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Today's
Stories
January 3 / 4, 2004
Glen Martin
Jesus
vs. the Beast of the Apocalypse
January 2, 2004
Stan Cox
Red Alert
2016
Dave Lindorff
Beef, the Meat of Republicans
Jackie Corr
Rule and Ruin: Wall Street and Montana
Norman Solomon
George Will's Ethics: None of Our Business?
David Vest
As the Top Wobbleth
January 1, 2004
Randall Robinson
Honor
Haiti, Honor Ourselves
David Krieger
Looking
Back on 2003
Robert Fisk
War Takes an Inhuman Twist: Roadkill Bombs
Stan Goff
War,
Race and Elections
Hammond Guthrie
2003 Almaniac
Website of the Day
Embody Bags
December 31, 2003
Ray McGovern
Don't
Be Fooled Again: This Isn't an Independent Investigation
Kurt Nimmo
Manufacturing Hysteria
Robert Fisk
The Occupation is Damned
Mike Whitney
Mad Cows and Downer George
Alexander Cockburn
A Great Year Ebbed, Another Ahead
December 30, 2003
Michael Neumann
Criticism
of Israel is Not Anti-Semitism
Annie Higgins
When
They Bombed the Hometown of the Virgin Mary
Alan Farago
Bush Bros. Wrecking Co.: Time Runs Out for the Everglades
Dan Bacher
Creatures from the Blacklight Lagoon: From Glofish to Frankenfish
Jeffrey St. Clair
Hard
Time on the Killing Floor: Inside Big Meat
Willie Nelson
Whatever Happened to Peace on Earth?
December 29, 2003
Mark Hand
The Washington
Post in the Dock?
David Lindorff
The
Bush Election Strategy
Phillip Cryan
Interested Blindness: Media Omissions in Colombia's War
Richard Trainor
Catellus Development: the Next Octopus?
Uri Avnery
Israel's
Conscientious Objectors
December 27 / 28, 2003
Alexander Cockburn
A
Journey Into Rupert Murdoch's Soul
Kathy Kelly
Christmas Day in Baghdad: A Better World
Saul Landau
Iraq
at the End of the Year
Dave Zirin
A Linebacker for Peace & Justice: an Interview with David
Meggysey
Robert Fisk
Iraq
Through the American Looking Glass
Scott Burchill
The Bad Guys We Once Thought Good: Where Are They Now?
Chris Floyd
Bush's Iraq Plan is Right on Course: Saddam 2.0
Brian J. Foley
Don't Tread on Me: Act Now to Save the Constitution
Seth Sandronsky
Feedlot Sweatshops: Mad Cows and the Market
Susan Davis
Lord
of the (Cash Register) Rings
Ron Jacobs
Cratched Does California
Adam Engel
Crumblecake and Fish
Norman Solomon
The Unpardonable Lenny Bruce
Poets' Basement
Cullen and Albert
Website of the Weekend
Activism Through Music
December 26, 2003
Gary Leupp
Bush
Doings: Doing the Language
December 25, 2003
Diane Christian
The
Christmas Story
Elaine Cassel
This
Christmas, the World is Too Much With Us
Susan Davis
Jinglebells, Hold the Schlock
Kristen Ess
Bethlehem Celebrates Christmas, While Rafah Counts the Dead
Francis Boyle
Oh Little Town of Bethlehem
Alexander Cockburn
The
Magnificient 9
Guthrie / Albert
Another Colorful Season
December 24, 2003
M. Shahid Alam
The Semantics
of Empire
William S. Lind
Marley's
List for Santa in Wartime
Josh Frank
Iraqi
Oil: First Come, First Serve
Cpt. Paul Watson
The
Mad Cowboy Was Right
Robert Lopez
Nuance
and Innuendo in the War on Iraq
December 23, 2003
Brian J. Foley
Duck
and Cover-up
Will Youmans
Sharon's
Ultimatum
Michael Donnelly
Here
They Come Again: Another Big Green Fiasco
Uri Avnery
Sharon's
Speech: the Decoded Version
December 22, 2003
Jeffrey St. Clair
Pray
to Play: Bush's Faith-Based National Parks
Patrick Gavin
What Would Lincoln Do?
Marjorie Cohn
How to
Try Saddam: Searching for a Just Venue
Kathy Kelly
The
Two Troublemakers: "Guilty of Being Palestinians in Iraq"
December 20 / 21, 2003
Alexander Cockburn
How
to Kill Saddam
Saul Landau
Bush Tries Farce as Cuba Policy
Rafael Hernandez
Empire and Resistance: an Interview with Tariq Ali
David Vest
Our Ass and Saddam's Hole
Kurt Nimmo
Bush
Gets Serious About Killing Iraqis
Greg Weiher
Lessons from the Israeli School on How to Win Friends in the
Islamic World
Christopher Brauchli
Arrest, Smear, Slink Away: Dr. Lee and Cpt. Yee
Carol Norris
Cheers of a Clown: Saddam and the Gloating Bush
Bruce Jackson
The Nameless and the Detained: Bush's Disappeared
Juliana Fredman
A Sealed Laboratory of Repression
Mickey Z.
