Jose Padilla won reprieve from the courts today who ruled that his designation as an enemy combatant by our own King George was unconstitutional. After over a year in confinement, shredded habeus corpus, and not even one charge brought against him, he is finally entitled to a fair trial.
How fair is this trial going to be? Well, a lot more so than his detention.
Had Padilla been a mastermind of some kind of dirty bomb plot, we should tar and feather him.
However, the idea that it takes over a year for a man to get a fair trial in America, and that that man is held with no lawyer, almost makes me think the red curtain just moved over here instead of staying in Russia.
What is the point of all of this American flag waving and patriotism anyway?
Why is this country so great?
I would say that the number one reason is our right to a fair trial by a jury of our peers. That court protects our right for a petition to redress grievances committed by our government as well.
I haven't experienced this much myself.
When found on trial, I was faced with jurors who certainly were no where near being my peers.
And even more so no where near any color.
Lucky for us immigrants and people of color that not all whities are out to get us.
So Padilla's fair trial may not be so fair. And the publicity may jeopardise national security after all.
But Padilla, as a U.S. citizen, has the right to a trial.
And not Bush, nor Satan himself, can level the odds on this type of playing field.
If he gets a lucky draw of jurors, and there isn't enough evidence, he is free.
If he is guilty, you may as well call him Jose Padilla Rosenberg.
And if they find him guilty, and he is not, and our system has failed us, there will be the safety net of an appelate court.
That's the way it works here.
That is why America is great.
We do not ship people off to Guantanamo like Stalin sent people to Siberia.
That is not our law here.
Bush needed to learn this lesson. Even if it was a year too late.
We are innocent until proven guilty in America.
Thank god the court affirmed that today.
Original: Padilla and the teetering scales