockets into the coffers of your corporate overlords. Refuse, and it's the clink for you! And don't even consider complaining about what they do to you as you languish in limbo. During the French monarchy, there existed a similar "legal" device called a "Lettre De Cachet", which was a note written by the king of France ordering the arrest of any individual with no reason given. That person was immediately arrested and jailed and stayed there at the king's pleasure, possibly forever. So, America of the 21st century is copying 18th century France, and of course, 20th century Russia and Germany, among other illustrious tyrannies. What a world we live in... |
john kelley
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... Matt Groening: "So how do you oppose these guys?" Frank Zappa: "You want to know what they hate more than anything else in life? They can't stand for people not to take them seriously. If you laugh at them for an instant, it's just like – the devil walks in the room, right? And he goes, "I'm the Devil," and you take a fork and poke him in the belly, and the gas comes out, and he'll go twirling around the room like an unleashed balloon. That's the way these guys are. You can't laugh at them. They hate it, because they're so full of shit, they're so full of themselves that they just can't believe that people don't appreciate them for the grand, highly evolved creatures that they imagine themselves to be. They hate to be laughed at. If they weren't so fucking dangerous, it would be fun to laugh at them all the time, but sometimes you have to take into account how much damage they can do." |
Jimmy Montague
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Jane Hamsher writes of Rahm Emanuel -- "It's scary to think that people this obscenely stupid are running the country. All the while, the painfully obvious left/right transpartisan consensus that is coalescing against DC insiders of both parties appears to be taking everyone by surprise." The 'transpartisan consensus' she mentions is forming around points about the present system that teabaggers and 'progressives' both despise. Hamsher thinks the Democrats should be afraid of the 2010 election because voter rage means the Dems will be thrown out of office in wholesale lots and that Republicans will win the vacant seats. But I note that Obama and his 'Crats aren't running scared. Noting their noticeable lack of fear, I think it may be the case that THEY now control those electronic voting machines and that Election 2010 will be the reverse of Election 2000. I don't know anything, mind you, but I suspect the DNC's confidence is rooted in something other than black magic and witchcraft. |
Ann
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This post discussed at Naked Capitalism This post got a writeup and discussion over at Naked Capitalism today: http://www.nakedcapitalism.com...tion.html. A terrific blog for the financial angle, and simpatico with many of the issues discussed here, I would say. |
Sean O'Neil
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... @ Jimmy -- Poor Jane. She thinks Rahm Emanuel is "stupid." I'd hate to have Jane's lack of perception, discernment, assessment and categorization skills. She's pretty much like an empty toolbox, ya know? Rahm Emanuel is not stupid. He just doesn't seek the same ends that Pollyanna... err, aaahhh... Jane is seeking. Poor Jane is like the eedjit liberals and pwoggies who thought Dick Cheney was stupid and "incompetent." Jane just doesn't know how to assess intelligence, scheming competence, and machiavellian expertise. She assess everyone from The Hamsher Perspective -- naive, believing in Donkey Valhalla, and blaming "incompetence" and "stupidity" when a Donkey doesn't lead her to valhalla. How sad. ............... On a serious note, denial of certiorari isn't a substantive ruling, so we shouldn't consider this denial to be the same as the Supremes making an affirmative holding. Still, their refusal to reverse or otherwise modify the decision below does tell us what their thoughts are... they think the decision below doesn't need to be changed. |
kevinearick
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... Infinite monetary expansion always leads to bankruptcy and tyranny. The government gave itself, and any other corporation, the right to create debt in the name of individuals, with or without consent of the individual. Why would anyone not see this coming, unless they were blinded by the short-term profit of participation by omission? “When they came for my neighbor, I did nothing …” What happens when you leave your headlights on with the motor off? Without the labor pole, the economic currency runs to ground, the capital pole, discharging the battery, the middle class. Now the participants by commission are broke and desperate, enough to publicly institutionalize martial law. Surprise, surprise. The labor pole was disconnected in the 70s, and finance sold long-term capital stock to meet short-term expenses, borrowing from the future to engineer “earnings” to borrow more, creating simulated markets. And there was no limit to the number of takers in this debt ponzi scheme, until now. Government is the sum total of responsibility not taken by individuals, a beast of their own creation. The American Enterprise System is currently worth more dead than alive, because it is paying unprotected labor a 15% return on the economy. Labor requires 51% to offset capital on the fulcrum and provide for marginal growth. It’s not a negotiation. The laws of physics apply everywhere in the universe. From the vacuum of individual responsibility, capital employs government to dilute labor, by breeding weaker counter-parties. That should be obvious by now. “Ignorance is bliss … la,la,la” Family Law eviscerated due process a long time ago, which is when labor started building the next system. Probability says this is going to get ugly. Best wishes. |
