Berlin, Germany—It was 1944 and what started out over a decade earlier as a new government offering Hope and Change progressed into a regime that kept horrible secrets from their citizens. Those who knew the secrets and tried to alert their neighbors were tried for High Treason, branded as Liars and sentenced to the guillotine or piano wire.
Today at the Bendlerblock military complex in Berlin a portion of the property houses the German Resistance Museum. It’s dedicated to those 5,000 heroes who did too little, too late but lost their lives in the process. It’s too bad that we can’t force Americans visit this museum before they’re allowed to vote.
The lesson to be learned from these resistance fighters is that perhaps killing Hitler years earlier would have spared tens of millions of lives. The problem was people believed in Time Magazine’s 1938 Man of The Year and the National Socialism he brought with him.
We must stop Socialists and Communists in our government before it’s too late.
Comments
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100909/ap_on_bi_ge/us_boeing_cia_lawsuit
and the opinion itself
http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2010/09/08/08-15693.pdf
American reactions to this court ruling
One of the primary functions of a court of law is to provide a venue that allows the powerless to challenge the powerful. By deciding that the powerless have no recourse to law and justice, this court has effectively ceded their power to the executive. The reign of terror has officially begun.
...
Obama has disappointed his supporters by keeping Gitmo open and doing nothing to lead the nation away from the barbarism begun by Bush.
Where is the change he promised?
This may be a victory for Obama, but it is a defeat for America.
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So the government can secretly do anything in the name of protecting secrets? Who is going to protect us from this type of government? And who is going to protect us from these stooges wearing judge robes?
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I think 9th CIRCUiT FEDERAL APPEALS COURT FLUSHES CONSTITUTION DOWN TOILET would’ve been a more accurate headline. The entire state-secrets concept should be abolished. Instead, even as a citizen, I have absolutely no guarantee that I can’t be kidnapped by the CIA at 3am tomorrow morning, tortured secretly in ‘black-box sites’, and have no legal recourse. So basically I have no rights anymore, even as a citizen. Right now we might be using these powers on ‘terrorists’, but it’s not inconceivable that an upcoming political regime in America could start labeling dissidents as ‘terrorists’. So welcome to ’1984′, President Obama. I’ll be glad to see how President Palin uses these expanded powers you’re about to bequeath her. And the scariest part? No matter what country you’re in, the CIA can always find you if they really want to
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Extraordinary rendition is a crime, not a secret. It is really quite disingenuous of President Obama to accuse Florida pastor Terry Jones of putting our soldiers in harm’s way by burning copies of the Quran when his administration continues to defend Bush policies of equating past torture with current national security. A national policy of secrecy regarding torture is going to recruit as many terrorists as the individual act of burning the Muslim sacred text. Obama is an embarassment. He promised an open administration and he has failed to deliver.
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Oh, that’s great. So now our brave SS-CIA-men may torture with impunity. But, as far as I remember, torturing constitutes international crime and so is universally punishable. Where is the justice, guys? And there is our democracy?
...
This is just wrong. What it is about Mr. Obama that the right finds so abhorrent. He is just continuing the Bush/Cheney doctrine. Change?
The United States has to do better than this.
...
Another utterly shameful chapter in our nation’s history.
...
The circular logic of the ruling would make Kafka proud, and may yet cause Orwell to rise from the dead.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100909/ap_on_bi_ge/us_boeing_cia_lawsuit
and the opinion itself
http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2010/09/08/08-15693.pdf
American reactions to this court ruling
One of the primary functions of a court of law is to provide a venue that allows the powerless to challenge the powerful. By deciding that the powerless have no recourse to law and justice, this court has effectively ceded their power to the executive. The reign of terror has officially begun.
...
Obama has disappointed his supporters by keeping Gitmo open and doing nothing to lead the nation away from the barbarism begun by Bush.
Where is the change he promised?
This may be a victory for Obama, but it is a defeat for America.
...
So the government can secretly do anything in the name of protecting secrets? Who is going to protect us from this type of government? And who is going to protect us from these stooges wearing judge robes?
...
