I just so happened to be working in Washington D.C. while the House and Senate passed the new torture and arbitrary imprisonment law (HR 6166 and S 3930). The law allows the President of the United States to declare anyone an “enemy” and then take away all their legal rights as a result – without chance of appeal. This law effectively transforms George W. Bush into a dictator.
I recorded the following video podcast of my thoughts in immediate reaction to this development on the scene, right in front of Capitol Hill.
Thank you, thank you for putting my sense of foreboding into words. A small detail, but I read the provision allowing the use of evidence obtained under torture was taken out of the bill at the last minute, leaving prisoners with the right to challenge evidence brought against them but without the right to actually see that evidence or know whether it exists. The idea of imprisoning people before a crime is committed is straight out of Orwell–the principle of thoughtcrime.