Michael Hureaux Perez
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... With all due respect, Mr. Jimmy Montague- and believe you me, I love your comments here- I just want to pick a bone with you. To hell with youth as a category in working to organize a resistance. If it's up to youth, given the patterns a lot of people under the age of thirty have learned to think with these days, we're toast. I don't dislike young people, I just think we have to get past this idea that youth is the only active time for rebellion. A lot of young people just aren't very bright, that is to say, they've not digested their ideas anymore than we had at their age. Some people peak early and are brilliant when they're young, but the Fred Hamptons and the Crazy Horses are few and far between, and let's face it, they're often murdered before we even know they were there. It's not their fault, it's ours, in that many of us, who in any healthy democratic order would be playing the role of elder counsel, many of us have chosen to walk away from the gig. Believe me, I teach high school, so I know lots of people my age who just want to be comfortable, and I can't fault them that, so do I. But here's the thing: there is no comfort. These bastards mean to kill us. Like anyone else, I've tried to tell myself otherwise over the years, but let's face it, it takes a particularly nasty and cynical brand of viciousness to saddle what was once a thriving anti-war movement with a leadership as medicine show farcial as is that of the "democratic" party and its "leader", Mr. Obama. To call what we're looking at a Manchurian candidate scenario would be understatement. As someone somewhere once said, we can't match these creeps for viciousness, nor should we want to. But there are coyote games to be played yet, and these jerks haven't thought of everything. In fact, I'm thinking it's very likely that they're laying it on as thick as they are because they know there are many pockets or possibilities for building resistance that we who are interested in cultural revolution and deep democracy have overlooked. So I'm in it with my 52 year old carcass, come what may. That great patriot Geronimo hit the warpath at the ripe young age of 56, and built a fighting unit that confounded the U.S. cavalry for years. He had much less resource then we. I think we've got possiblities we haven't even looked into. But I also think if we're waiting for young people to lead the way, we're finished. We're going to have to come up with some critical and creative responses ourselves. |
Rob Waller
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There will be no revolution America is smashed and broken. As are its people. The takeover is complete. The oligarchy own and control everything of significance. The Teabaggers have the anger, but the wrong direction. Emails, faxes, letters and phone calls to Congress are a waste of time, they're already bought, and allow lobbyists to write the laws of the land. Middle America can't/won't take time off work to protest for fear of reprisal, the takeover is complete. So get out there, buy that 60 inch plasma TV, hand over the rest of your money and shut the fuck up. Michael, I totally agree with you, but there's no stopping this thing now, the helm is hard over, the engines are in full reverse, but the captain's working for the iceberg. |
Michael Hureaux Perez
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... I see everything you're talking about, Rob, but the only other option is to sit and wait for death or just "live well" in glorious consumer's paradise, comrade. I think it makes more sense to struggle to regain whatever cultural space is left us, and whichever venues remain standing,to push the envelope as much as possible, and if this contains death or more suffering, then at least it is on my own terms, rather than inside the pretentious crap which passes for civil discourse anymore. Obviously the old guard has no real commitment to democratic life, and will shut it down by whatever means it views as neccessary. Obviously a good many of our countrypeople don't care. But it's not true across the board, and that's where we need to be aiming. One of my favorite stories from history was told by Burroughs and Wallace in their magnum opus Gotham, a history of New York City from 1623 to 1896. Once the independence fighters in New York City began to make their move, the British Navy, which was then the largest and most powerful in the world, sent something like 200 battleships armed with about a hundred soldiers apiece up the Hudson River, deliberately sailing from the first port in the Battery all the way up to what is now Fort Washington in Washington Heights. Both sides of the Hudson had encamped upon the banks the rinkydink armed resistance of the independence fighters, firing away at the armada with rifles with poor range. The officers of the British crew just sat out on the decks of their ship, taking tea and laughing at the spectacle of the worm attempting to tackle the elephant. And less then ten years later, Cronwallis had to back his people off, despite the ineptitude of Washington's leadership and the corruption of the early U.S. boojwahzee. Guerilla fighting among the ranks carried the day. I'm not arguing that guerilla fighting will carry the moment in our own day, only that no repressive force in this world has ever thought of everything, and that every trap contains the elements that will make up the manner in which we escape. Others have fought this machine with far less at their disposal. A wall is only a wall, as wrote Assata Shakur, and it can be broken down. |