I think 9th CIRCUiT FEDERAL APPEALS COURT FLUSHES CONSTITUTION DOWN TOILET would’ve been a more accurate headline. The entire state-secrets concept should be abolished. Instead, even as a citizen, I have absolutely no guarantee that I can’t be kidnapped by the CIA at 3am tomorrow morning, tortured secretly in ‘black-box sites’, and have no legal recourse. So basically I have no rights anymore, even as a citizen. Right now we might be using these powers on ‘terrorists’, but it’s not inconceivable that an upcoming political regime in America could start labeling dissidents as ‘terrorists’. So welcome to ’1984′, President Obama. I’ll be glad to see how President Palin uses these expanded powers you’re about to bequeath her. And the scariest part? No matter what country you’re in, the CIA can always find you if they really want to
...
Extraordinary rendition is a crime, not a secret. It is really quite disingenuous of President Obama to accuse Florida pastor Terry Jones of putting our soldiers in harm’s way by burning copies of the Quran when his administration continues to defend Bush policies of equating past torture with current national security. A national policy of secrecy regarding torture is going to recruit as many terrorists as the individual act of burning the Muslim sacred text. Obama is an embarassment. He promised an open administration and he has failed to deliver.
...
Oh, that’s great. So now our brave SS-CIA-men may torture with impunity. But, as far as I remember, torturing constitutes international crime and so is universally punishable. Where is the justice, guys? And there is our democracy?
...
This is just wrong. What it is about Mr. Obama that the right finds so abhorrent. He is just continuing the Bush/Cheney doctrine. Change?
The United States has to do better than this.
...
Another utterly shameful chapter in our nation’s history.
...
The circular logic of the ruling would make Kafka proud, and may yet cause Orwell to rise from the dead.
Boeing subsidiary Jeppesen DataPlan, Inc. was accused of participating in the George W. Bush administration’s "extraordinary rendition program".
According to published reports cited by the ACLU "Jeppesen had actual knowledge of the consequences of its activities. A former Jeppesen employee has stated a senior Jeppesen official stated, ‘We do all of the extraordinary rendition flights – you know, the torture flights. Let’s face it, some of these flights end up that way’."
The Bush administration intervened in the case, asserting the "state secrets" privilege in an attempt to have the lawsuit thrown out and preventing the evidence – including evidence already in the public domain – from ever being heard in court.
In April 2009, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that the government must invoke the state secrets privilege with respect to specific pieces of evidence – NOT OVER AN ENTIRE LAWSUIT
The Barack Obama administration, following exactly the same legal reasoning, appealed and the appeal was heard by 11 Ninth Circuit judges. The result was the 9/8/2010 decision.
According to the ACLU, that 9/8/2010 ruling "all but shuts the door on accountability for the CIA's illegal program". The ACLU intends to seek Supreme Court review of the decision, but it is NOT guaranteed since only less than 100 cases out of 7000 are given a green light.
The majority decision, states, "This case requires us to address the difficult balance the state secrets doctrine strikes between fundamental principles of our liberty, including justice, transparency, accountability and national security. Although as judges we strive to honor all of these principles, there are times when exceptional circumstances create an irreconcilable conflict between them."
However, Judge Raymond Fisher who authored the majority decision continued, "That the judicial branch may have deferred to the executive branch’s claim of privilege in the interest of national security does not preclude the government from honoring the fundamental principles of justice." and suggested that Congress investigate, which effectively gave those alleged victims the shaft.
Ben Wizner, a senior ACLU lawyer who argued the case, said the group was disappointed.
"The world is watching closely to see whether torture victims will have any possibility of redress in U.S. courts. If the answer is no – if this decision is allowed to stand – then foreign judges and prosecutors will almost certainly reinvigorate their own CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS INTO ILLEGAL l U.S. practices," he told IPS.
He added, "To this date, not a single victim of the Bush administration’s torture program has had his day in court," he said. "That makes this a sad day not only for the torture survivors who are seeking justice in this case, but for all Americans who care about the rule of law and our nation’s reputation in the world. If this decision stands, the United States will have closed its courts to torture victims while providing complete immunity to their torturers."
Once little-used, the state secrets doctrine became a favorite tactic of the Bush administration to keep its national security cases out of court.
According to The New York Times, "The decision bolstered the Obama administration counter-terrorism policies which show a degree of continuity departing from expectations fostered by President Obama’s campaign rhetoric, which was often sharply critical of President Bush’s approach."
http://original.antiwar.com/fisher/2010/09/09/rendition-suit-heads-for-us-high-court/print/