Dylan Ratigan: [W]hat is the implication, for a nation theoretically of rules and laws and rights, and all the rest of it that we teach our kids in public school, where clearly the government maintains the right to arbitrarily detain any individual that they see fit for whatever reasons that they see fit, not charge them, and torture them in our own country? What does that say about ... President Obama?[Like I said, this is my transcript, not the official one. Apologies for any errors.]
Jane Hamsher: Well it means, and I think it was Jimmy Darden at Boing Boing who said, you know, that we should all be very worried, because this represents the offshoring of the techniques used at Guantanamo Bay on enemies of the state [are now being moved] onto U.S. soil.
This is one hell of a thing to have to listen to about events that are happening in America. If you'd told me thirty years ago that some day, journalists and activists would be having conversations like this about events happening in our own country, I probably would have thought you were nuts. And yet here we are, and you can still find very few progressives who seem to think that this is important, because if we complain the Republicans might win.
And that last sentence is the saddest thing of all.
3 comments:
I have been over at a few neo-liberal blogs where Hamsher is blamed for the incident this weekend.
It is kind of a chickens roost thing. It was only a matter of time before the "State of Siege" sort of stuff we used to encourage the banana republics to practice was used at home on us.
To an extent, I can't blame them for thinking that way. I worked on military bases for most of my career, and I can tell you from personal experience that they will stop you at the guard gate if your license sticker isn't up to date. What usually happens is that the driver is given the option to turn around and leave, and not come back until he's got appropriate stickers. I don't know why Jane and David House were held for two hours instead.
I could write a backstory in which the brass somehow learned that they'd stopped the folks who were visiting Bradley Manning, and ever-higher echelons showed up and demanded an explanation. I could see that easily taking two hours. Jane seems convinced that's not what happened, so perhaps something she was told convinces her otherwise.
Anyway, Jane could be blamed for not having things in order so she'd be allowed on the base. OTOH, that doesn't explain their being held there. Nor does it explain Manning's treatment, or whatever it is the military have done to make it difficult for others of Manning's friends and supporters to visit him.
It could be her fault (the stop that is), but it still doesn't give an explanation as to why House was denied entrance.
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