outlaw regime II

did you hear that? it sounded distinctly like the other shoe hitting the floor.

my recent comments on the u.s. government locking up its own people without charges, trial or other niceties of due process were followed today by a fairly important clarification. the prisoner in question, Ahmed Abu Ali, today was charged in a plot to assassinate george bush.

ali had for 20 months been detained and tortured in saudi arabia at the behest of the u.s. government.

A federal indictment, setting forth charges that could lead to decades of imprisonment upon conviction, described the defendant as eager to be a partner in terrorism with Al Qaeda.

apparently ali's friends and family in the courtroom laughed out loud as the charges were read.

if true, the charges won't be followed by hilarity. with recent history as our guide, ali will go into a deep dark hole from which he probably won't return.

but regardless of the verity of these accusations--what took so long? the man has been in custody for nearly two years. is it coincidental that charges are finally brought the day after the washington post ran an editorial denouncing the justice department's role in this case?

if ali is guilty he deserves his fate.

and we deserve better than the jackbooted marching of this justice department over the rights of american citizens.