Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
Conservatives have for many years practiced the black arts of the politics of fear mongering. They want you to be afraid so they can manipulate your irrational fears to their political advantage.
Ironically, conservatives have succeeded mostly in scaring themselves. Oh sure, they like to talk tough, but I've never seen a bigger bunch of bedwetter cowards afraid of their own damn shadow. They are like a young girl afraid of the imaginary monster under her bed.
Americans have always been made of much tougher stock than this. We've never been afraid of anyone. These conservatives are giving Americans a bad name and ruining our reputation in the world with their sniveling cowardice. I don't appreciate that one damn bit.
Every time some yahoo wants to be a terrorist – and usually fails in the attempt – conservatives rush in to make the yahoo a success by arguing to "Tear up the Constitution!Tear up the Bill of Rights! Who needs it? We're afraid. Protect us. Waaah!" Conservatives do the job for him.
Terrorists only succeed when they can frighten conservatives into inflicting more damage on our American way of life than any terrorist ever imagined in his or her wildest dreams. Talk about aiding and abetting terrorism.
And so it is today with Conservatives Who Want To Deny U.S. Citizen Faisal Shahzad Miranda Rights, Ensuring He Won’t Be Convicted.
According to President-in-his-own-mind John McCain, Faisal Shahzad should not have been read his Miranda rights, despite his standing as a US citizen. McCain: Constitution shouldn't apply to brown US citizens | Crooks and Liars:
From The Hill:
McCain, the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and a longtime leading Republican on national security issues, said he expected the suspect in the case could face charges that might warrant a death sentence if convicted.
"Obviously that would be a serious mistake…at least until we find out as much information we have," McCain said during an appearance on "Imus in the Morning" when asked whether the suspect, 30-year-old Faisal Shahzad, a naturalized American citizen from Pakistan.
"Don't give this guy his miranda rights until we find out what it's all about," McCain added.
* * *
The Arizona Republican, however, said he expected the criminal justice system to play itself out in such a way that Shahzad would face the death penalty, if convicted.
"There's probably about 350 different charges he's guilty off — attempted acts of terror against the united States, attempted murder," said McCain, cautioning that he's not privy to the charges with which Shahzad might be charged. "I'm sure there's a significant number to warrant the death penalty."
I agree with wmtriallawyer in this analysis at Daily Kos: The Constitution is Apparently Not Good News for John McCain:
There's absurdity, and then there's loopy.
John McCain, in apparent attempt to grab hold of the mantle of neo-con nuttiness where the last administration left off, apparently thinks that it is a "serious mistake" by the FBI and law enforcement if accused Times Square attempted bomber Faisal Shahzad was read his Miranda rights.
"Obviously that would be a serious mistake…at least until we find out as much information we have," McCain said during an appearance on "Imus in the Morning" when asked whether the suspect, 30-year-old Faisal Shahzad, a naturalized American citizen from Pakistan.
"," McCain added.
This story has it all: the Constitution, terrorism, McCain, and…Don Imus!
But seriously folks, the irony is apparently lost on Sen. McCain…because Shahzad is a U.S. Citizen. But hey, McCain got his law degree from a matchbox apparently…oh wait, McCain doesn't have a law degree. Never mind. (And given all of this, yet another bullet dodged by McCain/Sarah! '08).
Apparently, in the Republican Party's attempt to spin further down the hole of shredding our Constitution in the name of the GWOT, now the meme is that Shahzad should be classified as an enemy combatant.
Never mind that we've been down this road with Jose Padilla and a host of other cases, including Hamdi, which would seem to indicate that such classification wouldn't be looked upon too kindly by our Courts for U.S. citizens.
But I'll make McCain and gang a deal. God forbid a right-wing "domestic" terrorist try something like this in the future, if they should say we should suspend Miranda, then hey, I'll reconsider.
Until then, Shahzad should get as much due process as he is entitled to get.
Just like Tim McVeigh did.
Shahzad is a naturalized U.S. citizen from Pakistan. In February, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich justified the Bush administration’s mirandizing of terrorist suspects by saying that they were citizens. (Gingrich has thus far been silent on Shahzad.)
The Justice Department has not yet said whether it has mirandized Shahzad. But whether or not it does, Shahzad has the right to remain silent and the right to an attorney under U.S. law, regardless of whether officials read him those rights. As Matt Yglesias notes, mirandizing someone just means that what someone says will be admissible in court:
Now McCain thinks he may be eligible for the death penalty, which I think may be correct. But to give him the death penalty, or indeed any penalty, you need to put him on trial. Which is to say you need to prove that the guy in custody is actually responsible for the crime. And the whole reason cops mirandize suspects is that if you don’t, you risk having your evidence thrown out of court. If you gather all the information before mirandizing, you could be throwing the whole thing into doubt. Which is why professionals give out the warning.
Believe it or not, Fox News analyst Judge Andrew Napolitano and host Glenn Beck are condemning the type of fearmongering that [Rep.] King and [Sen.] McCain are doing. This morning on Fox and Friends, Napolitano said that Shahzad needed to be mirandized, and Beck added, “He’s a citizen of the United States, so I say we uphold the laws and the Constitution on citizens.” When Fox and Friends host Brian Kilmeade interjected, “But he’s a threat to the country. That’s different,” Beck responded, “So are a lot of citizens of the country. … We don’t shred the Constitution when it’s popular.”
Holy cow! A rare moment of lucidity from Glenn Beck. Which only goes to show you just how extreme John McCain is.
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