Is it Gates' coronation or his confirmation...? Robert Parry asks the right questions...

while the vast majority of the liberal blogosphere is still basking in the glow of the mid-term elections, our constitution continues to be undermined... robert parry details, yet again, all of the serious questions about gates' past that still remain unresolved, and wonders just how dangerous this man will be when handed the sweeping - and unconstitutional - powers of the military commissions act...

The questions about Gates’s integrity and independence stand out in even sharper relief now because of the enactment of the Military Commissions Act of 2006. The new law empowers the Defense Secretary to create a parallel American legal system, existing outside the protections of the U.S. Constitution.

As Defense Secretary, Gates would handpick the military judges and set the rules for administering the system, which was established under a law passed by Congress in September and signed by President Bush on Oct. 17. The law allows the jailing of both “unlawful enemy combatants” and “any person” who allegedly helps them.

While the new law explicitly strips non-U.S. citizens of the habeas corpus right to a fair and speedy trial, the law implicitly does the same to U.S. citizens in a section that covers “any person” who “aids, abets, counsels, commands or procures” actions by “unlawful enemy combatants.”

Anyone who is thrust into this parallel legal system is barred from filing any motions “whatsoever” with a civilian court, presumably preventing assertion by citizens and non-citizens alike of habeas corpus or other constitutional rights. [See Consortiumnews.com’s “Who Is ‘Any Person’ in Tribunal Law.”]

Given the sweeping powers that Gates would inherent as Defense Secretary, the Senate Armed Services Committee might want to take a little more time before it rushes through his confirmation.

to all appearances, bushco is tottering around like a drunken prizefighter about to take a fall... we can only hope so... every minute that bush, cheney, rove, addington, and gonzales remain in their seats of power is one more minute that the foundations of our country are in danger... and, if gates is confirmed, we will be no better off than if rumsfeld had remained...

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