Habeas and History
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You are no doubt aware that today was D-Day for President Bush and his Military Commissions Act, which among other things suspends habeas corpus in flagrant violation of the plain text of Article I of the Constitution.
The President is confident and unapologetic:
The "distance of history"? How kind has history been to hasty and reckless legislation passed during time of war in the name of defending "the American way"?
Did the distance of history vindicate the internment of Japanese-American citizens or the horrendous decision in Korematsu v. U.S., 323 U.S. 214 (1944)? Or did history side against those who trampled upon civil liberties?
Did the distance of history vindicate President Truman's attempted seizure of steel mills during the Korean War? Or did it lead to the near-universal recognition of the doctrine, reflected in Youngstown Sheet & Tube v. Sawyer, 343 U.S. 579 (1952), that the president is simply not a dictator in time of war?
Did the distance of history determine that the Sedition Act of 1918 was in fact a wise piece of legislation, or a regrettable lack of good judgment by those who passed it?
Did the distance of history casually shrug off President Lincoln's patently illegal suspension of habeas corpus during the Civil War, or relegate it to an embarrassing black mark on Lincoln's career?
If there is one thing that "the distance of history" teaches us, it's that sacrificing civil liberties in the name of "winning the war" is a decision that we invariably come to regret. The "distance of history" teaches us that we must never get too distant from the moral high ground.
I too am confident about the distance of history. I am confident that it will prove this Administration, its congressional enablers and its codependent apologists not just wrong, but wrong in epic proportions.
More thoughts at Rolling Doughnut.
The President is confident and unapologetic:
Over the past few months the debate over this bill has been heated, and the questions raised can seem complex. Yet, with the distance of history, the questions will be narrowed and few: Did this generation of Americans take the threat seriously, and did we do what it takes to defeat that threat?What an astonishingly ignorant thing to say.
The "distance of history"? How kind has history been to hasty and reckless legislation passed during time of war in the name of defending "the American way"?
Did the distance of history vindicate the internment of Japanese-American citizens or the horrendous decision in Korematsu v. U.S., 323 U.S. 214 (1944)? Or did history side against those who trampled upon civil liberties?
Did the distance of history vindicate President Truman's attempted seizure of steel mills during the Korean War? Or did it lead to the near-universal recognition of the doctrine, reflected in Youngstown Sheet & Tube v. Sawyer, 343 U.S. 579 (1952), that the president is simply not a dictator in time of war?
Did the distance of history determine that the Sedition Act of 1918 was in fact a wise piece of legislation, or a regrettable lack of good judgment by those who passed it?
Did the distance of history casually shrug off President Lincoln's patently illegal suspension of habeas corpus during the Civil War, or relegate it to an embarrassing black mark on Lincoln's career?
If there is one thing that "the distance of history" teaches us, it's that sacrificing civil liberties in the name of "winning the war" is a decision that we invariably come to regret. The "distance of history" teaches us that we must never get too distant from the moral high ground.
I too am confident about the distance of history. I am confident that it will prove this Administration, its congressional enablers and its codependent apologists not just wrong, but wrong in epic proportions.
More thoughts at Rolling Doughnut.
All Related Posts (on one page) | Some Related Posts:
- The Constitution "Cannot Be Contracted Away Like This"
- On John Yoo as Cardinal Wolsey
- One More Torture Memo Hypothetical...
- Does the MCA "Reverse" the Supreme Court?
- Habeas and History
- Articles, Amendments and Rights...
- The Alien and Sedition Act of 2006
- Two Wrongs Make a Disaster
- The War on the Moral High Ground
Posted by Kip on
17 October 2006
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