Cosmic Irony

From the New York Times:

In the first case to review the government’s secret evidence for holding a detainee at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, a federal appeals court found that allegations against an ethnic Chinese man held for more than six years were based on bare and unverifiable claims, according to the decision released Monday.

Six years is a horribly long time to sit in prison, innocent and without a chance to defend yourself. But the sad thing is, where will the Guantanámo prisoners go if they are released?

Although the ruling was a defeat for the Bush administration, it was unclear what it might mean immediately for Mr. Parhat, a former fruit peddler who once passed a message to his wife in China that she should remarry because his imprisonment at Guantánamo was like already being dead.

American officials have said that they cannot return Mr. Parhat and 16 other Uighur detainees at Guantánamo to China for fear of mistreatment and that some 100 other countries have refused to accept them.

If Mr. Parhat wasn’t anti-American before, he sure has a right to be now, as well as his family, his friends, his people, and anyone else watching the US fumble. Which also brings up this article.

I’ll end with a quote, because hopefully these cases are signs that justice can finally had. “He that would make his own liberty secure must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself. ” Thomas Paine.

This is why stupid, outdated cowboy laws should be thrown out and why the Supreme Court’s decision is ridiculous. Let’s just let anyone have a gun. Yeah, great idea. Texas has a “castle” law that says that a man has a right to defend his property with a gun. But Horn of the article wasn’t even defending his own home.

From the article, Horn’s lawyer:

‘He was afraid for his life,’ Lambright said. ‘He was afraid for his safety, and then they charged him. I don’t think Joe had time to make a conscious decision. I think he only had time to react to what was going on. Short answer is, he was defending his life. ‘

Afraid for his life? More from the article:

‘This man took the law into his own hands,’ she said. ‘He shot two individuals in the back after having been told over and over to stay inside. It was his choice to go outside and his choice to take two lives.’

Who the fuck gave this man the right to sentence two people to death for a crime that would have had them in jail for a few years? Why was someone with such an obvious lack in judgement and impulse control ever allowed to own a deadly weapon? Because of stupid gun-nut fucks all over the fucking place in Texas and elsewhere in this country. Was he asked by his neighbor to watch the house and use deadly force to defend it? Apparently not. Again from the article:

‘You cannot take another person’s life in defense of their property unless you’re somehow given permission by the other person to protect their property,’ [Harris County Assistant District Attorney] Diepraam said.

On that 911 call, the dispatcher asked Horn directly about the owners of the house that was being burglarized, and whether he knew them.

‘I really don’t know these neighbors,’ Horn said. ‘I know the neighbors on the other side really well … I can assure you if it had been their house, I’d already have done something.’ Still, Lambright says that his client ‘absolutely’ had his neighbors’ permission.

I understand a person’s right to defend their own home if a person is attacking. I do not understand shooting people in the back, especially if it isn’t even your own home. Texas now has a mentally delayed vigilante to thank for defending its gun laws. That’s the Lone Star State for you.

I’ve been a T-Mobile customer for over a month now and I must say I’ve enjoyed it. Their customer service is impeccable compared to Att and their choices in plans were much better suited to my income (which is quite low, if you hadn’t guessed). Not only that, but the My Faves plan makes much more sense in the long run. The one thing that Att has an advantage over T-Mo is reception in buildings and areas with tall trees, but it is not too much of a problem for me, even living in Pollock Pines (you guessed it, lots of pines here).

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In this article by Michael Shear of the Washington Post, McCain’s top advisor, Charlie Black is quoted in an interview with Fortune magazine that a new terrorist attack would be great for the campaign. He goes on to say that the murder of Benazir Bhutto, an event so tragic in the minds of millions, was actually the boost that gave McCain the Republican nomination because it brought focus to national security.

Technorati Tags: campaigns, news, politics

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