Originally Posted By: RadThe Supreme Court says they are coverd under our Constitution. I disagree with that ruling because it's technically not their ruling to make. This is a military matter. Not the first time (and certainly not the last) that the Supreme Court has operated outside of their jurisdiction and taken on more power than allowed by the Constitution.But as for Guantanimo, it is of no consequence as Guantanimo is not US soil...the Constitution did not and does not apply.
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9/11 Predicted on Lone Gunmen Pilot Episode
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yeah, I like that "they're bad so we can be bad too" attitude. It's very mature.I suppose illegal search and sesure is all cool too if the victim does accidentally turn out to be a criminal. What the hell, tap my cell phone.Fuck the civil rights that our forefathers faught for. They only apply when we feel like it any way and we never really believed in any of that namby-pamby shit.
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Regarding disparities:The issue of farm subsidies is not an important example. What is important is the contrast between U.S. rhetoric and U.S. policies. I know this type of criticism of the U.S. really seems to bother you Rad, but that doesn't make it any less true. And this issue is very related to the earlier one on media slant, because the news in the U.S. tends to ignore or minimize a lot of U.S. actions that are far more widely reported in the rest of the world.The major disparity goes back to the cold war era, though it is still true today. And that is the U.S. backing of atrocious dictaors like Saddam Hussein, Macros, Samoza, Battista and many, many others. Do you have any idea how alive the legacy is in Iran of the U.S. overthrow of the democratcally elected government of Iran in the 1950s and the installation of the Shah in its place? Do you have any idea of how many times we've done this all over the world? It would be hard to count all the coups we engineered in Central and South America. I'm not saying this to rant against the U.S. I'm simply saying that it is a huge part of this country's legacy.Of course, another huge part of that legacy are the values we profess and preach, and they are or were importantly influential and even sacred. The site of the statue of liberty model erected in Tiannemen square was remarkable. But I've heard many claim that that WOULD NOT happen today.Re: more current issues There were certain values associated with this country. The U.S. was the country that DID NOT engage in torture, that DID promote basic human rights, that DID function as a nation under laws and a constitution. Extraordinary rendition, holding prisoners in secret prisons in foreign countries with noone knowing their whereabouts, using torture, ignoring international law. These have been the tactics of the world's worst countries, not the best! There are many of us who say: "THIS IS NOT WHAT AMERICA IS ABOUT. WE WANT A RETURN TO THE VALUES AND A PRACTICE OF THE VALUES THAT MADE THIS COUNTRY WORTHY OF ADMIRATION."(And omg I can hear the screams from some of you already.)
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A negative slant can be put o everything
Hitler was well renownd for putting his youth to work and setting the economy back on track. No fortune teller could have predicted how that might have gone wrong.
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"And no, it's no the US's responsibillity to be the world police. If it was, they'd intervien in Rwanda and Darfur, even though they don't have lovely oil to steel."Who else would do it? The UN? Name the last thing they've actually done successfully without US troops. While yes, we should have intervened in Rwanda, however, we acted through the UN. Look where that got us. You see, trying to go through the UN is like taking a Porsche and then taking the tires off and trying to go across the country. The reasons why we havn't gone into Darfur yet. Not saying we shouldn't, but its a complicated issue. First off, there's already someone there.The People's Republic of China. Now, I don't know how you view the future, but I imagine it being the US and the PRC being two world superpowers. The US realizes this. We don't want to damage our strained relationship with the PRC. We may get along with them economically, but politically and militaristically we're on different pages. Maybe even different books altogether. By the way, guess where the People's Liberation Army troops are stationed? Oh, they're guarding their oil pipelines! How selfish of them! Quickly, plaster that on CNN! Oh, did I mention that the PRC pretty much ignores the Darfur incident so they can continue trading with Sudan? How horrible! Somebody tell Anderson Cooper! Second, there IS oil in Sudan! "Extensive petroleum exploration first began in Sudan in the mid-1970s. Significant finds were made in the Upper Nile region and commercial quantities of oil began to be exported in October 2000, reducing Sudan’s outflow of foreign exchange for imported petroleum products. Today, oil is an important export industry in Sudan. Estimates suggest that oil accounts for between 70% and 90% of Sudan's total exports. The primary importers of Sudanese oil are Japan, China, South Korea, Indonesia, and India." * http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/Sudan/Full.html and http://www.ecosonline.org/back/pdf_reports/2007/Oil/ECOS factsheetII October 2007.pdfIts just that we currently have a trade embargo on them. Meaning everyone else but us is importing it. Next problem: the world gets pissed when we don't listen to the UN. Edit: Just as a note, I am NOT confusing the Sudanese People's Liberation Army (SPLA, a Darfurian anti-Sudanese rebel group) with the Chinese PLA. Just clarifying.