Constitutional Rights for American Citizens Suddenly Controversial
Well, looks like the NYPD and the feds have caught the jerkhole who parked a car bomb in Times Square, and, as it turns out, the schmuck is a naturalized citizen of the United States of America. He’s also a Pakistani-born Muslim, but still, he’s an American, and I’m sure we can all agree that he should be guaranteed his full legal and Constitutional rights and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, right? Maybe someone like, oh I don’t know, John McCain, who was literally thrown in a cage and tortured because he tried to defend these rights for all Americans, will rush to defend the rule of law?
It would have been a serious mistake to have read the suspect in the attempted Times Square car bombing his Miranda rights, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Tuesday.
McCain, the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and a longtime leading Republican on national security issues, said he expected the suspect in the case could face charges that might warrant a death sentence if convicted.
“Obviously that would be a serious mistake…at least until we find out as much information we have,” McCain said during an appearance on “Imus in the Morning” when asked whether the suspect, 30-year-old Faisal Shahzad, a naturalized American citizen from Pakistan.
“Don’t give this guy his Miranda rights until we find out what it’s all about,” McCain added.
Oh right, I forgot, McCain threw out any principles he might have once held to win the Republican primary in Arizona. My bad. It’s a good thing McCain isn’t a cop because I imagine it would be pretty difficult to convict this guy, let alone seek the death penalty, because Detective John McCain decided that he didn’t need to read his suspect his Miranda rights.
Anyone else want to chime in?
Rep. Peter King (N.Y.), the top Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee, wants to know whether the Justice Department consulted with the intelligence community before they decided to hold his trial in civilian court.
…
“I hope that [Attorney General Eric] Holder did discuss this with the intelligence community. If they believe they got enough from him, how much more should they get? Did they Mirandize him? I know he’s an American citizen but still,” King told POLITICO.
“I know he’s an American citizen, but still.” Oh yeah, I think I remember that part of the Constitution from 8th grade civics class. It’s in the preamble, right? Let’s see: justice, domestic tranquility, common defense, general welfare, liberty, posterity… nope, nothing there about “except when we don’t like the guy in which case none of the following counts.”
My God, even Glenn Beck gets that we can’t just throw out the Fifth Amendment because it inconveniences us, even if it might be a popular thing to do. The man who allegedly stuffed his car full of explosives and drove it into the middle of Manhattan must be accorded all of the rights to which he, as an American, is entitled. Our justice system can’t work any other way.
5/4/10 3:06 pm | | Permalink | Tags: Fifth Amendment, Glenn Beck, John McCain, Pete King, Times Square
- Sen. John McCain is a huge fan of Arizona’s terrible new immigration law even though he is not sure “whether all of it is legal or not.” Is there anything more mavericky than supporting a law that you think is maybe illegal? (Arizona Daily Star)
- Meanwhile, even Florida’s teabagger Senate candidate Marco Rubio does not like this law, probably because he does not want his orange-skinned opponent Charlie Crist to be deported back to the sun. (HuffPo)
- Your New York Times editors would like the Senate to maybe consider working on two important issues, like, say, climate change and immigration, at the same time. Silly editors, this is the United States Senate we’re talking about. (NYT)
- Oh hey, Wall Street firms are donating more money to Republican candidates than ever before. But this is probably just because they love freedom so much, not because the GOP is blocking new regulations for the financial industry. (WSJ)
- Lobbyists for the coal mining industry say President Obama has declared war on the mining industry, apparently by handing out huge subsidies for nonsensical “clean coal” technology and promising the friends and relatives of dead miners that he will make mines safer to work in. (Think Progress)
- Pretty much nobody from my generation goes to church anymore, which someone is probably going to blame on Barack Obama for getting us all hooked on his Kenyan Muslim Jeremiah Wright Socialism. (USA Today)
4/27/10 2:15 pm | | Permalink | Tags: Arizona, AZ-Sen, Barack Obama, climate change, coal mining, Driving While Brown law, financial regulatory reform, FL-Sen, immigration, John McCain, Marco Rubio, New York Times, Religion, Upper Big Branch Mine disaster
- Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has been running a secret torture prison in Baghdad without the knowledge of his own Human Rights Ministry. Good thing we got rid of that Saddam guy! (LA Times)
- Armed wingnuts will be gathering in a Virginia national park, which they can only do because of President Obama and the federal government, to protest President Obama and the federal government. (WaPo)
- The same Christians who whine about “special rights for homosexuals” (like being able to visit dying loved ones in the hospital) would now like to have the special right to discriminate against people they don’t like. (NPR)
- The rest of the world does not hate America as much now as they did when George W. Bush was president. Obviously this means that President Obama is surrendering to Europe and their Freedom Toast. (BBC)
- Chairman of the Joint Chief Adm. Mike Mullen says we should definitely not attack Iran, even if they might be developing nuclear weapons. Why does this lowly admiral hate war hero maverick John McCain so much? (Wired)
- Our Vice President Joe Biden will be on “The View” this Thursday. What hilarious gaffe will he make to offend Elisabeth Hasselbeck and all of America’s women, at once? (CNN)
4/19/10 10:50 am | | Permalink | Tags: Baghdad, Barack Obama, Iran, Joe Biden, John McCain, LGBT equality, Mike Mullen, Nouri al-Maliki, right-wing extremism, Second Amendment, secret prisons
- Only a quarter of a percent of money donated to Sarah Palin’s PAC is actually being given to Republican 2010 candidates. (WaPo/Dave Weigel)
- How’s “that hopey, changey thing” working out for us? Well, 98% of working families are paying less taxes thanks to President Obama and the Democrats, for one. (Citizens for Tax Justice)
- Well, according to this absurd poll we may as well just make Ron Paul the president now so he can start replacing our currency with hard, shiny gold bullion. (Rasmussen)
- If there are two things that the teabaggers love, they are shouting about socialism and cashing their Social Security checks. (NYT)
- John McCain—remember him? from the election?—is still angry that we haven’t just bombed the shit out of Iran yet. (AP)
4/15/10 9:35 am | | Permalink | Tags: Barack Obama, Iran, John McCain, Ron Paul, Sarah Palin, taxes, teabaggers
Quote of the Day
I never considered myself a maverick.
