John Walker Lindh

I am providing a link to this article by the father of John Walker Lindh. I have read the story about John several times and I have often thought that this could be the child of so many of us....a young man pulled to Islam and its teachings who then finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. My country has grown so intolerant and the need for "bad guys" never greater....and so we tortured this young man and made him our homemade scapegoat for the crimes of people we either could not catch or couldn't be bothered catching.

The article ends with John's father saying "My hope and prayer is that at some point rational, fair-minded officials in the American government will see the wisdom in releasing John from prison, rather than making him serve the entire 20-year sentence."

I wish the same for John. Unfortunately there are no rational, fair-minded officials in our government .....only wimps.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jul/10/john-walker-lindh-american-taliban-father

Guantanamo-torture-crimes

Click on the title to read an article by an intern at the World Can't Wait. Marie is a student from France who has been spending most of the year trying to figure out what makes Americans tick. As Marie describes it-

The purpose of this article is not to find an answer for each question I had or wondered. Neither is it to explain all the issues of Guantánamo, but rather to show what People really think and to speak up for what I believe is faIr and that which represents my values.

To learn what people think about Guantanamo Marie headed to DC last week to participate and observe at the demonstration described here. Wouldn't it be nice if everyone would take the time to reflect on these issues....?

As for me-I begin my latest journey to Guantanamo tomorrow....In my worst nightmares I never thought my clients would be in that hell hole for so long....and as we know from Marie's wonderful article there are too many Americans who could care less.

Thank you Marie.

CLICK ON THE TITLE TO READ THE ARTICLE.

From Roger Fitch and our Friends Down Under

The post-legal society

Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Justinian in Guantanamo, Habeas, Roger Fitch Esq, War crimes, material support

Reinventing the Constitution ... New war crime propped up by discredited 1818 case ... Pentagon stacks military commission review court ... Rogue circuit court circumvents habeasfor Guantanameros ... CIA homicides investigated by grand jury ... Our Man in Washington reports

George Bush's quest for a stripped-down, bare-bones constitution is progressing nicely under his nimble successor, Barack Obama.

Evidently, the powers-that-be decided a smooth Democrat - a "constitutional law professor" - was best-equipped to carry out a project begun by clumsy Republicans and stalled by cautious courts.

The results so far have been impressive.

The 1^st Amendment's guarantee of speech has been ingeniously reinterpreted, loosing rivers of corporate cash in public elections.

The 2^nd (guns) has been turned 180 degrees and the 4^th (search and seizure) is on the way out. The 8^th(excessive bail, cruel and inhuman punishment) is pretty much a dead letter.

Demolition of the 5th (due process) and 6^th (speedy trials, impartial juries, right to confront witnesses) will be difficult and take longer, but hope springs eternal in America's governing class.

In fact, we already live in a post-legal society, according to a well-known internet scribe.

CLICK ON THE TITLE FOR THE FULL STORY.........