headsplice |
09-29-2006 09:09 AM |
Quote:
Originally Posted by MaggieL
Ah, yes...the Geneva Convention part of the Constitution. Right.
The Geneva Convention doesn't "apply to all humans" any more than the Constitution does. Nice red herring.
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First, the Geneva Conventions are the law of the land according to the Constitution, because the Constitution says that if we sign a treaty, then we are bound by it. So yes, the Constitution says that we have to stick to the Conventions (notice the plural, btw).
Second, the Constitution also has this neat little trick in it in Article 1 sections 9 and 10 denying the ability of the Congress to pass ex post facto laws, meaning that the Bush administration can't pass a law that clears them of any wrongdoing in the past (specifically: violating the Conventions by ordering and/or condoning torture).
Coming up with new rules for a new kind of game is just fine. Let's face it, the Conventions were written for conflicts between two states, and are hard to apply when the conflict is between a state and non-state actor. But trying to cornhole the Constitution (especially when it's only for political gain, not actually trying to make any headway catching and prosecuting people) is, quite literally and without hyperbole, anti-American.
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