Rob Waller
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The broken system Michael, I'm hearing you on FM, but as I said, the system is broken. The people put in place to ensure democracy endures are now its enemies, the congress, the police force, the military, et al. Any dissension and the dissenters are crushed like bugs. I believe the collapse will come from within, but it's not going to be pretty. The middle class of America has had its blood wrung better than you could from a stone. There is no more pillage of the middle and lower classes left but for nickels and dimes but the oligarchs still desire their blood. There's none left. We saw the Wall Street gambling addicts go into a feeding frenzy on each other last fall when their debts wouldn't go away, so they held a gun to America's collective heads. Then and there, all of the CEO's of those banks should have been clapped in irons for extortion, did it happen? NO! The country has been torn to shreds but too few see it. Where is the outrage from the people over the healthcare extortion racket? But for a few, I hear nothing but crickets chirping... Taking up arms would be useless, I'm sure there are enough Chateau D'If's for those who would dare, IF they survived... I don't want to sound defeatist, to be sure, but until "we the people" arouse from our somnambulence, it will be "business as usual"... |
scott douglas
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postscript M. IOZ and friends: No criticism implied. I am not being cute. I am sincere. But if you don't believe in the possibility of positive action -- by which I mean natural action unconceived; that which occurs spontaneously at odd, auspicious times, perhaps communally, in order to address grievances too heinous for the non-existent existent Primal Mover to endure - a cosmic burr -- then why are you monitoring this site? We are not Romantics. We are Realists, just as yourselves; and yet we believe there is a possibility of succor and perhaps, remotely, perseverance and progress. We are mostly refuseniks; but a lot of us actually voted dem just to see if there was any chance that the system could self-correct. The IOZ crew does not only refuse to support the system, a la Silber, but openly mocks any serious attempt to understand the corruption at it's base. "oh, that's just the way it is; are you such the Naif that you couldn't see!?" Well. It's funny, but it is not social politics. It's entertainment, guys. So, again: Why are you here checking out the morally superlative and uncompromising essays of our host, Chris Floyd, and the sincere speculations of his idealistic Commentariat...? O, IOZ, you'll be pulling the Doctor's rope with the rest of us when the shit comes down! You are going to LOVE it! ahhhh...the Guillotine!!! So. Stop fronting, Lord Foppington. Scott |
john kelley
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... "The country has been torn to shreds but too few see it. Where is the outrage from the people over the healthcare extortion racket? But for a few, I hear nothing but crickets chirping..." I concur. Where is the outrage from the people over such a long, long, long list of outrages? No other people on earth would stand so idle for so long to such exploitation. There is a psychopathy of defeat, or perhaps acceptance, in the people. Certainly many of us will persevere quietly on the fringes, but, I also, "... believe the collapse will come from within,..." But, even then, I'm not quite sure what we would be left with. |
Sean O'Neil
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to Scott Scott, if you read IOZ frequently you might catch that a big part of the humor there is in the pretense of being above everything. It's like mocking the meritocratic progressives who think that all anyone needs is a superior "expert" to tell the world what to do, how to think, when to act. |
Michael Hureaux Perez
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... oh, Rob Waller. Well, I never said the system wasn't broken, and I quite agree we're in for a bloody shitstorm. That doesn't mean we shouldn't try to strengthen what remains of fighting community organization and the pockets of cultural resistance that still exist. What helps us to survive the coming grief- those of us who do, that is to say- will be those elements of preparation we've laid out. So we'd best look to strengthen what remains, keep our eyes open for the spontaneous element, etc, but prepare in those areas where we know we have some credibility. I don't know what that means where you are, and I don't seek to prescribe here. I certainly don't mean to imply that the system isn't broken. but it seems to me there are nascent forms of organization within every community or labor or cultural organization left to us, and I think we've got to get on it, when we can see an opening. That's all I'm saying. Not all is broken within the forms I mentioned- at least not out where I've been- and every goodbye ain't gone. But we all have to do what we think is right, wherever we are. Na? |
