With Apologies To Bill Mauldin

I added text to Bill Mauldin's classic editorial cartoon created after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. I thought this appropriate since that stunted, wannabe dictator, GW Bush signed into law today a bill that helps gut normal protections under the US Constitution.

"The bill also eliminates some rights common in military and civilian courts. For example, the commission would be allowed to consider hearsay evidence so long as a judge determined it was reliable. Hearsay is barred from civilian courts.

The legislation also says the president can "interpret the meaning and application" of international standards for prisoner treatment, a provision intended to allow him to authorize aggressive interrogation methods that might otherwise be seen as illegal by international courts. White House press secretary Tony Snow said Bush would probably eventually issue an executive order that would describe his interpretation, but those documents are not usually made public and Snow did not reveal when it might be issued."

I'm sure the NAZIS had their own laws on the books that they were enforcing. Did that make them legitimate?

I am not a supporter of terrorists or their methods but our laws are based on innocent until proven guilty. The idea of the unlimited confinement without trial, military trials and the rest of Bush's happy horse shit sickens me. Destroying the vales supposedly promoted by our "shining light on a hill" to quote GW's old man, will not make us safer. It will only lead us down a path to fascism. If there is evidence against a person for terrorist activities, try that person in a real court using existing laws. I have a feeling that Bush has in mind circumventing all that obnoxious Constitutional stuff to expedite people into prison cells. If you think this will only apply to Arabs accused of terrorism--just you wait and see. The barnyard gate is open now. Dear God, people, take back this country on November 7th! If you don't vote, you will have no one to blame but yourself for the final demise of the American experiment.