Blog of the Day.

Check out Penraker.

Think the sentencing of the "Millenium Bomber" is a victory? In the immortal words of Lee Corso, "Not so fast, my friend."

The idiot judge spews and Penraker slaps him hard:

The message I would hope to convey in today's sentencing is twofold:
"First, that we have the resolve in this country to deal with the subject of terrorism and people who engage in it should be prepared to sacrifice a major portion of their life in confinement. [that will make their knees knock]

"Secondly, though, I would like to convey the message that our system works. We did not need to use a secret military tribunal, or detain the defendant indefinitely as an enemy combatant, or deny him the right to counsel, or invoke any proceedings beyond those guaranteed by or contrary to the United States Constitution.

"I would suggest that the message to the world from today's sentencing is that our courts have not abandoned our commitment to the ideals that set our nation apart. We can deal with the threats to our national security without denying the accused fundamental constitutional protections.
"Despite the fact that Mr. Ressam is not an American citizen and despite the fact that he entered this country intent upon killing American citizens, he received an effective, vigorous defense, and the opportunity to have his guilt or innocence determined by a jury of 12 ordinary citizens.

"Most importantly, all of this occurred in the sunlight of a public trial. There were no secret proceedings, no indefinite detention, no denial of counsel.

"The tragedy of September 11th shook our sense of security and made us realize that we, too, are vulnerable to acts of terrorism.

"Unfortunately, some believe that this threat renders our Constitution obsolete. This is a Constitution for which men and women have died and continue to die and which has made us a model among nations. If that view is allowed to prevail, the terrorists will have won.

"It is my sworn duty, and as long as there is breath in my body I'll perform it, to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. We will be in recess." (Italics mine. - F.G.)


What an absolute fool. What a grandstander. What a poseur. NOBODY believes that our constitution is obsolete. That's the sort of Michael Moore-like statement, overblown and hysterical, that is unworthy of a judge. The situations with military tribunals and prolonged detention had nothing at all to do with his case. He grabbed this opportunity in the media spotlight to stand on his soapbox and prattle on. Can you say "Political Judge"?

We have a sudden surplus of preening idiocy in this country - we have roving bands of jackasses - people who know that we have liberty, but utterly fail to understand what it takes to keep it. Unfettered by small things like responsibility for human lives, they pretend they are Saint George fighting the dragon.

They believe, like pacifists, that if we are just nice enough, everyone will join us in the big square dance of humanity. They have always relied on the kindness of strangers.

Any fool can talk about keeping liberties; it takes men who are willing to assess the situation with a cold eye and a willingness to apply force to keep them. We didn't craft the special regime for terrorists because we like to detain people for fun - we were presented with a situation unique in the history of mankind, and have crafted a humane, law-regulated special regime to handle it. Never before has the specter of mass terrorist attacks by means of WMD presented itself. Never before has so vile a human being arisen as the modern islamic terrorist.

Our Liberty was hard won - and people similar to Judge Coughenour were not among those who gave us that freedom. That was done by the people who were fitted to the times - those that had rough edges and were not merely parlour nannies spouting platitudes. The founders realized that they had to take extraordinary measures - and not just live within their rights as Englishmen.

Law exists for man, not man for the law.

Amen to that, brother.