Pre-Crime Unit is GO!
"...the United States has always kept to its international obligations, which include international obligations on the convention on torture. The United States, the president, was determined after Sept. 11 to do everything that was legal and within those obligations, international and domestic laws, to make sure that we prevented a follow-on attack. And information to prevent an attack is the long pole in the tent when you're dealing with terrorism. You can't wait until somebody's committed a crime and then go and punish them."
- Condoleeza Rice (regarding Guantanamo Bay) in an NPR interview, Dec. 10, 2008.
Uh, Ms. Rice?
I'm sorry, but that is the WRONG ANSWER. The correct answer is Yes. Yes, in fact, you CAN wait until somebody's committed a crime and then punish them. That is the foundation of our legal process. It's called Due Process, and it is required by law.
And before you go all, "Ooh, but the loss of human life blah blah blah" - Conspiracy to commit is a crime, that someone can be charged for. Therefore, it is perfectly possible to arrest someone, using due process, BEFORE they blow up any buildings, shoot guns, kidnap citizens, etc.
You do not need to suspend due process to do this.
Also, while we're on this subject:
You do not need to trample civil rights.
You do not need to abduct people.
You do not need to invade foreign countries.
You do not need to violate international treaties.
You do not need to bomb civilians.
You do not need to rape, torture, murder and bury entire villages.
You do not need to use napalm, Agent Orange, nuclear weapons or war gases.
You do not need to hire mercenaries for operations your own military command structure refuses to do.
You do not need to imprison people in illegal detainment camps, permanently, under conditions of filth, humiliation and squalor, for no reason other than that they MIGHT, SOMEDAY, have done something criminal.
"Ooh, but I'll bet they were THINKING it!" is not, I'm sorry, sufficient cause for anyone to be detained, arrested, imprisoned or simply disappeared. Not in this nation or any other.
So.
NO.
Sadly, I think it is probably far too late in the game to swat Condoleeza Rice with a rolled-up newspaper and say "bad dog!". On to happier things, shall we?
So. Last week, while sorting liquor in the back room of my workplace, I rather jokingly asked my boss (Who we'll call "Dave", since that's his actual name), "Hey Dave, what are the odds of getting a few days around Christmas off?"
"Pretty good, actually. They're making me cut hours. What days would you need?"
So that's how I got most of the week around Christmas off.
What am I doing with this unexpected largesse? Why, going to visit Ink_Books_Punk in lovely Trenton, NJ! Plane tickets are bought, and the appropriate authorities have been notified at my two places of employment. I'm looking forward to Seeing A New Place(TM), being surrounded by people I love, and who love me, and possibly kicking Rocket_Cock in the 'nads. We'll see how it goes.
That's the big news out here. How are alla you?
- Condoleeza Rice (regarding Guantanamo Bay) in an NPR interview, Dec. 10, 2008.
Uh, Ms. Rice?
I'm sorry, but that is the WRONG ANSWER. The correct answer is Yes. Yes, in fact, you CAN wait until somebody's committed a crime and then punish them. That is the foundation of our legal process. It's called Due Process, and it is required by law.
And before you go all, "Ooh, but the loss of human life blah blah blah" - Conspiracy to commit is a crime, that someone can be charged for. Therefore, it is perfectly possible to arrest someone, using due process, BEFORE they blow up any buildings, shoot guns, kidnap citizens, etc.
You do not need to suspend due process to do this.
Also, while we're on this subject:
You do not need to trample civil rights.
You do not need to abduct people.
You do not need to invade foreign countries.
You do not need to violate international treaties.
You do not need to bomb civilians.
You do not need to rape, torture, murder and bury entire villages.
You do not need to use napalm, Agent Orange, nuclear weapons or war gases.
You do not need to hire mercenaries for operations your own military command structure refuses to do.
You do not need to imprison people in illegal detainment camps, permanently, under conditions of filth, humiliation and squalor, for no reason other than that they MIGHT, SOMEDAY, have done something criminal.
"Ooh, but I'll bet they were THINKING it!" is not, I'm sorry, sufficient cause for anyone to be detained, arrested, imprisoned or simply disappeared. Not in this nation or any other.
So.
NO.
Sadly, I think it is probably far too late in the game to swat Condoleeza Rice with a rolled-up newspaper and say "bad dog!". On to happier things, shall we?
So. Last week, while sorting liquor in the back room of my workplace, I rather jokingly asked my boss (Who we'll call "Dave", since that's his actual name), "Hey Dave, what are the odds of getting a few days around Christmas off?"
"Pretty good, actually. They're making me cut hours. What days would you need?"
So that's how I got most of the week around Christmas off.
What am I doing with this unexpected largesse? Why, going to visit Ink_Books_Punk in lovely Trenton, NJ! Plane tickets are bought, and the appropriate authorities have been notified at my two places of employment. I'm looking forward to Seeing A New Place(TM), being surrounded by people I love, and who love me, and possibly kicking Rocket_Cock in the 'nads. We'll see how it goes.
That's the big news out here. How are alla you?