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At The Washington Monthly, Hilzoy amply documents why the one issue left unresolved by the Obama/Guantanamo leaks to the NYT -- namely: whether to create a special, new process to allow use of "tainted evidence" against Guantanamo detainees -- may be the most important issue of all. She argues eloquently why doing so would be a catastrophic decision. Obama, as reflected by his Sunday comments, is clearly contemplating something like that, and it's because of issues like this one that it's so vital that pressure on Obama be maintained, criticisms of him be voiced when merited, and praise be expressed only when earned.
Glenn, I'm no constitutional lawyer or scholar, but Barack Obama supposedly is. Given that, how is this issue NOT something he summarily dismisses out of hand? The implications to our Constitution and justice system and the way it's been run for the past two hundred + years would be fundamentally changed and blatantly rigged against everyone if this precedent were set. Even I, the lowly mouth-breathing peon voter can easily see this. Where is the debate in this issue?
And if "tainted evidence" is no longer a prohibited means of jailing and convicting people, what's next? See "The Minority Report" for more details.
This appears to prove that there is nothing, no matter how sacred to the people or the country that is above political triangulation and negotiation. If that is the case, I am deeply afraid of where this country is headed. If you thought there was no justice for the little guys before, just wait until something like this gets proposed and garners "vast, bi-partisan support" throughout the halls of Congress.
