Habeas Corpus

Torturous Terms of Art

Thu, 05/14/2009 - 12:45pm | posted by Rick Fisk

The matter of torture has been discussed over the past several years in connection with its use as a “tool” in the “Global War on Terror” or the “Overseas Contingency Operation” as it has now been called. Dick Cheney has been recently making rounds in an attempt to salvage some credibility and to fuel the partisan fire.

USA Using Patriot Act Against Its Own Citizens

Wed, 05/06/2009 - 11:15am | posted by Shana Kluck

In August of 2007, several Ron Paul supporters attended a straw poll in Tuscaloosa, AL. One of the supporters carried a home-made sign that said, “Got Habeas Corpus?”. An older gentleman there questioned me about the sign, wanting to know why she was carrying it. As I began to explain the Patriot Act and the Military Commissions Act, he became increasingly angry and beligerant, claiming that those acts were only to be used for military combatants, and that we believed in “aiding and abetting the enemy” if we didn’t agree with those acts. He refused to even listen to the fact that the acts were not limited as he believed and that US citizens were just as vulnerable.

Well, I hate to say, “I told you so”, but if he was here, I’d say, “I told you so.”

1 comment

Utopians of the Left and the Right

Tue, 11/18/2008 - 12:19pm | posted by Michael Orion Powell

In a recent column in this month’s issue of National Review (which I still read, due to a complimentary subscribtion, despite my anger with the tossing aside of Christopher Buckley for his audacious Obama endorsement) the eloquent Mark Steyn argues for citizens who give little more than “stilted cheers” for their political leadership. He illustrates the Soviet-style cult following that Barack Obama has benefited greatly from as being counter to the ideals America was founded on.

Reflections on Veterans Day

Tue, 11/11/2008 - 6:40am | posted by Dr. Charles Kennedy

One of my duties as Music Associate at the Cathedral Church of the Advent, Birmingham, AL, is to play the organ for the annual Veterans Day service. The first of these for me was one year ago. The one part of the service that really struck me was the reading of the names of all U.S. military personnel who had died in all wars during the past year. A staggering 336 names were printed in the program and read, amidst the background of a snare drum roll, with the ominous boom of a bass drum after each name. With each boom of that drum, a penetrating, sinking feeling came over me as I thought of how the loss of that one life impacted so many loved ones. It was the longest part of the service, and it went on and on, for some 45 or 50 minutes.

Reflections on Memorial Day

Tue, 05/26/2009 - 4:37pm | posted by Dr. Charles Kennedy

I write this on May 24, the eve of Memorial Day, the day set aside to commemorate Americans who have died while in military service. This day was originally created (the first commemoration was May 30, 1868) to honor Union soldiers of the War Between the States, and was later expanded after World War I to include all those who have died in military service. Typically, commemorations can be expected to include much in the way of what is considered “patriotic” music (more accurately described as nationalistic), along with tributes themed along the lines of thanking those “who fight for our freedoms.” This spills over into Sunday services of many churches around the nation, when the emphasis temporarily focuses away from the praise of God and the proclamation of the Gospel, towards one of military service and national greatness.

Redefining a Nation

Tue, 04/28/2009 - 10:28am | posted by Matt Chancey

My last article, “Secession… an American Tradition,” elicited some good questions from readers. The whole issue of secession seems to beg the larger question of what constitutes a nation anyway.

To answer this requires a brief overview of modern nationalism.

Here are a couple of definitions to start:

Nation:

A large body of people, associated with a particular territory, that is sufficiently conscious of its unity to seek or to possess a government peculiarly its own: The president spoke to the nation about the new tax. (www.Dictionary.com)

Nation:

In The Runoff For Georgia’s US Senate Seat…

Mon, 11/17/2008 - 1:33pm | posted by Brett Bittner

I am proud to have voted for Allen Buckley on election day, and I am trying to decide whether to abstain, write in Mickey Mouse, or vote for Jim Martin. I DO KNOW that I am extremely tired of Georgia Republicans that assume a Libertarian will jump into the Republican fold when our candidate does not win. I have been engaged by numerous Republicans, many of them getting very upset, discussing my positions in the upcoming run-off. To date, no one has been able to provide a single logical argument FOR Saxby Chambliss, other than using fear-mongering tactics to suppose the positions that Jim Martin would take or would have taken, should he have been in Saxby’s position already.

Charges Dropped on 5 Gitmo Detainees - Military Denies the Obvious

Wed, 10/22/2008 - 3:23am | posted by Austin Wilkes

In a follow up to last week’s post- Gitmo Prosecutor Quits Due to Lack of Fairnesss in System- 5 detainees originally being prosecuted by Lt. Col. Darrel Vandeveld, who resigned recently due to “a crisis of conscience”, will have their current charges against them dropped.

House of Lords Stands Up For Liberty

Tue, 10/14/2008 - 4:28pm | posted by United Liberty Staff

MSNBC is reporting that the United Kingdom’s House of Lords rejected, in what opposition leaders called a “crushing defeat”, a government plan to increase the amount of time that the state can hold suspects without charges from 28 to 42 days.The pre-9/11 maximum length to which the government could hold suspects without charge was 2 days. This most recent proposal going down in a 3-to-1 defeat hopefully will send a warning message to Gordon Brown and others that they will not be allowed to reign unchecked.