J'Accuse

Keith Olbermann defined Habeas Corpus as "the right of anyone who is tossed in prison to appear in court and say, 'Hey. Why am I in prison?'" It's a basic legal right that has been around since... oh... the 12th century or so. The Constitution of the United States says, "The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it."

The Military Commissions Act passed by Congress last Friday on pretty much solely Republican support eliminates Habeas Corpus for anybody detained by the military. Forever. Buh-bye. A person can now spend a decade of his life in a military prison and never be allowed to know why.

Oh... the bill also says which bits of torture that the CIA performs aren't really torture after all, allows information gained by (ahem, legal) torture to be admissible as evidence in trials, allows evidence to be used against a defendant that the defendant is not allowed to see, and all other kinds of goodies to help America fight the war on terrorism.

So allow me to sum this up: The American Military can now come along, snatch you up, torture you, and then hold a trial where you (a) do not know what you are charged with, (b) are not able to see the evidence supporting the charges, and (c) are convicted on whatever information you gave to your captors so that you could sit down after having been strung up naked and wet in a 55° cell for 4½ days.

Doesn't that seem unfair to you? Doesn't that seem un-American? Well, at least it is un-American in comparison to the definition of what constituted "American" on September 10, 2001.

The terrorists say they want to destroy America. Do you really think that "destroy" means rubble? Do you think "destroy" means that the borders and the government and the people and the economy cease to exist? No... Of course it doesn't. It means that they want to destroy your way of American thinking, your way of American believing, your way of American feeling, your way of American behaving.

And that's exactly what they did.

Osama bin Laden changed American values. Osama bin Laden changed you and made you into a person whom you would not have approved of before he attacked America. Osama bin Laden made you into somebody who is less American than you were before.

You are less American because you now have morals and values and definitions of liberty which shift depending on whether you would apply them to an American or a foreigner, a Christian or a Muslim, a human or a terrorist. Before, you wouldn't have considered different sets of rights for foreigners, Muslims, or terrorists.

You are less American because you now barter bits and pieces of the Bill of Rights in exchange for a sense of security. Before, you knew that the Bill of Rights was the untouchable foundation of all our freedoms.

You are less American because you now argue semantics and definitions and extenuating circumstances in the face of falling standards of American propriety and decency. Before, you believed American morals were non-negotiable, and evil behavior by Americans was inexcusable.

You are less American because you no longer care if America is the most beloved country on earth, as long as it is the safest. Before, you took pride in being Reagan's "shining city on the hill."

You are less American because you are controlled by fear, anger, angst and anxiety dictated to you by a government and media who survive only by your flock-like mentality and meek-minded, trusting submissiveness to the new, un-American concept of the all-controlling, all-seeing nanny-state. Before, you would never have allowed fear of something as vague and amorphous as "terrorism" to change your opinion regarding the size and role of government in your life.

You are less American because you blindly accepted the Department of Homeland Security and its infringements on personal liberties... as long as they weren't your own.

You are less American because you didn't complain that your government invaded another country based on completely false pretenses and incorrect information about weapons of mass destruction... as long as it was a part of the "global war on terrorism."

You are less American because you weren't shocked upon seeing the sickening photos of torture in Abu Ghraib prison... as long as it was only terrorists they were torturing.

You are less American because you didn't question the government's illegal wiretapping and intelligence gathering practices... as long as it wasn't you they were listening to.

You are less American because you weren't upset over the secret CIA prisons and brutal interrogations of terrorist suspects in distant countries... as long as it was getting America the information it needed.

You are less American because you allowed your government to teach you to be fearful and anxious through endless terror threats, orange levels, shoe bombs, airport threats, liquid explosives, and shady terrorist cells in every city... as long as none of those possibilities ever became reality.

You are less American because you let your government use patriotism as a wedge, and let them claim that opposition to anything and everything they did was "supporting the terrorists"... as long as it wasn't you they were labeling "traitor."

You are less American because you engaged in finger pointing and name calling and blame shifting because your government needed scapegoats for its own failures and pointed you towards the liberals and the peaceniks and the French and taught you to hate... as long as your targets of scorn don't point out that they were right all along.

Finally, you are less American because you don't shout in anger about the deletion of Habeas Corpus from the judicial process so that your military can have an easier time keeping terrorist suspects in jail without trial, without charge, without evidence... as long as you can sleep comfortably.

Well, sleep comfortably then. Rest yourself assured. The terrorists won't be getting to you, will they? You're safe and sound.