Holiday Spirit at the UN
Ron Jacobs
In the Wake of Rebellion: The Prisoner's Rights Movement and
Latino Prisoners
Josh Frank
Sen. Max Baucus: the Slick Swindler
John L. Hess
Slow Train to the Plane
Adam Engel
Black is Indeed Beautiful
Ben Tripp
The Relevance of Art in Times of Crisis
Michael Neumann
Rhythm and Race
Poets' Basement
Cullen, Engel, Albert & Guthrie
Hot Stories
Alexander Cockburn
Behold,
the Head of a Neo-Con!
Subcomandante Marcos
The
Death Train of the WTO
Norman Finkelstein
Hitchens
as Model Apostate
Steve Niva
Israel's
Assassination Policy: the Trigger for Suicide Bombings?
Dardagan,
Slobodo and Williams
CounterPunch Exclusive:
20,000 Wounded Iraqi Civilians
Steve
J.B.
Prison Bitch
Sheldon
Rampton and John Stauber
True Lies: the Use of Propaganda
in the Iraq War
Wendell
Berry
Small Destructions Add Up
CounterPunch
Wire
WMD: Who Said What When
Cindy
Corrie
A Mother's Day Talk: the Daughter
I Can't Hear From
Gore Vidal
The
Erosion of the American Dream
Francis Boyle
Impeach
Bush: A Draft Resolution
Click Here
for More Stories.
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Weekend
Edition
January 3 / 4, 2004
Constitution
in the Crosshairs
The
Padilla Case
By MIKE WHITNEY
The presumption of innocence is foundational to
any democratic form of government. Without that presumption,
the state is free to exert whatever control it arbitrarily chooses
in the incarceration or punishment of its citizens. This effectively
destroys the firewall that safeguards the individual from the
vagaries of government power and intrusiveness. It is absurd
to talk about democracy if the most fundamental of protections
for its citizens are not provided. When the presumption of innocence
is denied, justice is denied, and democracy withers.
For the first time in American history
this principle is being challenged outright in the government's
case against Jose Padilla. The Bush Administration is claiming
that the president has the authority to strip a citizen of his
constitutional rights in the name of national security. If they
are successful in their efforts, the "inalienable"
rights of man will cease to be. Citizens will no longer be protected
by clearly articulated due process rights interpreted by an independent
judiciary, but quickly dispatched by executive fiat. Justice
will be dispensed at the discretion of the president.
These are the stakes in the Jose Padilla
case, and we can say without any fear of exaggeration that it
may be the most important case in the history of the American
judicial system. Nothing else even comes close. However the case
is decided will determine whether or not democracy will continue
to function in the United States. It's just that simple.
Padilla was arrested at Chicago's O'Hare
Airport 18 months ago and immediately taken into Federal custody.
Although he was never formerly charged, he has been detained
in a secure military facility in Charleston, North Carolina.
He has been denied access to an attorney, and branded as an "enemy
combatant". His alleged crime, for which the government
has never produced a of shred evidence, is that he was conspiring
to detonate a radiological device or "dirty bomb" somewhere
in the US. Mr. Padilla had no nuclear material with him or on
his premises, nor did he have any other illicit material or weapons
that might implicate him in the alleged conspiracy. In other
words, there is no tangible proof of a crime or the intention
to commit a crime. The one small bit of evidence the government
has is the unpublished testimony of alleged terror Kingpin Abu
Zubayda, who was captured in Pakistan a year and a half ago.
Zubayda supposedly gave information during interrogation (torture?)
that Padilla and he discussed detonating a "dirty bomb"
somewhere in the US. Beyond this fragmentary and dubious testimony,
no case against Padilla exists.
In response to these developments, President
Bush designated Padilla an "enemy combatant", a label
that has no legal precedent and, therefore, no clear meaning.
The implications of the label, however, have had a devastating
affect. Padilla has been summarily stripped of all his constitutionally
guaranteed rights and whisked off to a Navy brig under the President's
authority. President Bush's rationale for this draconian action
was summarized in his pronouncement concerning Padilla, "He's
a bad guy".
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals decided
last week in a 2 to 1 decision that Mr. Bush's "bad guy"
theory was not an acceptable benchmark for denying citizens their
due process rights and has ruled that Padilla must be released
within 30 days. The government has requested a stay in the case.
The Padilla case presents myriad legal
and moral problems the most obvious of which is, "what if
the government has the wrong guy?" Without any process in
place to challenge the reasons for his detention, Padilla will
simply stay in prison forever without any legal recourse. This
result is clearly inconsistent with our assumption that men are
innocent until proven guilty and, therefore, entitled to at least
some due process rights.
The more pressing issue, however, relates
to the most fundamental principles of democratic government.
