What kind have nation have we actually become under Republican control?

It's understandable that the majority of Americans have been too caught up in their own lives to actively monitor what George W. Bush has done to our country, but maybe this example will serve as a startling realization. There are many examples that can be offered, but this discussion will focus on just one.

Huzaifa Parhat is an an ethnic Uighur, a Muslim minority from western China, and a Chinese national. He is currently being held in solitary confinement in Guantanamo Bay. Sometime after the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan he was taken into U.S. custody. He was not a member of the Taliban. He was not captured on the battlefield. He was not a soldier. He was a fruit peddler. He committed no acts against the United States, or any member of our military. He was never charged with any offense. He was just taken into custody, shipped off to Cuba and placed in solitary confinement.

George W. Bush decided that he was above the laws of our nation; that he had sole authority to decide what laws would be followed, and which could be ignored. During a 2005 meeting in the Oval Office with Republican congressional leaders who had approached him over their concerns about the legalities of his actions this verbal exchange was reported...

"I don't give a god(*)(*)(*)(*)," Bush retorted. "I'm the President and the Commander-in-Chief. Do it my way."

"Mr. President," one aide in the meeting said. "There is a valid case that the provisions in this law undermine the Constitution."

"Stop throwing the Constitution in my face," Bush screamed back. "It's just a god(*)(*)(*)(*)ed piece of paper!"

After that meeting Republicans in Congress and the Senate attempted to grant him the authority he had already given himself. They enacted a series of measures they hoped would provide immunity from the illegal acts he had already commenced. That worked until finally the United States Supreme Court weighed in. In a recent ruling on June 12, 2008, the majority informed the White House that he could not simply capture people, hold them indefinitely with no charges, no rights to legal representation or any rights of any sort. It was a blow to George W. Bush who had granted himself authority never before witnessed in our nation's history, that actually rivaled the absolute powers usually found only in dictatorships.

Now we have one of the first examples of the mess George W. Bush has created for himself, and the United States... the issue of Huzaifa Parhat, the fruit peddler from Afghanistan.

On June 24th it was reported that a federal appeals court released this directive... "The court directed the government to release or to transfer Parhat, or to expeditiously hold a new tribunal." The notice said the court had found "invalid" the military's decision that he was an enemy combatant." That sounds simple enough on the surface, but, as we've learned about George W. Bush, things aren't always what they seem.

Its practical consequences for Mr. Parhat, however, are not clear. The administration has said it will not return Uighur detainees to China because of concerns about their treatment at the hands of the Chinese government, which views them as terrorists. A State Department official said Monday that the department had not found a country to accept any of the Guantanamo Uighurs since Albania accepted five of them in 2006. So, after just grabbing him up from his fruit cart, hauling him halfway around the world, placing him in solitary confinement for years with no charges, no evidence presented against him, no rights, and now an order from the federal courts to release him... there is no place to release him to.

There's more to the story.

Huzaifa Parhat doesn't even know about the federal appeals court ruling. He's still in solitary confinement. His own attorney isn't allowed to see him. His own attorney isn't allowed to even tell him about the ruling. He's still a captive, a prisoner held in solitary confinement. The federal appeals court ruled that "he was improperly designated as an enemy combatant", and although he's never been charged with any offense, he remains a prisoner of the United States, held in solitary confinement. His attorney said, "the court victory may not mean freedom for him."

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/06/25/...tant-solitary/

The case of Huzaifa Parhat is just one. Guantanamo Bay has hundreds of other prisoners, and we have no actual count of other prisoners housed in secret prisons around the world authorized by George W. Bush. If you just pause and reflect for a moment on the gravity of this situation it's not hard to comprehend that hundreds, perhaps thousands of individuals have been taken into custody under the instruction of George W. Bush. They're held with no charges, no rights, most likely have been tortured, and now the United States Supreme Court and federal courts have ordered the situation changed. But changed to what? If they can't be returned to where they were taken from, and no other country will accept them, and they aren't even allowed to be informed of their status, what do we do now?

Then there's the issue of the impact these wrongfully captured and imprisoned individuals can create if they ever are released somewhere. How do you suppose they feel about the United States, that great beacon of freedom in the world? If they weren't terrorists before they were kidnapped, is it possible they might have sympathetic leanings now towards al-Qaeda or other real terrorist organizations? It doesn't take a great stretch of imigination to think they might seek an avenue of revenge against us over their treatment.

It's a mess. It's a George W. Bush mess. It's a mess the Republicans helped create, and then worsened by giving in to George W. Bush and enabling him in his disastrous policies.

We really do need a change. Its' more than a cute campaign theme. We need a massive change in direction for our nation. Someone will have to clean-up after George W. Bush, undo the illegal directives, attempt to repair the damage, and dismantle the "above the Constitution" mindset. Our Constitution is not "just a god(*)(*)(*)(*)ed piece of paper." It's who we are, or more accurately who we thought we were. It's who we can become again, as a result of a change, a massive change in direction for our nation.

One candidate that would like to be our next president has voted with George W. Bush 95% of the time. One candidate is campaigning on change. Two choices. Let's hope we get it right this time.

Can you humor me and give me a link to the source where you found out that this exchange occured. Right now, I am more than skeptical, considering the theatrical and charactateurized nature of it.

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My enduring personal, original quote: Many mistake what should rightly be called "passivism" for pacifism. Pacifism and passivism are COMPLETELY different.
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Ronald Reagan was not the only one to suffer from Alzheimer's Disease. America did, too.
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"I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully." --President George W. Bush.
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Los Angeles voters=dumber than rocks.

Actually I typed the real word and this site changed the word using characters.

Here are several links...

http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artma...cle_7779.shtml


http://www.homelandstupidity.us/2005...iece-of-paper/

http://www.counterpunch.org/leupp12142005.html

http://www.gnn.tv/threads/10799/Bush...piece_of_paper

There are dozens, perhaps hundreds more, but this should answer your question.

Oh yeah...those aren't biased sources at ALL. Nope. Sure aren't. No wonder democrats are so uninformed.

D-I-S-C-R-E-D-I-T-E-D

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"I should be calling collect from jail for the things I commit each night in my head" - D. Mustaine.

Hey, I just realized that one of your sources is called "homelandstupidity.us". Yeah, that one is sure to have no bias.

__________________
My enduring personal, original quote: Many mistake what should rightly be called "passivism" for pacifism. Pacifism and passivism are COMPLETELY different.
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Ronald Reagan was not the only one to suffer from Alzheimer's Disease. America did, too.
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"I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully." --President George W. Bush.
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Los Angeles voters=dumber than rocks.

I didn't look at the sources seeing the first video was from Olbermann.

LOL, pretty funny.

What has this board become? JK

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We may rise and fall, but in the end we'll meet our fate together.

We have become a socialist nation of PC terrorist apologists pandering to the minority while penalizing the hard working citizens and expecting them to pay the way for all the broke dick losers and illegal aliens in an attempt to globalize and marginalize our independence at the cost of freedom, liberty and security.

That pretty much sums it up.

I couldn't have said it better myself!

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"It is no crime to be ignorant of economics, which is, after all, a specialized discipline and one that most people consider to be a 'dismal science.' But it is totally irresponsible to have a loud and vociferous opinion on economic subjects while remaining in this state of ignorance.

--Murray Rothbard

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skinny. A liberal is just a libertarian who hasn't studied economics.

Nope. You forgot "racists." We're supposed to all be racists.

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"I should be calling collect from jail for the things I commit each night in my head" - D. Mustaine.