I’m going to show some libertarian roots here – even though I’m not a libertarian by profession/nature.

While I haven’t found a candidate I’m happy with in this latest presidential election, I have been looking to hear some of the right things come out of the mouths of these babes.  But unlike our founding fathers who were brilliantly educated in philosophy and politics, our current generation of politicians make me sad.  Mostly because our founding forefathers had actual jobs, were inventors, ran businesses, etc – while our current crop of ‘career politicians’ don’t seem to have much in the way of practical sense or classical understandings of what was really meant by words like ‘liberty’ and ‘freedom’ (hint: it’s not the ‘right’ to do anything you want – think more towards the good and nobility of all).

But anyway, I am giving the supreme court and Federal judge Thomas F. Hogan a huge hurrah.  First, they indicated that the government’s detainees do have habius corpus rights (they do have a right to a trial and in general – have a right not to be locked up indefinitely without recourse – something I think is mentioned in one of those pesky Bill of Rights articles).  Then, yesterday, the judge said that the government had had long enough to present the cases against the detainees – and their statement that they ‘needed more time to prepare their case’ fell on the rightfully deaf ears of the judge who pointed out some of them had been being detained for 6 years now.  Exactly how much more time could one need?  But we’re understaffed they said, and the judge said basically – tough.  Drop all your other cases – these come first.

List of what I’d like to see our next president do:

1. Investigate the Bush administrations destruction of the liberties of the citizenry – and figure out exactly how much damage he did with all these wartime acts.
2. Repeal the blanket pardons Bush has been handing out to those doing the detention/’interrogations’ of prisoners, telecom wiretapping, and God only knows what else they did while running rough-shod over the constitution.  Politicians on both sides of the isle as of late have had an all too comfortable ability of pardoning and shoveling things under the rug.  This is one thing that wrong things that crosses the aisle – since neither side wants the other to hold them accountable to the people – because one never knows when they’ll need their back scratched when they mess up.
3. Prosecute or release our ‘war prisoners’ in Guatanamo and other hidden locations- come *completely* clean to the world about what we did, and make a public commitment to the world that such desecration of life and liberty will not be stood for again.  Enact the stiffest legislation or a new amendment to this course curtailing the president/congress/military authority in this realm.  The world has long looked to us for our neutrality and good treatment of prisoners – work earned in the last 50 years during WWII has now been nearly destroyed in one presidency.  Oh yes, we stand and fight for liberty and freedom – unless we don’t like you – in which case we’ll hold you forever without charging you or giving you redress.  A right granted since the Magna Carta and the Bill of Rights.  Yep – that’s the land of the free I know and love.
4. I’m willing to get back my freedoms and risk a little terrorism.  There WILL be other terrorists attacks in the future – but I doubt seriously that the department of homeland beauracracy will stop most of them with the shoe removing and mostly-for-show activities they currently use.  And boy are we pouring money into those sorts of worthless things.
   I know why they are doing it – because people are running around scared and crying “Oh why doesn’t our government save us!”  “They should have known better”.  The reality is that life is not safe – never was – never will be.  I’m willing to take the risk a bit more and not go running around pointing fingers when the inevitable does happen to get some of my freedoms back: and the dignity to keep my shoes and belt on when going through an airport, and the joy of meeting and being met at the gate by those I’m flying to see.

“Those that are willing to trade their liberty for security deserve neither”
-Ben Franklin