scott douglas
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... Hey Sean, Thanks for the corrective. It's not that I disagree with IOZ; mostly I don't. It's just that, knowing a few louche dudes like the M., I know fullwell that their 'I don't care!' is a only pose. The dude does not post every day because he DOESN'T care. Bullshit. Anyway, this doesn't bother me in the personal, social realm -- but it kinda offends me when I feel like the stage-act is drawing people away from a serious engagement of the issues. Self indulgence (and please believe me, I have nothing against that as a personal vice) is one thing. Trumpeting frivolity as the correct response to social collapse is quite another, and a something I find a bit offensive... |
john kelley
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... Hey Scott, I'm really tired and acronyms tend to stare blankly at me anyway. What's IOZ? Merry Xmas. |
Blackstone
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People ARE NOT "legal entities" I agree with the spirit of the Op-Ed, however there's a glaring technicality that's being over looked. "We the people..." ARE NOT "legal entities". A "PERSON" IS a "legal entity". Equating a sentient being with a LEGAL ENTITY is ignorant. This is a very simply issue, PEOPLE have been abused and subject to torture. The ruling by SCOTUS ONLY APPLIES TO LEGAL FICTIONS - LEGAL ENTITIES. Anyone who studies law knows there's LEGAL DEFINITIONS of words and it's a real good idea to understand what the LEGAL DEFINITION is so one may construct a proper argument. The passion of the Op-Ed is not lost on this writer, however, and regardless of the passionate BELIEF of the author of the Op-ED, that passion is misdirected. As ridiculous as Clinton sounded when he said, "Well, it depends on what the definition of is is." Believe what you will but that's one smart attorney. Given the fact he's a lyin asshole he knows what he's talking about in that regard and so do 99.9% of other attorneys. The PEOPLE don't because they don't study law and more than likely aren't even aware of the existence of LAW DICTIONARIES. The long and short of it is this, notwithstanding the APPEARANCE, SCOTUS ruled correctly. Now if the objective is to expose the corruption of it all then one need look no further than the Constitution. The ONLY reason SCOTUS was called upon to render an opinion is due to a FRAUD, a FRAUD AT THE INCEPTION. The basis of how that SENTIENT BEING came to be incarcerated is the direct result of the conduct of the parties responsible for 9/11 and what the federal government did subsequent to it. IF, IF being the operative term, the melee created by the federal government over in Iraq is authorized by the Constitution then the incarcerated actor is an ENEMY. However, it's abundantly clear that federal government employees don't like playing by the rules they agreed to follow. The alleged "war" is patently illegal lacking constitutional foundation which in my judgement is the BIGGER PICTURE. Again, I resonate with the spirit and passion of the Op-Ed however, we can not discount or deny the legalities involved and the whys and wherefores of the ruling, as bad as it APPEARS. The LEGAL FACT is that NO LEGAL ENTITY has unalienable rights because a LEGAL ENTITY is a FICTION created by the mind of man. The "rights" in question are INFERIOR to the secured rights of "We the people..." because they can be TAXED and REVOKED. The reader would be well advised to verify the forgoing in an effort to better direct their passion for the truth in their efforts to expose the posers pretending to give a rat's ass about the document they swore the mandated oath of office to uphold. IN FAVOREM LIBERTATIS |
Sean O'Neil
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It's too bad our "Blackstone" knows no legal matters In law school during the mid-late 80s, they used "Blackstone" as a semi-reverent reference to an old legal authority. Not sure if they still reference "Blackstone" the same way today. Our visitor "Blackstone" above seems to fancy him/herself a legal analysis specialist. Blackie drones on about a distinction between "legal person" and "people" as if Blackie's prattle is the thing in issue. Let's all remember -- the only one talking about Blackie's distinction between "legal person" and "people" is Blackie. It must be an enjoyable world for Blackie, he/she trots around the internet trying to be a character from Lewis Carroll, but failing miserably because he is neither clever with words, nor funny in failing to be so clever. Alas, poor Blackie. Let's bury him in Blackacre, where I hold fee seisin. |
Sean O'Neil
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to John Kelley - Yo, yankee30 -- IOZ maintains a blog... whoisioz.blogspot.com Specialties over there are scathing, sardonic takes on political matters, obsessive detailed knowledge of dialogue from The Big Lebowski, and occasional other stuff that I don't read -- mostly food stuff or IOZ's peculiar personal adventures. Worth reading if you like a humorous take on things. I'd suggest that old Blackie go read it, but I think Blackie is coughing his death rattle -- his comment above reads like late-stage dementia. |
Muhjesbud Maharish
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opsec test Just seeing if Chris' 'penetrated' computer will let me in this time. if it does, i'll post the real comment next. |
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