looks like our government is preparing to use those means elsewhere when the time is right

looks like The Rich in America who fund the Republicans in America fear something and they’re getting ready to apply a large dose of violent ‘control’ to protect themselves

looks like America is in for something rather nasty, maybe an economic crash, who knows what

Right answer: Close Guantanamo. Bulldoze it. Plow it under and burn the soil.

Shell @ 46

I have asked this question many times, and never received an answer. WHY does the US have a military prison in Cuba? America doesn’t have any relations (diplomatic) with Cuba, and hasn’t for decades.

Why, then, can we own a camp there?

Guantanamo is a US military base whose rights were ceded to the US under duress decades ago.

Exactly. The US acquired its “lease” of the naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as a spoil of war at the end of the Spanish-American War. The term “lease” was used to deny that the US – unlike the Spanish, whose imperial territory we acquired, and those nasty Europeans, who were then carving up China and Africa – had imperial ambitions. In addition to Guantanamo Bay, the US acquired control over the Philippines, Puerto Rico and Hawaii.

“Lease”, as used to describe US rights in Guantanamo Bay, is a legal fiction – like Kennedy saying he was instituting a “quarantine” instead of a blockade of Cuba in 1962. A “blockade” is an act of aggression justifying war; a quarantine was a new coinage meant to signify something more restrained. It wasn’t really; Kennedy just didn’t want it to lead to war.

This lease gives the US exclusive jurisidction over Guantanamo for as long as it wants it. All that’s missing is the transfer of legal title, which is normally necessary to confer “sovereignty”. Mr. Bush clung to that technicality to suggest that the US had no control over what goes on there. (Which would have surprised the Navy and Marine Corps units stationed there.)

The US Supreme Court discarded that fiction (sadly, the lower courts did not), which led Mr. Bush to cajole a corrupt 109th Congress to enact the Military Commissions Act, in order to deny his prisoners their day in court.

somehow my reply to you ended up as an edit to my 68…. just wanted to let you know there was a reply and where to find it…

Haven’t seen anyone point out the strange locution in the NYT article

A new, long-term hunger strike has broken out at the American detention center at Guant�namo Bay, Cuba, with more than a dozen detainees subjecting themselves to daily force-feeding

Huh? Subjecting themselves? I think not. I think it is us who are subjecting them to force feeding, n’est pas?

“n’est-ce pas?”

Under George Bush and Dick Cheney, Rumsfeld, Gonzales, Libby, Addington, Yoo, Hayes, et al, our government has become immoral, inhumane and lawless, and it needs to be changed. And those responsible should be held accountable.

Democrats are accountable too. Obama voted for Patriot Act renewal.
They stood by while all these affronts to this country happened, and put poll-driven fear, and consultant driven political strategizing ahead of the interests of the country and its future.

As the old saying goes, those who stand for nothing will fall for anything. Same goes for anyone who reflexively votes for and defends a candidate just because they have a (D) in front of their name.

Further evidence suggesting that the politicization of American government goes far beyond indicting Democrats on questionnable claims of “voter fraud”.

spirilis @ 67 -

i’ve got a problem with the BSA… i don’t want to teach kids that it’s ok to support institutional bigotry (gays, non-christians). that is just WRONG.

ot, but since this is epu land… do you have any alternative suggestions for young boys (instead of the BSA)? thanks.

Selise
Generalities are not specifics. You need to shop around for a troop or group that fits you and your boys. I am a Taoist raised in a Catholic tradition. I’m a biologist, know that Darwinian theory is correct and am a practicing public health environmentalist. I believe that gays, indeed all people are entitled to the “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights. . .” rights and truths the Founders envisioned but were unable to implement.yet. Our pack (Cub Scouts) is sponsored by the Methodist Church but there are no “loyalty tests” for membership nor do I hide any of my personal beliefs from the group. Indeed I was forced to step into a breach in the leadership with skills I’m not confident that I posses. My “real” job requires me to force people to do things they don’t always want to do with money they don’t want to and often times don’t have to spend. I became very effective at it when I began to treat everyone as the individual that they are. We all have our own unique set of fingerprints. Scouts are just groups of like-minded people so just find your group. Peace