then again, how could i not? his tortuous, tangled, labyrinthine adumbrations, obfuscations, and obscurations befog, becloud, and mist over any possibility of finding meaning in his responses to questions. i don't know about your mind, but it boggles mine.
gonzo's virtually hermetically sealed, but not quite a black hole: once in a great while, a little light escapes. i actually heard two clear statements in his senate judiciary committee testimony thursday.
one was that the administration will get warrants when it eavesdrops. the other was that the AG still believes his president had proper authority to bypass the FISA-mandated procedure.
in other words, if on some indefinite future occasion the d cider d cides getting a warrant is more trouble than it's worth, it'll be a-ok by gonzo.
along similar lines, guidelines have been issued for "military commission" trials of accused "enemy combatants." evidence obtained by torture will be prohibited, but coerced testimony and hearsay evidence will be admitted.
a pentagon spokesman said the new
procedures contained in this manual will ensure that alien unlawful enemy combatants who are suspected of war crimes and certain other offenses are prosecuted before regularly constituted courts, affording all the judicial guarantees which are recognized as indispensable by civilized people.by no coincidence, the last part of that appears in common article 3 of the geneva conventions, which prohibits "at any time and in any place whatsoever"
the passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions without previous judgment pronounced by a regularly constituted court, affording all the judicial guarantees which are recognized as indispensible by civilized peoples.but coerced testimony and hearsay evidence will be admitted.
i can't help recalling some words traditionally attributed to abe lincoln:
If you call a tail a leg, how many legs has a dog? Five? No; calling a tail a leg don't make it a leg.
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