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worker201:
--- Quote from: Death4Bush ---Bush deserves and should receive the death penalty, after the appropriate legal or quasi-legal formalities
--- End quote ---
Am I the only one who thinks that the phrase "quasi-legal formalities" is ridiculous, especially where the death penalty is concerned.
I'm taking "quasi-legal" to mean "not really legal" or "sorta legal", and "formalities" to mean "something not really necessary, but done only to maintain appearances".
This is, according to Merriam Webster's online dictionary, a classic example of a kangaroo court. In other words, a mockery of jurisprudence.
DavidB:
--- Quote from: worker201 ---Am I the only one who thinks that the phrase "quasi-legal formalities" is ridiculous, especially where the death penalty is concerned.
I'm taking "quasi-legal" to mean "not really legal" or "sorta legal", and "formalities" to mean "something not really necessary, but done only to maintain appearances".
This is, according to Merriam Webster's online dictionary, a classic example of a kangaroo court. In other words, a mockery of jurisprudence.
--- End quote ---
It's also an example of "what goes around comes around." I inserted "quasi-legal" as a tongue-in-cheek reference to George Bush's kangaroo military tribunals. Frankly, I think it would be kind of humorous to see him tried in secret by a military tribunal system of his own making and flown to Morocco aboard a secret "torture flight."
But would I really countenance such a sideshow? Well, under certain circumstances, yes.
Did you see the last Star Wars movie? I'm not a huge Star Wars fan, and I didn't think this movie was all that great, but I kind of enjoyed some of the not so subtle references to George Bush and his evil regime.
There was a scene towards the end of the movie where a jedi knight was dueling with the evil emperor. As I recall, the jedi knight gained the upper hand and was arguing with Aniken (sp?) Skywalker, who wanted him to spare the emperor's life and let him stand trial.
The other jedi knight countered that that would be pointless, since the emperor controlled everything - the legislature, the court system, etc.
I thought that was a really chilling scene. It reminded me that George Bush could never get a fair trial because every institution in the U.S. is ultimately run by corporations.
Of course, I'm not going to encourage anyone to revolt against the U.S. government because that might be considered illegal. But if the military did stage a coup and I learned, seven years later, that they spirited George Bush off to some third world nation without the benefit of a trial, I wouldn't shed a tear.
He's obviously guilty of several crimes that each merit the death penalty. And if he gets screwed by the legal system or the military some day, he'll have no one to blame but himself.
worker201:
You're probably right, that an impeachment trial or a war crimes trial or a criminal trial or even a civil trial would be a joke. I'm sure they would. But it is really important that we have them anyway. Because if consistency is not applied, the legal system falls apart. What I mean is, that once you try one person in a kangaroo court, then you can try anyone in a kangaroo court. Once you start down that slippery slope, it's hard to climb out. And not all cases seem as obvious as this one. Any procedure that could be used to put an innocent man in jail or to death must be eliminated from our justice system.
DavidB:
--- Quote from: worker201 ---You're probably right, that an impeachment trial or a war crimes trial or a criminal trial or even a civil trial would be a joke. I'm sure they would. But it is really important that we have them anyway. Because if consistency is not applied, the legal system falls apart. What I mean is, that once you try one person in a kangaroo court, then you can try anyone in a kangaroo court. Once you start down that slippery slope, it's hard to climb out. And not all cases seem as obvious as this one. Any procedure that could be used to put an innocent man in jail or to death must be eliminated from our justice system.
--- End quote ---
If there was a revolution, and I wound up installed as Dictator of the United States, I'd probably keep George Bush's military tribunals and torture centers for a few years. I'd use them against corporate America, THEN reform the system after they'd served their purpose.
Then I'd leave office after allowing the people to elect a new president.
All fantasy, of course, but what a fantasy!
worker201:
--- Quote from: DavidB ---If there was a revolution, and I wound up installed as Dictator of the United States, I'd probably keep George Bush's military tribunals and torture centers for a few years. I'd use them against corporate America, THEN reform the system after they'd served their purpose.
Then I'd leave office after allowing the people to elect a new president.
All fantasy, of course, but what a fantasy!
--- End quote ---
According to a book I read recently on Fidel Castro, that was his plan too. Start the revolution, get rid of all the bad guys, and then allow society to return to a somewhat normal state. But as things progressed, Castro found that he was the only one who could be counted on to do what he thought had to be done. For starters, the US was pressuring Cuba to have free elections, and having them would have been doing what the US said - something Castro pointedly avoided. Another president might have bowed to US pressures, and reopened Cuba to exploitation by US corporate interests. The only way to prevent someone else taking the country in the wrong direction is to make sure there is no one else.
What I'm saying is that you can't just reform the system overnight and then expect it to stay that way after you step down. Political and social systems have to be installed over time. Which is why all our bullshit in Iraq is so useless.
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