The question of legitimate authority was resolved more than 200
years ago when the founders were drawing up the Constitution.
It was agreed that the legitimate authority of government rests
with the people, but that the people can share that authority
with the various branches of government. In turn, it is the government's
obligation to maintain its commitment to the rights of man. This
is the essence of what we call "the Social Contract",
and it is executed by strict adherence to The Bill of Rights.
The authority of the president is validated by his compliance
with these principles. That is why, above all else, he is sworn
to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the
United States". He has no higher duty.
It's clear that Bush's intention in denying
Padilla his rights is to undermine the rule of law. As we have
stated earlier, the case against Padilla is completely without
merit. It is simply being used as a fig leaf to disguise the
usurping of greater presidential power. There is no better way
to increase the authority of the executive than by diminishing
the strength of constitutional protections, as one declines the
other grows more powerful. For Bush and his mentors the Bill
of Rights has become just another minor annoyance that needs
to be surmounted by demagoguery and routine PR work.
The Padilla affair is a test case. Obviously,
Padilla is no great threat to the general public and could be
as easily processed through the criminal courts as dumped in
a Navy brig. The real purpose of his detention is to create the
precedent for dispatching dissidents or potential enemies of
the state when things begin to deteriorate, or when they decide
to "ramp-up" for other unpopular conflicts. In any
event, it augers poorly for those who still cling to the ideals
of American democracy and justice.
The implications of the Padilla case
are quite grave. The dispatching of citizens without any legal
recourse is, by definition, tyranny. The public relations people
who monitor Bush's every move, have cleverly concealed this fact,
but the reality remains the same. The Administration is moving
with inexorable determination towards a supreme presidency; the
consummate power of the state embodied in one man. Jose Padilla
merely establishes the necessary precedent.
We are entering a realm that is foreign
to Americans. Even among those who are following the details
of this case and the broader activities of the Bush Administration,
there is a great deal of skepticism and denial. Many simply cannot
face the grim fact that we may be seeing the end to our form
of government. It is all happening so quickly and quietly. Unfortunately,
history demonstrates that democracy is the exception rather than
the rule.
We should not expect the Bush Administration
to give up on the Padilla case because of an unfavorable ruling
in court. That simply won't happen. As New York Times columnist,
Paul Krugman, has noted, we are dealing with people "who
do not accept the legitimacy of our system". They will not
be dissuaded.
Nor should we expect help from a servile
and collaborative media that works exclusively in the interests
of those in power. Their mandate is to downplay the significance
of stories like Padilla's and the far reaching affects it will
have on all our lives.
In the final analysis, the Bush Administration
will not be swayed by the world community, the feckless Congress
or the legions of protestors in the streets. We know this from
experience. The only obstacle that has effectively slowed the
Bush juggernaut is the growing number of insurgents in Iraq who
have taken up arms against the occupying army, a clear example
of force versus force.
This is an ominous sign for those who
hope to sustain democracy in America through conventional and
nonviolent means. It also exposes the mind set of an administration
that is only deterred by greater strength.
The Padilla case is far from over. It
is unreasonable to think that those who seek absolute power will
be satisfied conforming to the constraints of the law. Everything
we know of the Bush Administration so far suggests that they
will not be limited by International law, congressional oversight
or the Constitution. Why would they reverse themselves now when
so much is at stake?
A victory in the courts would be the
easiest way for them to achieve their long-range goal of setting
the president above the law. The inalienable rights of man would
become provisional, depending entirely on the discretion of the
executive. Even the cornerstone of the American judicial system,
the presumption of innocence, could be revoked according to the
arbitrary judgment of the president.
This is the true meaning of the Jose
Padilla case. It is as great a threat to our personal freedom
and democratic form of government as any we have encountered
in the last 200 years. In pursuing this case the Bush Administration
has made itself the de facto enemy of our Constitution and the
people it serves.
Mike Whitney
can be reached at: fergiewhitney@msn.com
Weekend
Edition Features for Dec. 27 / 28, 2003
Alexander Cockburn
A
Journey Into Rupert Murdoch's Soul
Kathy Kelly
Christmas Day in Baghdad: A Better World
Saul Landau
Iraq
at the End of the Year
Dave Zirin
A Linebacker for Peace & Justice: an Interview with David
Meggysey
Robert Fisk
Iraq
Through the American Looking Glass
Scott Burchill
The Bad Guys We Once Thought Good: Where Are They Now?
Chris Floyd
Bush's Iraq Plan is Right on Course: Saddam 2.0
Brian J. Foley
Don't Tread on Me: Act Now to Save the Constitution
Seth Sandronsky
Feedlot Sweatshops: Mad Cows and the Market
Susan Davis
Lord
of the (Cash Register) Rings
Ron Jacobs
Cratched Does California
Adam Engel
Crumblecake and Fish
Norman Solomon
The Unpardonable Lenny Bruce
Poets' Basement
Cullen and Albert
Website of the Weekend
Activism Through Music
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