The US Supreme Court Restores The Constitution And Basic Human Rights, McCain Can't Hide His Contempt

Habeas Corpus, also known as "The Great Writ", lies at the foundation of justice in the "civilized world". It goes back hundreds upon hundreds of years, even back before the Magna Carta was written in 1215, which stated in no uncertain terms that no ruler was above the law, and certain rights cannot be taken away from citizens. The Great Writ states that authoritarian rulers--monarchs, dictators and the like--cannot arbitrarily imprison individuals. It enshrines the inherent right of due process under the law. It is a concept held by any society that even pretends to be fair or just. In short, habeas corpus is what separates free and just societies from ruthless dictatorships. Without it, no one can be safe from the terror of government oppression, and there can be no law, no legitimate government, no safety. It isn't about a law in a single country, it is about fundamental human rights, the kind inalienable liberties and protections the Founding Fathers built into the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. No other single element is more central to the principles this country was founded on.

On November 13, 2001, George W. Bush signed an executive order giving himself the (unconstitutional) authority to violate habeas corpus, whenever he sees fit, simply by declaring the victim an "unlawful combatant". This applied to American citizens and foreign nationals alike. In this one decision Bush took it upon himself to overturn the most fundamental protection of freedom that was born nearly a millennium before, and gave himself the powers coveted by the most savage dictators throughout history. To many observers it was an absolute violation of the most sacrosanct values of free society, and our very own Constitution.

For nearly seven years Bush used these dictatorial powers to deny hundreds, if not thousands of human beings any right to so much as question their indefinite detention, to say nothing of their torture. Essentially Bush claimed the extralegal authority to snatch up any person, on a whim, for any reason or no reason at all, and hold them and do whatever he wants with them for as long as he sees fit, without even accusing the person of a crime or letting them know why they have been abducted, and that person has absolutely no legal recourse. For all intents and purposes, that person it no longer human, they are an animal or an object, and there is absolutely nothing they can do to stop the detention and torture. Just try to imagine that absolute, horrifying, soul crushing desperation that would cause in a person. Bush claimed that as long as these people were held off US territory they have absolutely no rights before the US Constitution. As long as they were held in a foreign country, or on land owned or leased by the US government but not part of the official United States, the US government could act just as a ruthless dictator, denying the most basic and fundamental human rights (including the protections of the Geneva Conventions) and values of our society to human beings, based on a territorial technicality. For seven years this went on, and while legal challenges were raised by groups like the American Civil Liberties Union, the administration continued to operate as if they were above the law, and morality. To read more about the legal challenges to Bush's suspension of rights, read here.

However after seven years, just a few days ago, the US Supreme Court finally unequivocally ruled that Bush's suspension of the basic human and legal right of habeas corpus was unconstitutional. Justice Anthony Kennedy, who wrote the majority opinion for Boumediene v. Bush, stated in unambiguous:

The laws and Constitution are designed to survive, and remain in force, in extraordinary times. Liberty and security can be reconciled; and in our system they are reconciled within the framework of the law. The Framers decided that habeas corpus, a right of first importance, must be a part of that framework, a part of that law.

This also means that the Military Commissions Act of 2006, which was strongly supported by John McCain and almost all Republicans in Congress, was an unconstitutional law, a violation of the Constitution and of the fundamentals of every free society. While this court decision is an enormous victory for the voiceless victims of state oppression, it is also a huge indictment of everyone who supported Bush's violation of the Constitution and basic human rights. McCain is chief among these ardent supporters, and now he is running for Bush's third term, complete with the very same dictatorial view of executive power, no matter how illegal or how immoral. It is about absolute, unchecked authoritarian power.

On the other hand, Barack Obama opposed this 7 year unconstitutional travesty from the beginning, perhaps because he taught constitutional law for over 10 years, or perhaps because he actually believes in justice, freedom, and human rights, or perhaps because he actually has morals. I'd suspect it is a mix of all of the above. Sadly enough, Bush, McCain and virtually every Republican in Congress had none of those beliefs, values or knowledge to keep them from supporting such horrific policies and legislation for seven years. Never one to rest on his failures, McCain doubled down by blasting the Supreme Court's defense of the Constitution and human rights:

The United States Supreme Court yesterday rendered a decision which I think is one of the worst decisions in the history of this country. Sen. Graham and Sen. Lieberman and I had worked very hard to make sure that we didn't torture any prisoners, that we didn't mistreat them, that we abided by the Geneva Conventions, which applies to all prisoners. But we also made it perfectly clear, and I won't go through all the legislation we passed, and the prohibition against torture, but we made it very clear that these are enemy combatants, these are people who are not citizens, they do not and never have been given the rights that citizens of this country have. And my friends there are some bad people down there. There are some bad people. So now what are we going to do. We are now going to have the courts flooded with so-called, quote, Habeas Corpus suits against the government, whether it be about the diet, whether it be about the reading material.

