McCain Rips Supreme Court Decision on Guantanamo
(CBS)
From CBS News’ John Bentley:
PEMBERTON, N.J. -- Calling it “one of the worst decisions in the history of this country,” John McCain ripped into the Supreme Court’s decision to allow Guantanamo detainees access to civilian trials for the second day in a row. “We're now going to have the courts flooded with so-called "habeas corpus suits" against the government, whether it be about the diet, whether it be about the reading material,” McCain said. “Our first obligation is the safety and security of this nation and the men and women who defend it. This decision will harm our ability to do that.”
The Supreme Court ruled 5 to 4 yesterday that enemy combatants can challenge their detention at Guantanamo Bay in U.S. courts, instead of military tribunals. It was a decision welcomed by McCain’s rival. “The Court's decision is a rejection of the Bush Administration's attempt to create a legal black hole at Guantanamo - yet another failed policy supported by John McCain,” Barack Obama said. “This is an important step toward reestablishing our credibility as a nation committed to the rule of law, and rejecting a false choice between fighting terrorism and respecting habeas corpus.”
At a town hall meeting here today, McCain sought to use Obama’s embrace of the decision against him. “Sen. Obama applauds this decision and he supports it,” McCain said. “I argue against it and will do what I can to at least narrow down some of the wide open aspects of this Supreme Court decision.”
McCain was joined in the condemnation of the decision by one of his supporters who joined him on the campaign trail today, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. Graham, who worked with McCain on Guantanamo Bay legislation and is also an attorney for the U.S. Air Force, worried that detainees would seek out judges he felt were unqualified to make decisions on their cases. “Americans are going to be shocked to find the mastermind of 9/11, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, now has the same legal standing as an American citizen,” Graham said. “What does this mean to America? It means we’re not as safe as we used to be, because now, the decision as to who an enemy combatant is, is not going to be made by military personnel tribunals, trained in the matters of warfare, but that decision will be made by the most liberal judges the detainees can find, in the most liberal jurisdictions with no standards, and some of these people are going to be let go simply because they found the right judge with absolutely no criteria as to how to release.”
- 1
- 2
- next
See all 24 CommentsIf you read what Bush and many of his hand-picked military leaders are saying you will find the same words, almost word for word, given back during the Johnson Administration concern Vietnam. They are simply regurgitating the same claims those so-called military experts shouted about the Vietnam War.
McCain doesn''t know one *** thing about war, just listen to what he was claiming when the war was starting, he said it would be a quick and clean operation, that we would not see Americans coming home in body bags. How can anyone, with an iota of common sense, believe that he has a grasp of either foreign or even domestic issues?
Even though he is suppose to be a big history buff, he certainly hasn''t shown that he understands the lessons of history. He will be, as President, as lost and confounded as Bush has been. While I think that Obama will not be particularly good for the country, I think McCain will be yet another disaster.
I don''t plan on voting for either of them!
Apparently he flunked the American civics course which is offered at the Naval Academy.
John McCain%u2019s ideas are grounded in the nightmare of his six year Viet-Nam pow experience, which he continues to relive today, as evidenenced by his confusion of what is happening in Iraq.
Just ask him and he will tell you that even though we lost over 58,000 brave American military, suffered an estimated 300,000 additional casualtiies, and despite killing over 2,000,000 Vietnamese in the process, that we could have %u201Cwon%u201D in that tiny southeast Asian country ( which by the way, was no threat to the United States,) if we had just stayed another few years. It was called %u201D The light at the end of the tunnel.%u201D A light that never happened.
John McCain is living in the past and cannot possibly lead our country out of the problems that the disastrous Bush administration has created. I perceive him as a very angry, stubborn person who would be better off retiring to his wife%u2019s luxurious ranch and tending to their barbecue.
We can%u2019t risk the Supreme Court Justices that he is sure to appoint, and we also can%u2019t afford his plans of continuing the failed policies of George Bush
A Viet-Nam veteran U.S. Air Force 1963-1968.
If the American People don''t understand the importance of the Writ of Habeas Corpus to our own Liberty then we probably don''t understand the false sense of security that the Military Commission Act gives either.
"The liberties of a people never were, nor ever will be, secure, when the transactions of their rulers may be concealed from them."~Patrick Henry
As a life-long and very Old Right Republican, I welcome this decision from the Court, it seems to have come back to a small, very small degree of Constitutional Common Sense.
Good job Supreme Court. Way to win one for the home team!!
I guess one can REASONABLY conclude that the Court''s Majority knew where they wanted to end up, and proceeded to get there, however s-l-o-w-l-y they weaved their way through precedential minefield!
OsiSpeaks.com
Straight talk or doulble talk?
Obama will win because is smart and good, whereas Mclown and Bushy are rude and idiotic and make Americans look worst than they already do.
Thank God, one of the oldest and most cherished principles of Anglo-Saxon jurisprudence has been reaffirmed: The Great Writ, the Writ of Habeas Corpus which allows a prisoner to challenge his incarceration, to require the authorities to prove in a court of law that their confinement is legal or free them in the alternative. And, McSame, right on the heels of Bush, immediately deplored the ruling. These are the people charged with upholding the Constitution and guarding our freedoms. At the same time they did all they could to hold these prisoners on the basis of allegations alone. Some of these prisoners are only in custody because our government paid informants thousands of dollars to inform on others. The result, many who knew no more about terrorist activities than you or I, were arrested and have been incarcerated for as long as seven years without seeing the inside of a courtroom.
The evidence is that many of the people in Gitmo are innocent. Bush has done a great injustice in our name, and McCain supports it.
My wife had the thought when she looked in the mirror, "this shirt is prophetic."
Surely, the glory of the Lord has departed.
We get the leaders we deserve, and our leaders reflect us as a nation.
We have 3 extremely liberal candidates (still including Clinton).
It is a sad, sad time for our nation.
It''s totally outdated and needs serious revisions, going forward.
They''ve got to have better candidates and people with brains in the RNC other than Bush and McCain.
God Help Us All...
Where is the McKabee, we are going to drain the life out of this poor old guy.
McKabee seriously needs to be on stand!!!
It is a tragedy and a joke!!!
The entire world, not just the USA, is watching as this whole election unfolds.
I can''t believe he is the Republican''s top choice, no wonder they never get the best of the best candidates to be final.
Weird...as a Democrat, I kind of wish and miss that Romney guy, he seemed so much more intellectual and driven. Why in the world would they pick McCain to represent this party.
Worse yet to come against us True Democrats with all their brainys and gifted leaders...
- 1
- 2
- next
See all 24 Comments