—Sen. John McCain, who—wait, what the fuck?
So this obvious lie, which intrepid Newsweek reporter David Margolick leaves unchallenged, makes absolutely no sense, considering that McCain’s Senate press office and campaign website are replete with references to “the Maverick” with a capital M. The idea of McCain flip-flopping on the issues is hardly surprising, but here McCain is just giving up a major component of his public persona seemingly on a whim.
Anyway, click the continue reading link below to see some videos of Sen. Maverick that I found just by typing “McCain is a maverick” into The Google.
Read more…
4/5/10 4:09 pm | | Permalink | Tags: John McCain, QOTD
Wanker of the Day
John McCain
3/22/10 5:25 pm | | Permalink | Tags: bipartisanship, John McCain, WOTD
ShorterBasically Verbatim Sarah Palin
Palin: Obama Was ‘Arrogant’ to Criticize McCain
- Barack Obama is so uppity for not graciously losing the 2008 election to John McCain, War Hero.
2/26/10 7:04 pm | | Permalink | Tags: Barack Obama, John McCain, Sarah Palin, shorter
All McCain, All the Time
Via DougJ, here is John McCain’s TV appearance schedule for today:
7:00 am NBC’s TODAY Show with Matt Lauer
7:00 am ABC’s Good Morning America with Robin Roberts
7:00 am CBS’ Early Show with Harry Smith
7:30 am CNN’s American Morning with John Roberts
8:00 am Fox News’ Fox & Friends
7:00 pm CNBC’s Kudlow Report
5:30 pm BBC Newsnight with Gavin Esler
7:00 pm BBC World News America with Matt Frei
Let me guess: John “Hundred Years” McCain disagrees on Afghanistan with the guy who kicked his ass in the last election. What a waste of television time.
Does anyone remember all of the interviews with Al Gore in early 2001 about all the things George W. Bush was doing wrong? Or with John Kerry in early 2005? Seriously, a majority of American voters decided that they did not wants John McCain’s policies on Afghanistan or anything else for that matter, so why does anyone even care what he thinks?
12/2/09 1:45 pm | | Permalink | Tags: Afghanistan, John McCain, media
- Just now! Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) will vote for debating on the Democratic healthcare bill. (Twitter!)
- A thousand wingnuts were waiting in the cold all day for Sarah Palin to sign their books, but then Palin “went rogue” and left without signing all of their books, so now they will not vote for her. (RumpRoast
- In case you did’t figure it out during that whole presidential campaign, “maverick” just means John McCain changes his positions whenever it’s politically convenient. (The Plank)
- Much like her father, Liz Cheney is a liar, in this case, when it comes to her fake documentary about moving Gitmo prisoners to a small town in Michigan. (The Plum Line)
- Tea Party: The Movie. Seriously. Make sure not to have any food or liquids in your mouth when you watch the trailer. (Tea Party Movie)
11/21/09 12:25 pm | | Permalink | Tags: Guantanamo Bay, healthcare, John McCain, Liz Cheney, Mary Landrieu, Sarah Palin, teabaggers
Good-Faith Negotiations
- Bipartisan healthcare negotiator Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY) will not support the result of the bipartisan healthcare negotiations, not that this should really surprise anyone. (The Plum Line)
- Disgraced former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales was all excited about a DOJ investigation into whether the CIA abused prisoners but now he’s not, probably thanks to a call from Dick Cheney or something. (Washington Times)
- Something like this was bound to happen eventually. Biting people’s fingers off is just the logical next step in the healthcare debate. (KTLA)
- You know what is exactly like that time John McCain was tortured by the North Vietnamese? Cindy McCain’s migraines. They’re terrible! (People)
- Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK), America’s Crankiest Senator, just does not care for Barack Obama, the SocialistPeacenikMuslimHippy President who also believes that global warming is true! (Tulsa World)
9/3/09 3:25 pm | | Permalink | Tags: Alberto Gonzales, Barack Obama, CIA, Cindy McCain, healthcare, Jim Inhofe, John McCain, Justice Department, Mike Enzi, torture
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