More like this, please.

I got this delightful Nietzsche/Family Circus mash-up from Holbo…

Keith Olbermann is not insipid, oh no. Would that we had more fiery critics of the Bush/Cheney kleptocratic clown show.

Just read Leiter.

So the record had been mixed, even before Bush & his bestiary of madmen, but describing the U.S. as a nominally democratic society seemed to make some sense.  Yet even that status officially ended last week.  The legislation known as "the Military Commissions Act of 2006" (usefully described by Professor Balkin here)–approved by what might be called, euphemistically, "the supine Congress" and which is sure to be signed by the alleged President (on orders from the actual President, Dick Cheney)–is the stuff of totalitarian societies, pure and simple.  (As Stephen Griffin (Law, Tulane) observes, the law should really be called the "Military Dictatorship Act," because that is what it actually is, all the bullshit to one side.  Or as philosopher Matt Burstein wrote to me:  "these fuckers read Kafka and Orwell as a god-damned manual, not as a critique!")

The full fascist impact of this legislation won’t be felt immediately, of course, but its contours are so clear as to admit of no whitewashing:  the Dear Leader, i.e., the executive, now has the right to disappear anyone, without having to answer to any other branch of government, except, perhaps, officials who serve at the pleasure of the executive.  Hitler and Stalin and Mao had versions of this power; so, too, now does George W. Bush.  If there is a pertinent difference, it is that the public culture in the U.S., at least currently, is still mildly resistant to capacious exercise of this power, at least against the proverbial "white folks" and other right-thinking and right-looking Americans.

OK, read Ivins, too.

In another change, a clause said that evidence obtained outside the United States could be admitted in court even if it had been gathered without a search warrant. But the bill now drops the words “outside the United States,” which means prosecutors can ignore American legal standards on warrants.

The bill also expands the definition of an unlawful enemy combatant to cover anyone who has “has purposefully and materially supported hostilities against the United States.” Quick, define “purposefully and materially.” One person has already been charged with aiding terrorists because he sold a satellite TV package that includes the Hezbollah network.

The bill simply removes a suspect’s right to challenge his detention in court. This is a rule of law that goes back to the Magna Carta in 1215. That pretty much leaves the barn door open.

I haven’t talked about this at home, but somehow the implications are even sinking into the consciousness of sixteen year old girls (a smart 16yog, but still…).

So where are the Democrats leading the charge? Will this be a subject of discussion at YearlyKos, and can we howl at any Democrats who show up? Who else will be joining me at the protest lines at the Fascist National Convention in Minneapolis next September? How can we light a fire under the craven Democrats?

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What the heck…now you can even get arrested for publicly disagreeing with Dick Cheney?

Forget civility and decorum. It’s time to impeach these slimemeisters.

While everyone seems to be hammering on the GOP for their love of child-molesters, we’re all forgetting that the Republicans are compensating for that with a bold foreign war to save Iraqis and their children. Why, look at the selfless summary by Mike DeWine:

“We’re not in Iraq for the Iraqis; we’re there for us.”

Uh, whoops. Never mind.

Maybe “We’re there for us!” could be the new GOP slogan.

The Commissar is voting Democratic this fall.

On the one hand, I’m not too impressed. It’s taken him long enough to realized that the Spoiled Child Presidency of GW Bush has been a catastrophe—the signs have all been there since before the 2000 election, and we moonbats have been called “Bush-haters” rather than perceptive.

On the other hand, I sympathize with something: the reluctance to support the Democratic party. While my contempt for Bush and the modern Republican agenda has grown, so has my disgust with the gutless, unprincipled Lords of the DNC. It’s hard to blame the Commissar for failing to see the flaws of our president when the opposition party has been so incompetent and so inarticulate that it has failed itself to express those problems and propose alternatives.

If you’re looking for something seditious to wear, try out the classic designs by Chris Clarke and Tim Murtaugh. We are all enemy combatants and terrorists now, so we might as well advertise the fact.

Jim Macdonald offers some excellent advice to military personnel over at Making Light.

Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions is straightforward and clear. Under Article VI of the Constitution, it forms part of the supreme law of the land.

You personally will be held responsible for all of your actions, in all countries, at all times and places, for the rest of your life. “I was only following orders” is not a defense.

What all this is leading to:

If you are ordered to violate Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions, it is your duty to disobey that order. No “clarification,” whether passed by Congress or signed by the president, relieves you of that duty.

If you are ordered to violate Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions, this is what to do:

1. Request that your superior put the order in writing.

2. If your superior puts the order in writing, inform your superior that you intend to disobey that order.

3. Request trial by courtmartial.

You will almost certainly face disciplinary action, harassment of various kinds, loss of pay, loss of liberty, discomfort and indignity. America relies on you and your courage to face those challenges.

We, the people, need you to support and defend the Constitution. I am certain that your honor and patriotism are equal to the task.

I’m just curious—is this information given to soldiers as part of basic training? If not, shouldn’t this be printed out and handed to our troops as they are embarking to Iraq and Afghanistan?

Maybe we should send a copy to GW Bush, too. I don’t think he understands it.