one of the most un-American guilty plea proceedings we have ever witnessed...

david hicks pled guilty to providing material support to a terrorist organization. and this is where the talking heads come out and tell us all how wonderfully gitmo has worked and pat themselves on the back and proclaim how we have not been attacked again and it is because this tiny australian was being tortured in cuba for the last five years (because its pretty obvious that unless he were locked up long island would be a crater right now). of course these same talking heads will ignore the shame that any true american feels on this day...so let's examine the reality of what just happened, and how the conservative elite assholes have taken us one giant step closer to cheering on gladiators reenacting the battle of fallujah in soldiers field.

first off...look at what this man pled guilty to...working with a group in afghanistan that was attempting to thwart the american invasion. he never shot at american troops...which is probably good, because that would just make him a regular soldier and then we would need to take good care of him. he isn't an american...so treason is out. he was arrested by a foreign army in a foreign country and charged with crimes under federal law (then held and tortured for five years without access to the courts before his "arraignment" yesterday) that basically amount to "not throwing rose pedals at the invading american army." strip it down to its essence and the charges are this...assisting in fighting against a foreign army. something tells me a hell of a lot of americans were guilty of this over the years.

so the charges themselves are embarassing to a nation that holds itself out to be a "nation of laws"...the proceedings yesterday were a complete disaster, and as someone that believes deeply in the theory of our criminal justice system (not the practice), I am ashamed. the right wing fuckups will tell you that this validates everything they have been saying for so long...that holding people and claiming they have no rights and no law applies to them and making up the rules as they go along is a totally in line with what america is supposed to stand for and something of which we may all be proud.

but that would mean you would need to ignore that the judge presiding over hicks' case assigned himself to the case. you would need to ignore that two promiment civil criminal defense attorneys that had been working on hicks' case for years were booted out of the courtroom at the "arraignment" (in quotes because this was a sham) over technicalities when the prosecution objected to their presence because they had not jumped through the hoops with proper form. this alone is comically horrifying...typically these right wing schmucks are pissed off over "technicalities" that go in favor of the defense...little things like the fourth, fifth, sixth, eigth, and fourteenth amendments...and now, they actually design true technicalities to dismiss the most knowledgable and capable two-thirds of his defense team.

so after the judge who assigned himself to the case ruled against the defense on every issue at the "arraignment" and dismissed two of the three lawyers on the defense team for bullshit reasons...and after hicks' has been subjected to deplorable conditions and torture for five years...surprise, his only remaining lawyer (the lowest-ranking officer involved in the case) informed the court he would enter a plea of guilty to helping out a terrorist organization in afghanistan. (notice afghanistan is not cuba...or the united states...just a little "technicality" that apparently doesn't mean as much as not signing the correct paper).

under the circumstances, does anyone really put any credence in this plea? how voluntary could it be when for five years it is made plain to you that the system being devised will not be fair, and then your defense team is cancelled (perhaps because they are too good and might find a "technicality" or two...things like torture and illegal detention...you know, un-american things), and you have been treated worse than an animal for five years? this was an embarrassment to america, not a validation of all that is wrong with the boy king administration and his cronies. this was a tell-tale sign that the dream that was america may be lost forever...

those who would give up essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither. and no ben...we couldn't keep it.