by Suspicious Mind

Created on: June 14, 2008   Last Updated: June 23, 2008

Our country revolted against Great Britain, because our founding fathers believed that people were given inalienable rights of "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness", and that those rights were being infringed upon by them. At the time of our Declaration of Independence, the creators of that document believed that God gave humans those rights, and no government, or body should be allowed to take them away. They weren't saying that only those people of the colonies were given those rights. They weren't saying that only Americans were granted these rights, since America was really just a loose knit group of states. It didn't say just white people or Protestants or Catholics had these rights. This meant that our government was founded on the belief that all people had these rights, no matter what. The constitution doesn't give us those rights, it just puts them forth in a form we can see, and our government doesn't give us those rights either, and in fact should be protecting those rights and fighting for those rights of people around the world. Instead, we can kidnap someone off the streets of Pakistan, fly them to Guantanamo Bay and hold them forever, and never tell them why they are there.

In a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision, the bench decided to stand true to that premise, and allowed detainees of Guantanamo Bay the "Habeas Corpus". Immediately right wing talk show hosts were screaming into their microphones that this was the worst possible thing that could happen and would jeopardize the safety of all U.S. citizens here and abroad. The likes of Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Bill O'Reilly were fuming about this. John McCain soon followed suit. Why is it that these Republican supporters, and their main candidate go against something so fundamental to our great nations birth? How is it that they can even get away with saying these things that are really "unAmerican". It is assumed that Americans do want terrorists in custody and unable to do their evil tasks. One does have to ask, however, what if one, just one of those people there are innocent, and nonetheless put to death? The Obama campaign recently applauded the ruling that grants the likes of Usama Bin Laden the right of Habeas Corpus.

While both candidates are for closing the Guantanamo Bay prison, McCain supported the "Military Commissions Act" which granted military trials to some detainees, and allowed evidence obtained during torture. Obama meanwhile, has said he will uphold the Geneva Convention, and opposed the "Military Commissions Act".

So, is this a great day for liberty or a huge mistake made by our Supreme Court?

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