Constitution-Free Detainment
that this military detainment issue was a dangerous one, first in Gitmo, and now with Bradley Manning. I understand the administration and the Army are pissed at the guy for embarrassing them and potentially giving away secrets to hostile parties, but the guy has not been tried or convicted of anything. Hell, even if he had been convicted of something, I can't believe he would be sentenced to the punishments he is enduring in what is essentially pre-trial detention. We are all pissed at Jared Loughner but we haven't treated him this way in detention.
The military is NOT doing anything to improve their case that they should be allowed to handle indefinite detentions, such as at Gitmo, through their procedures rather than civil ones.
The Left seems upset and surprised that Obama would allow such a thing, given his rhetoric on the campaign trail. I was never surprised -- I wrote on inauguration day that candidates who want more transparency in politics and reductions in Presidential arbitrary authority generally change their tune once in office. As I wrote then, "It seems that creeping executive power is a lot more worrisome when someone else is in power." And if that wasn't enough, the Administration's about face on closing Gitmo was another reminder.
