what happened to the rule of law?

The Bush (mis)Administration has shown a total disdain for the law, preferring to believe that they, along with their president, are above such trivial things as The Constitution, which the Bush himself has reportedly referred to as “just a goddamned piece of paper.”

Given an expansion of presidential power by Congress to pursue his so-called “War on Terror,” Bush and his crony-filled ranks have grabbed for an unprecedented amount of presidential authority. War powers, they say, allow them to ignore FISA restrictions at will and data mine all telephone and cell phone as well as Internet traffic within the United States in an alleged “terrorist surveillance program.” They have crowed before every possible audience that this illegal program is good for the U.S. and legal under their “war powers.”

The (mis)Administration, which loves to toss the term treason at its detractors for daring to question “a war president,” treasonously exposed the identity of a CIA agent in retaliation to Joseph Wilson’s debunking of their claims that Saddam Hussein had tried to purchase uranium in Niger. And they have tried valiantly to stonewall an investigation into that leak.

The Bush (mis)Administration routinely refuses to allow its members to testify in front of Congress while under oath – claiming that merely asking them to swear to tell the truth is insulting. Considering how deeply they have lied on so many issues, that response is a sad joke. And now, it’s probably their future defense strategy once they’ve finally been thrown out of office.

So, is it any wonder that this “Gang That Couldn’t Keep the Truth Straight,” finds it impossible to play by the rule of law even when it comes to imprisoning a man responsible for flying airliners into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon – the tragedy they have turned into a campaign strategy and a smoke screen for their unprecedented power grab.

Federal prosecutors have so badly mishandled the trial of 9/11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui that a judge has barred key governmental witnesses from testifying. The judge threw out all evidence concerning aviation security, the very heart of the government’s case, effectively gutting it before it ever begins.

According to a Washington Post story: “Legal experts said it devastated the prosecution's main argument -- that if Moussaoui had not lied to the FBI about his knowledge of the Sept. 11, 2001, plot, the hijackings could have been prevented. The witnesses are airline security experts who would have testified about the measures the government would have taken had the truth been told.

“U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema issued her ruling at the close of an extraordinary hearing in Alexandria that centered on the conduct of Carla J. Martin, 51, a Transportation Security Administration lawyer who improperly shared testimony and communicated with seven witnesses. New evidence emerged that Martin was heavily involved in the case and had committed what Brinkema called other ‘egregious errors.’

“The most serious was telling a prosecutor that witnesses sought by defense attorneys had refused to meet with them. Relying on Martin's contact with the witnesses, prosecutor David J. Novak relayed the information to the defense. After hearing from those witnesses yesterday, Brinkema called Martin's information ‘a baldfaced lie.’

‘“I cannot allow that kind of conduct to go without there being serious sanctions,’ Brinkema said as she struck the expected testimony and all of the evidence about aviation. ‘It would likely turn the criminal justice system on its head.’

“The judge placed Martin's conduct, combined with other errors in the oft-delayed case, in historic terms. ‘I don't think in the annals of criminal law there has ever been a case with this many significant problems,’ she told a packed courtroom.

The Bush (mis)Administration and the Republican Party has consistently contended that Democrats could not be trusted on issues of national security or to pursue terrorists responsible for acts against the United States.

However, it should be pointed out it that it was Republican appointees who thwarted the FBI investigation into the bombing of the U.S.S. Cole and a Republican president who now champions a deal to turn over management of key U.S. ports to a company wholly owned by the government of Dubai, a key member of the United Arab Emirates – whose government banking houses were used by Al Qaeda to transfer funds to the men who flew airliners into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and that two of those hijackers were FROM the UAE.

And it should be pointed out that every involved in the first World Trade Center bombing plot by Al Qaeda were tracked down, arrested, prosecuted and imprisoned by a Democratic administration.

More soon.