This shows multiple things:

• McCain lies. McCain used to be against torture, but he has since flip-flopped on that to come into line with Bush's view that torture is OK. Bush and the Republicans have also been consistent in their belief that detainees are not protected by the Geneva Conventions, and while McCain has given lip service in the past to the idea that the Geneva Conventions applied to detainees, in practice he supported policies that violated the Conventions, including torture (post flip-flop), "affording all the judicial guarantees which are recognized as indispensable by civilized peoples" (in other words suspension of habeas corpus and unconstitutional sentencing by military tribunals), and a denial of the "right of return", which says that POWs must be allowed to return home after the cessation of hostilities. Of course the "war on terror" will never end, so in effect there is no right of return, or right of ever being released, which is a blatant violation of the Conventions.
• He also doesn't seem to realize that basic human rights and protections of inalienable rights like habeas corpus has nothing to do with citizenship, it is about HUMAN RIGHTS. These are values held by all free societies, they are fundamental to justice, freedom and democracy (which used to be more than just slogans for Republicans to distort). These are values enshrined in the Constitution. These rights can't be taken away arbitrarily based on technicalities, they are fundamental values to civilized societies. I can't make this clear enough, to think that only US citizens have protection from human rights violations by the US government is appalling, shocking, and despicable. McCain, Bush and the Republicans lack even the most basic understanding that "formal constructs like 'sovereignty' do not and cannot dictate the presence or absence of constitutional rights because they are 'subject to manipulation by those whose power it is designed to restrain.'"
• And lastly McCain shows either an inability to talk honestly about these gravely important issues, or complete ignorance of what habeas corpus is: "We are now going to have the courts flooded with so-called, quote, Habeas Corpus suits against the government, whether it be about the diet, whether it be about the reading material." Does McCain actually think that habeas corpus suits are about dietary or reading preferences?? Habeas corpus suits are designed to challenge the legality of imprisonment without due cause or due process. It is a right fundamental to our justice system, and McCain thinks, or has the audacity to suggest, that it is about petty complaints about the menu or entertainment? No, I'm sorry, I think the menu or reading material are a little lower on their priority list than, I don't know, actual being accused of a crime and given a fair trial?! But no, of course McCain can't have an honest debate over these issues, instead he has to completely distort what the issue is all about and continue to dismiss fundamental rights as luxuries. Or, maybe he just doesn't know any better, who knows with him, every day he shows up new levels of astounding ignorance about basic issues, so he really may be a complete idiot and really have no idea how the legal system works in this country. Either way, he shouldn't be a Senator, let alone President of the United States.
• And he actually called this reinstatement of the Constitution, and human rights "one of the worst decisions in the history of this country", wow. It takes quite a tyrant to see a triumph of justice like we just saw to call it "one of the worst decisions in the history of this country." Apparently he thinks allowing POWs the right to challenge their indefinite and possibly arbitrary detention and torture in a court of law is up there with past Supreme Court decisions like the one that declared black people property, instead of humans. It is shocking, and yet after almost 8 years of Bush's violations of the Constitution and morality the majority of Americans don't even realize how appalling McCain's comment was. Upholding the basic values of justice and rights that our Founding Fathers built into the very heart of our country, ranks among the "the worst decisions in the history of this country." And he says he isn't running to continue Bush's policies.

And as this diary points out, all that stands in the way of people like Bush and McCain hijacking the government with dictatorial impunity is ONE vote on the Supreme Court. One vote represents all that is holding these people back, on issues of basic human rights, as well as issues like warrantless spying on Americans or taking away a women's right to make choices about her own body and her own life. I'd like anyone who is still bitter about their candidate not winning the nomination to consider what is really at stake in this next election, and reconsider spiting themselves and anyone who may find their rights taken away by a government gone out of control, all for a unjustified grudge. Think about it.

Read more reactions to the Supreme Court decision here, here and here.