Suspect

On Tuesday (US time), Jose Pedilla was sentenced to 17 years in prison, which the AP described as “relatively lenient”. Padilla, a US citizen, was arrested in 2002, allegedly for planning to set off a “dirty bomb”. In the end, he was convicted on charges relating to aiding terrorism.

The current charges were laid in 2005 after the Bush Administration was facing the prospect of having to release Padilla, so they ignored the original allegations and added him to an existing case. They also declared him an “enemy combatant”, which meant, in Bush's eyes, that normal legal rights and concepts of habeas corpus and due process did not apply.

Between 2002 and 2005—three and a half years—Padilla had been held by the Bushies without charge and subjected to severe mistreatment that most thinking people would call torture. The Bushies, of course, have attempted to redefine “torture” so that they can practice it without having to admit that's what they're doing. So, thanks to their Orwellian newspeak—partly authored by disgraced former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales—when Bush declares that the US doesn't practice torture, in his mind he's telling the truth. We all know better.

Of course, Padilla is no saint. He has a criminal record from his time as a member of a Chicago street gang. He converted to Islam in prison, and he may very well have intended to eventually become a terrorist.

So what? That's all beside the point.

The US Constitution guarantees all US citizens certain rights, including the right to trial by jury and to face their accusers, among other things. The foundation for these rights and habeas corpus stretch back centuries, all the way to Magna Carta. The Bushies, however—aided by the Republican-controlled Congress—decided otherwise. The mostly Democratic-controlled Congress has done nothing to reverse the Bushies' wholesale assault on the Constitution and Bill of Rights.

This administration has decided that anyone—including US citizens—can be designated as “enemy combatants” and held indefinitely without charge or the right to know what the allegations are, they can be denied access to attorneys and can be mistreated, all on Bush's say-so. Worse, he can grant anyone he wants the authority to make such illegal arrests.

If Americans want their fundamental human rights restored, they'll have to vote for that. Given the record of the past seven years, and Republican enthusiasm for Bush's fascistic moves, I certainly don't trust any of the Republican candidates with my rights. Do you? Can you?