Say it ain't so O

It seems our consensus loving, and by that I mean corporation and corporate politician loving, President is considering taking away Miranda rights for terrorists. More than one person on the right wing of the political spectrum suggested doing it so Obama thinks that there is a groundswell of public opinion in favor of this awful idea. That's his M/O.

If it really is that case that he's considering this then I have just one thing to say about, NO. No, a thousand, million, billion times NO.

Treating all suspects, and remember people are still innocent until proven guilty EVEN IN TIMES OF SO CALLED WAR, fairly and somewhat honestly (I say somewhat because of the way our judicial system was and still is gamed against the poor and people of color.) is a hallmark of American justice. The right is fond of crowing that we are a nation of laws, and then they want to toss them out when it comes to people they say are terrorists. And in the name of getting reelected President Obama is going to agree and work with them to take away the rights of defendants? Bullshit.

This is a huge slippery slope. Who decides who a terrorist is? Are all Muslims now terrorists? What about if a Shinto priest nuts up and goes Postal on a group of American tourists in Japan, are all Shintos then terrorists who get no Miranda warnings? We've been in a war on drugs for years, do we take away the Miranda warnings for those accused of drug offenses? We were in a war on poverty for a time until the corporations and lobbyists defeated it, but if we brought it back do the poor lose their Miranda warnings?

That animal who killed Dr. Roeder was a Christian terrorist. Tim McVeigh was a Christian terrorist. That Fox News lover who shot up that Unitarian church in Knoxville is a terrorist. Teabaggers who advocate 'taking their country back' by force are terrorists. Communists who advocate the violent overthrow of the United States government are terrorists. Anti abortionists who advocate violence against doctors who perform abortions are terrorists. Christian ministers who advocate violence against those they disagree with and those who they say are in violation of their bible are terrorists. Oath Keepers who seek to incite civil unrest and insurrection are terrorists. Skinheads and Neo Nazi's are terrorists. And in my opinion the heads of all organized religions, the CEO's of all fossil fuel companies, and the heads of most every multinational for profit corporation are terrorists. All those people should now lose their Miranda rights too.

To those in power at the time, Jesus Christ was a terrorist. Abolitionist John Brown was a terrorist. George Washington and the rest of the founding fathers were terrorists. Rosa Parks was a terrorist. Martin Luther King Jr. was a terrorist.

And the fact that I am against this usurpation of our rights makes me a terrorist in some quarters. Do I still have the right to remain silent if I get arrested? Obama lost my vote for not keeping his promise to close Gitmo, repeal the Patriot act, and end the spying on of innocent Americans. Now with this, he's forced me to campaign against him. With this further lurch to right by Obama, it won't be hard for me to find someone to the left of him. Because now, most all Americans are to the left of Bush Obama.