Here's a status of a friend of mine.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is a TERRORIST. The colossal ignorance of both the Bush and Obama administration never ceases to amaze me; Bush for allowing that bastard and the other 9/11 terrorists to live this long and Obama for treating these sick fuckers as if they're decent human beings who deserve to enjoy the rights that everyone else has. They lost their right to a fair trial when those towers came down.
My problem with this entire thing? That there are individuals who are also citizens of the Unites States of America who think that not everyone ever deserves a fair trial.
Here's my facebook comment to the people who think this:
I think that you're too gung-ho for all this. We NEED to put them on trial - we all know they are guilty, but if we just say that they're in jail because they said they're guilty, we are setting a bad legal precedent. And we're also AMERICA. Our American ideal is that of liberty and justice for all - and a part of that is not being like these dictators who put people in jail or execute them without officially looking into and determining if they're guilty. We would be just as bad as Saddam Hussein or Lenin or Stalin if we do what you are proposing. We have to rise above what these totalitarians are doing and be a democratic nation.
This is a basic and core belief of our Nation. Now that everyone's borders have expanded and we are a global community, when we are prosecuting an individual who is not a part of our nation, to spread our basic tenants of a democratic nation, we need to treat these individuals like they ARE a part of our nation and deserve due process like every other individual who has the privilege to be a citizen of the USA. Because otherwise we're great big fat hypocrites and no one will take us seriously. That is why we can't do torture anymore, that is why Guantanamo bay was a huge atrocity and blemish on our nation and that is why Obama shut it down. That is why we need to "waste" tax payer money on a trial for these men because otherwise we are no better than these men or their leaders. We need to show that the USA can and will stick to our guns and be the standard of humane treatment. We are one nation, indivisible, for Liberty and Justice for all.
That doesn't say "Liberty and Justice for the people who we think deserve it." It doesn't say "Liberty and Justice for people we like." it says "Liberty and Justice for ALL."
FOR EVERYONE.
The constitution what written by a bunch of men who couldn't comprehend a global community. They didn't have to put in stipulations that global terrorists deserve due process as well. They didn't think to say that torture of non citizens is just as heinous as torture of citizens because that was not a problem for them.
We have a very unique set of problems and this is the time to set the right precedent, by saying that even if you're a terrorist that manufactured the deaths of hundreds of people and the injuries of thousands across the coast of a country halfway across the world from you, you too deserve a full and proper trial, because hey, we're the white hats. We're the good guys. We both know you're guilty, but just in case no one else knows, we're going to have this done right and documented properly so that the whole world, and everyone that follows us in history will know. Because that's what we stand for.
I can put in a whole lot of other things about how NOT treating these men as people would set a precedent for the vocal conservative xtian group who would LOVE for me to be executed for being an agnostic/pagan bisexual opinionated woman who doesn't want to be a baby maker and stay in the kitchen cooking pot roast for my proper xtian husband, but that won't get my message across. That's too personal. I CAN, however, remind you what we stand for. I CAN, however, make myself seem more American than you by standing for the same tenants George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson did.
We are the goddamn white hats, this is what we DO. We're the good guy cowboys. We're the sheriff who's coming in on his trusty steed ready to swoop in and serve the black hats some justice in the form of due process and a proper, fair sentence.
