Being Careful Is the Key

During the eight years of the Cheney administration, the American Constitution nearly died. The current administration is attempting to revive the rule of law by bringing Khalid Sheikh Mohammed to trial in New York, and the Republican leadership is terrified. They are always terrified.

The other night I was watching David Brooks on TV explaining why the world's most powerful nation could not safely try al Qaida members in public. Meanwhile wingnut Pat Buchanan was wetting himself on MSNBC from concern that at the trial the judge and prosecutors would not be able to cope with propaganda efforts made by cave-dwelling 15th century Moslem fundamentalists on Twitter.

I don't recall exactly what Brooks and Buchanan said, but they were quick to dismiss the Constitution of the United States, which they explained represented "9/10 thinking." That is, the Constitution related to events that had happened before 9/11. After 9/11, in which 3,000 people died, America could no longer afford the basic human rights we had retained after two world wars.

While Brooks and Buchanan were fearfully blubbering on, I tried to imagine them explaining their position to Ben Franklin, George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, John Hancock and a few others. These men had risked being hanged by the British King for treason. Some had come under musket fire in an attempt to defend inalienable rights. I imagine they would have heard Buchanan and Brooks out, and then they would have used their hickory walking sticks to cane the rich and flabby legs of two cowards, giving them some experience.

Meanwhile, John McCain was welcoming guests to The Hall of Heroes, as he called his eighth home, which is plated with gold and located at the bottom of the Indian Ocean, according to Wanda Sykes. Sergeants Alvin York and Audie Murphy had arrived with their resignations from the Hall in hand. McCain tried to talk them out of quitting, but Audie Murphy only shook his head ruefully. "You were right, John. I fought through an entire world war and was never captured once. I'm no hero." Sgt. York smiled in an embarrassed way.
"Same here, John. Heck, I was so mixed up I thought I was supposed to do the capturing."

McCain sighed and watched them leave, then looked at his list of revoked memberships to see who was next. JFK, of course. In his favor he had lost his ship in the Pacific, but then he swam for miles and saved his crew from drowning. Not one man captured. "This could be a lot easier," McCain said to the club chairman, George Herbert Bush, a pilot who had bailed out of a flaming plane in World War Two, leaving his crew to auger in. "We wouldn't have to kick people out if we were more careful who we admitted in the first place."