Thursday, December 18, 2008

5 Reasons Why We Must Keep Fighting After Bush Leaves Office

From The Bill of Rights Defense Committee

1. The damage done to constitutional protections, civil liberties, and human rights is extensive. Repairing the damage will be a long slow process, especially with the new administration focusing on the economy and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

2. Historically, executive powers are often expanded but rarely reduced. It takes enormous pressure from the people to convince Congress and the President to reinstate the checks and balances required by the Constitution.

3. Congress has been complicit in the Bush administration’s constitutional violations. To reverse these policies, implemented in the name of the “war on terror,” we must educate our congressional representatives and hold them accountable to their oaths to protect and defend the Constitution.

4. President-Elect Obama has promised to close Guantánamo Bay detention center, but creating a process for trying and releasing the more than 250 remaining prisoners that is constitutional, timely, and safe will be complicated and difficult after years of the Bush administration’s fear-mongering. We must provide vocal support for such efforts to counteract this culture of fear.

5. If we don’t fight to undo the damage to civil liberties, human rights, and other constitutional protections now, it will only get worse in the future.

See much more at Bill of Rights Defense Committee:
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1 comment:

CN said...

Current News BORDC RSS Newsfeed

some of the items featured now on bordc.org/news (a tip...these do not stay long, so create your own archive)

Dec 17, 2008, Joanne Mariner, FindLaw, European Support for Closing Guantanamo

Dec 17, 2008, Web Wire, ACLU Rejects Vice President Cheney's Praise Of Guantánamo

Dec 17, 2008, Jeremy Brecher & Brendan Smith, The Nation, Will War Crimes Be Outed?

Dec 16, 2008, Jaclyn Belczyk, Jurist, US transfers three Algerian Guantanamo detainees to Bosnia

Dec 16, 2008, Jaclyn Belczyk, Jurist, Pentagon appoints new chief judge for US military commissions

Dec 16, 2008, Associated Press, Marine pleads not guilty to killing Iraq detainee

Dec 16, 2008, Julian Sanchez, Ars Technica, Behind the legal fight over NSA's "Stellar Wind" surveillance

Dec 16, 2008, Carol Rosenberg, Miami (FL) Herald, Pentagon files charges against Bosnian-Egyptian

Dec 16, 2008, Dan Olson, Minnesota Public Radio, Fusion centers protect us but at what cost?

Dec 15, 2008, George Packer, The New Yorker, Official Stories

Dec 15, 2008, Jonathan Karl, ABC News, Cheney Holds Hard-Line Stance

Dec 15, 2008, Adam Liptak, New York Times, Justices Restore Suit Brought by Ex-Detainees Citing Torture

Dec 15, 2008, William Glaberson, New York Times, U.S. Is Set to Release 3 Detainees From Base

Dec 15, 2008, Kurt Opsahl, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Second Circuit Rules Against National Security Letter Gag Orders

Dec 15, 2008, Kim Zetter, Wired, New York Times' NSA Whistleblower Reveals Himself

Dec 15, 2008, The Daily Dish, The Architect Of Abu Ghraib

Dec 15, 2008, Miami (FL) Herald, A detainee's test for Obama

Dec 15, 2008, Pierre Tristam, About.com, Confessions of Guantanamo Detainees: Punishment or Martyrdom?

Dec 15, 2008, Victor Davis Hanson, Fresno Bee, Changes under Obama might not be drastic

Dec 14, 2008, Associated Press, Report: Justice lawyer leaked surveillance program

Dec 14, 2008, Paul Jacob, Townhall.com, A day for rights

Dec 14, 2008, Editorial, Washington DC Examiner, Beware of using the military for law enforcement

Dec 14, 2008, Patrick Radden Keefe, New York Times, Big Brother Hasn't Won

Dec 14, 2008, David Stringer, Associated Press, Chertoff: Obama shouldn't rush on Guantanamo Bay

Dec 14, 2008, Scott Horton, Harper's, The Torture Presidency

Dec 13, 2008, Ruell Marc Gerecht, New York Times, Out of Sight

Dec 13, 2008, Manuel Valdes, Associated Press, Washington a hot spot in Border Patrol's expansion

Dec 13, 2008, BBC News, US hails Lisbon Guantanamo offer

Dec 13, 2008, Thomas R. Eddlem, New American, Senate Report Fails to Call Guantanamo Abuse Torture

Dec 13, 2008, Michelle Shephard, Toronto Star, Doubt cast on Khadr's guilt

Dec 13, 2008, Andrew O. Selsky, Associated Press, Gitmo commander predicts prison won't close soon

Dec 12, 2008, Kenneth T. Walsh, U.S. News and World Report, Cheney Was a Powerful Force During Bush's Presidency

Dec 12, 2008, New York Times, The Detainees

Dec 12, 2008, David Edwards and Muriel Kane, Raw Story, Do 'fearmongering' Dems want Obama to set up Gitmo 2.0?

Dec 12, 2008, Spencer S. Hsu, Washington Post, New Rule Expands DNA Collection to All People Arrested

Dec 12, 2008, ACLU, ACLU Monitoring Unconstitutional Guantánamo Military Commissions Today

Dec 11, 2008, Scott Shane and Mark Mazzetti, New York Times, Report Blames Rumsfeld for Detainee Abuses

Dec 11, 2008, Jaclyn Belczyk, Jurist, Portugal foreign minister urges EU members to accept Guantanamo detainees

Dec 11, 2008, CNJ online (NM), U.S. resident's imprisonment endangers rights

Dec 11, 2008, Associated Press, Portugal offers to resettlee Guantánamo detainees

Dec 11, 2008, Julian Sanchez, Ars Technica, CDT to Obama: advent of "the cloud" makes privacy laws dated

Dec 10, 2008, Jaclyn Belczyk, Jurist, Second Circuit rehears Arar rendition case

Dec 10, 2008, Jaclyn Belczyk, Jurist, Alleged 9/11 conspirators postpone offers to plead guilty at military commission hearing

Dec 10, 2008, Richard C. Gross, Washington Times, Feingold urges Obama to reverse Bush measures

Dec 10, 2008, Agence France-Presse, Supreme Court hears case on Ashcroft, Mueller immunity

Dec 10, 2008, Jane Sutton, Reuters, Last Guantanamo trial of Bush era is delayed