Chaos Magnet

Audacity? Do you want to talk about audacity?

On Thursday, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the Bush administration cannot try Guantánamo Bay detainees via military tribunals, in which as few as three military officers make the decisions, and the accused cannot face their accusers. Instead, the court suggested that military courts-martial, with protections similar to civil trials, would be appropriate.

in a dissenting opinion, Justice (and I use the term loosely) Antonin Scalia wrote, "'It is not clear where the court derives the authority — or the audacity — to contradict' Congress and the executive branch".

EXCUSE ME???

Reviewing, and on occasion, contradicting, Congress and the executive branch is the FUNCTION of the Supreme Court. Or at least it was when I was learning about the Constitution.

Of course, that was before September 11.

According to the article, "For now, there are about 450 detainees at Guantanamo, and 115 of them have been deemed eligible for release or transfer to their home countries. Ten, including Hamdan, [on whose behalf the current case was brought,] have been charged with crimes. The chief Guantanamo prosecutor had said about 65 more detainees were likely to be charged if the court ruled differently."

OK, let's look at this for a minute. 115 inmates have been deemed eligible for release. Why the hell are they still there? They love the food? 260 more have not been charged with a crime, and according to this are not likely to be charged with a crime. Again, why are they still there?

The answer is unfortunate, but simple. After torturing these men for four years, the Bush administration simply cannot afford to release them.

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