Court Tells U.S. to Reveal Data on Detainees at Guantánamo – New York Times:

“A federal appeals court ordered the government yesterday to turn over virtually all its information on Guantánamo detainees who are challenging their detention, rejecting an effort by the Justice Department to limit disclosures and setting the stage for new legal battles over the government’s reasons for holding the men indefinitely.”

The article includes a photo of the lawyer for the detainees. He has a sign in his office, which I like:

The America I Belive In Does Not Torture People
The America I Belive In Does Not Run Secret Prisons

That’s important, don’t you think? We are a nation of people who hold certain truths to be self-evident. Which got me thinking about The Declaration of Independence, and remembering that it holds the grounds and moral imperative for the speedy impeachment of George Bush and Dick Cheney:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

Here’s a cool 3 minute video exploring the articles of impeachment.

That’s what I got, gentle readers. I’ve got a worried mind and an Chertoffian gut feeling that, as bad as things are now, they’re going to slide downhill quick into a pit of shit before W and The Dick pack up their toil and troublesome bags in 18 months.

I think they’re going to try to make war with Iran, another country that is no overt threat to US. I’m not alone in my concern …

WASHINGTON – The balance in the internal White House debate over Iran has shifted back in favour of military action before President George Bush leaves office in 18 months, the Guardian has learned.

The shift follows an internal review involving the White House, the Pentagon and the state department over the last month. Although the Bush administration is in deep trouble over Iraq, it remains focused on Iran. A well-placed source in Washington said: “Bush is not going to leave office with Iran still in limbo.”

The White House claims that Iran, whose influence in the Middle East has increased significantly over the last six years, is intent on building a nuclear weapon and is arming insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The vice-president, Dick Cheney, has long favoured upping the threat of military action against Iran. He is being resisted by the secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, and the defence secretary, Robert Gates.

Last year Mr Bush came down in favour of Ms Rice, who along with Britain, France and Germany has been putting a diplomatic squeeze on Iran. But at a meeting of the White House, Pentagon and state department last month, Mr Cheney expressed frustration at the lack of progress and Mr Bush sided with him. “The balance has tilted. There is cause for concern,” the source said this week. [The Guardian/UK]

A few brief points:

We can’t beat them. Not conventionally. Our army is overtaxed as it is. Shock and awe – clusterbombing – only goes so far. Would Bush nuke Tehran, over a presumption, a hypothetical threat to the region?

Iranians like us. We could be friends with them, if not with their irascible president.

This is all starting to look very biblical to me. The Book of Daniel, especially, is full of prophecies about the end times, in which armies of the west and east meet in the area that is now Iraq and Iran, and … kablooie.

It should be noted that I’m not the kind of Christian who sees The Almighty in water stains and toasted bagels. I’m just sayin’, W is playing with hellfire.

Does anybody have any good ideas for stopping these maniacs before it’s too late for thousands more in the middle east and from the US? How many more have to die before we know that too many people have died?

Blowing In The Wind Lyrics

I’m going to write to my senators and congresswoman, and demand impeachment. I’m going to keep writing to them, demanding impeachment, until they for God’s sake listen to me.

How impeachment now can make America stronger and safer in the future. It’s the right thing to do, for democracy.