Enabling judge

Attack on principles of freedom


John G. Roberts, Jr.: George W. Bush Supreme Court nominee a corporate hack who will uphold special ``Commander-in-Chief'' powers

First, a big welcome to Counterpunch readers who have found Deep Blade Journal through Chris Floyd's fine piece, Judge Dread: John Roberts and Enemy Combatants. The Deep Blade posting Floyd refers to is Domination by detention.

I am on the run just now, but I will say that Floyd strikes exactly the alarm that few Democrats and liberals lining up weak (if any) opposition to Roberts are sounding: Roberts has ruled just last Friday in favor of military trials with secret evidence for ``enemy combatant'' detainees (a ruling not restricted to non-citizens).

Floyd writes,

George W. Bush has granted himself the power to declare anyone on earth – including any American citizen – an 'enemy combatant,' for any reason he sees fit. He can render them up to torture, he can imprison them for life, he can even have them killed, all without charges, with no burden of proof, no standards of evidence, no legislative oversight, no appeal, no judicial process whatsoever except those that he himself deigns to construct, with whatever limitations he cares to impose. Nor can he ever be prosecuted for any order he issues, however criminal; in the new American system laid out by Bush's legal minions, the Commander is sacrosanct, beyond the reach of any law or constitution.

Wow... more later...