One small step ...

MANIFESTO

The Bushies' contention that they can do whatever they want regarding the Fourth Amendment got a jolt yesterday when a panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va. ruled that the "administration can't continue the indefinite military detention of a Qatari man who was arrested in Illinois but never charged with a crime."

This victory for the notion of habeas corpus may be short-lived, however, as the Republifascists are sure to appeal to the entire Court of Appeals so that this turrist can continue to be incarcerated without being charged with a crime.

The majority's decision is pretty clear, containing such strident gems as

The president's constitutional powers do not allow him to order the military to seize and detain indefinitely Marri without criminal process any more than they permit the president to seize and detain without criminal process other terrorists within the United States, like the Unabomber or the perpetrators of the Oklahoma City bombing.

and

To sanction such presidential authority to order the military to seize and indefinitely detain civilians, even if the president calls them "enemy combatants," would have disastrous consequences for the Constitution and the country.

Of course, these "disastrous consequences" have been what the Bushies have been after since day one.

For example, AG the AG (a person Senator Sanctimony apparently has full confidence in) can't contain his disappointment with what should be a no-brainer—if one cares about the future of the nation:

I would remind you that this is an individual who was in Osama bin Laden's training camp in 2001, met with Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, and, we believe, is in fact a dangerous individual.

These accusations from the man who hasn't been exactly accurate in his memories of various meetings he had concerning the firing of some US Attorneys.

Be that as it may, the case may well go to the Supreme Court where the five jurists appointed by Republican presidents will have an opportunity to invalidate the Fourth Amendment.