The American Spectator

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Gut Feelings

10.27.04 @ 12:01AM

PREVENTIVE DETENTION
Re: Robert A. Levy's Yaser Hamdi and Congress:

Mr. Levy, at my count you have just gutted the Amend. IV, V, VI & VIII. The problem with your argument is the following. The same branch of government that is making the charges is also presenting it's argument for closing the public process in the detention of the suspect. A direct situation that caused our forefathers to rebel against the crown.

It is odd that in this day and time, the government finds it necessary to shroud in secrecy the means by which they detain a suspect. We fought WWII without such mechanisms. Surely the government with all its resources can make its case without resorting to judicial trickery. Or is the Justice Dept. so incompetent they lack the facility to prosecute cases?
-- John McGinnis

Robert A. Levy replies:
The terms "unreasonable" seizures (Amend. IV), "due" process (Amend. V), "speedy" trial (Amend. VI), and "cruel" punishment (Amend. VIII) do not, in my view, foreclose the type of congressionally-enacted regime that I suggested in my article. That regime guarantees, after no more than 30 days of preventive detention, a public (not secret) hearing with access to counsel, among other safeguards.

I consider myself a hardcore civil libertarian, but I do not believe that WWII established a floor on civil liberties that cannot be breached no matter how different and dangerous the post-911 environment. Surely our Constitution can accommodate a brief period of preventive detention for suspected terrorists like Jose Padilla, who might well have murdered tens of thousands of innocent Americans. I am not suggesting that the treatment accorded Padilla was proper -- indeed, I have written elsewhere that his treatment was unconscionable and unconstitutional. But I am suggesting that Congress might have enacted a set of rules that would have permitted a few weeks of preventive detention without trampling on the Bill of Rights.

DONE IN
Re: Ralph R. Reiland's What To Do? What To Do?:

That final paragraph in Mr. Reiland's "What To Do" column probably explained my feelings better than 'most anything I'd read, 'til now.

I had been lamenting, tongue-in-cheek, "where's Ross Perot when we need him?" and still will probably vote for Mike Badnarik.

Terrific analysis!
-- Geoff Brandt
Quintana, Texas

Ralph Reiland's bit of humor on the inadequacies of democracy would be better offered in times when American men and women were not in the front lines -- in harm's way -- being wounded and killed. There are times when democracies must defend against inanities at home, and vicious attacks from abroad.
-- Allen O'Donnell
Wayne, Nebraska

Mr. Reiland undermined his thesis when he used "enough monkeys pounding away at enough keyboards will eventually produce a perfect Sunday edition of the New York Times"--certainly not outside the realm of possibility currently.
-- Jenny Woodward

When reading the article I was reminded of one of the Man-on-the-Street TV interviews that Rush Limbaugh had on his TV show. On one occasion, the interviewing crew had pictures of world and U.S. leaders with a teaser thrown in. In most all of the interviews the only person identified was the teaser, which, if my memory serves me correctly, was Britney Spears.
-- Pete Brittain
Sandpoint, Idaho

Mr. Reiland's article brought back a memory to me of when I was elected a State Rep to the Vermont Legislature way back in '82. During the course of the "orientation" for freshmen Republicans (the Democrats had their own) it was mentioned not to worry about what the voters think about any particular vote since their attention span was less than 2 weeks. That was my introduction to the world of law making. In other words, what Mr. Reiland was talking about in his article is a known fact among the politicians and is used to their benefit constantly.

What can you expect though? We have a population that is basically addled when it comes to self-government. Imagine if our founding fathers came back today and saw some of the laws being passed in this country? They would probably wish they never fought for independence. We have made a mockery of the biggest gift a free people could ever have and that is the right to self-government under a just Constitution. The Founders did envision this as being a possibility, though. That is why they had a property requirement as a part of voting rights, and why they felt that education, in particular a moral one, was very essential to a free people.

Yes, they did disenfranchise some people based upon religion and other criteria, but isn't that what the liberals are trying to do today also? The Founders also saw the danger of an imperial judiciary subverting the Constitution to their own political agenda, thus the series of checks and balances. That today was been largely negated as the Congress and often the Administration have become subservient to an activist court. This is very evident at the state levels. However back to the main thought in the article. The reason why all this has taken place is that the average voter today doesn't have the intelligence or attention span of even a 2 year old when it comes to politics. Even the most educated among us tend to wax stupid when it comes to elections. That is a sad indictment of a people who in the past built the greatest and freest society on Earth. Next Tuesday, we have a choice to make which is more than just another election. It will determine whether we remain a free people or whether the great experiment called Democracy has run it's course.
-- Pete Chagnon

Letter to the Editor

topics:
Education, Health Care, Religion, Abortion, Environment, Constitution, Law, Founding Fathers, Iraq, NATO