I am depressed

[muesa]

1. S. 3930 Passed both houses with this abomination
   SEC. 6. HABEAS CORPUS MATTERS.
   
   (a) In General- Section 2241 of title 28, United States Code, is amended--
   
   (1) by striking subsection (e) (as added by section 1005(e)(1) of Public Law 109-148 (119 Stat. 2742)) and by striking subsection (e) (as added by added by section 1405(e)(1) of Public Law 109-163 (119 Stat. 3477)); and
   
   (2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
   
   `(e)(1) No court, justice, or judge shall have jurisdiction to hear or consider an application for a writ of habeas corpus filed by or on behalf of an alien detained by the United States who--
   
   `(A) is currently in United States custody; and
   
   `(B) has been determined by the United States to have been properly detained as an enemy combatant or is awaiting such determination.
   
   `(2) Except as provided in paragraphs (2) and (3) of section 1005(e) of the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005 (10 U.S.C. 801 note), no court, justice, or judge shall have jurisdiction to hear or consider any other action against the United States or its agents relating to any aspect of the detention, transfer, treatment, trial, or conditions of confinement of an alien detained by the United States who--
   
   `(A) is currently in United States custody; and
   
   `(B) has been determined by the United States to have been properly detained as an enemy combatant or is awaiting such determination.'.
   
   (b) Effective Date- The amendments made by subsection (a) shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act, and shall apply to all cases, without exception, pending on or after the date of the enactment of this Act which relate to any aspect of the detention, transfer, treatment, trial, or conditions of detention of an alien detained by the United States since September 11, 2001.
   
   SEC. 7. TREATY OBLIGATIONS NOT ESTABLISHING GROUNDS FOR CERTAIN CLAIMS.
   
   (a) In General- No person may invoke the Geneva Conventions, or any protocols thereto, in any habeas or civil action or proceeding to which the United States, or a current or former officer, employee, member of the Armed Forces, or other agent of the United States, is a party, as a source of rights in any court of the United States or its States or territories.
   
   ---snip---
   
   SEC. 8. IMPLEMENTATION OF TREATY OBLIGATIONS.
   
   (a) Implementation of Treaty Obligations-
   
   (1) IN GENERAL- The acts enumerated in subsection (d) of section 2441 of title 18, United States Code, as added by subsection (b) of this section, and in subsection (c) of this section, constitute violations of common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions prohibited by United States law.
   
   (2) PROHIBITION ON GRAVE BREACHES- The provisions of section 2441 of title 18, United States Code, as amended by this section, fully satisfy the obligation under Article 129 of the Third Geneva Convention for the United States to provide effective penal sanctions for grave breaches which are encompassed in common Article 3 in the context of an armed conflict not of an international character. No foreign or international source of law shall supply a basis for a rule of decision in the courts of the United States in interpreting the prohibitions enumerated in subsection (d) of such section 2441.
   
   (3) INTERPRETATION BY THE PRESIDENT- (A) As provided by the Constitution and by this section, the President has the authority for the United States to interpret the meaning and application of the Geneva Conventions and to promulgate higher standards and administrative regulations for violations of treaty obligations which are not grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions.
   
   (B) The President shall issue interpretations described by subparagraph (A) by Executive Order published in the Federal Register.
   
   (C) Any Executive Order published under this paragraph shall be authoritative (as to non-grave breach provisions of common Article 3) as a matter of United States law, in the same manner as other administrative regulations.
   
   (D) Nothing in this section shall be construed to affect the constitutional functions and responsibilities of Congress and the judicial branch of the United States.
   
   
   
2. HR 2679 passed the House earlier this week, with this further abomination--
   
   
   
   AN ACT
   To amend the Revised Statutes of the United States to
   prevent the use of the legal system in a manner that
   extorts money from State and local governments, and
   the Federal Government, and inhibits such governments'
   constitutional actions under the first, tenth, and four-
   teenth amendments.
   2
   1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
   2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
   3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
   4 This Act may be cited as the ``Veterans' Memorials,
   5 Boy Scouts, Public Seals, and Other Public Expressions
   6 of Religion Protection Act of 2006''.
   7 SEC. 2. LIMITATIONS ON CERTAIN LAWSUITS AGAINST
   8 STATE AND LOCAL OFFICIALS.
   9 (a) CIVIL ACTION FOR DEPRIVATION OF RIGHTS.--
   10 Section 1979 of the Revised Statutes of the United States
   11 (42 U.S.C. 1983) is amended--
   12 (1) by inserting ``(a)'' before the first sentence;
   13 and
   14 (2) by adding at the end the following:
   15 ``(b) The remedies with respect to a claim under this
   16 section are limited to injunctive and declaratory relief
   17 where the deprivation consists of a violation of a prohibi-
   18 tion in the Constitution against the establishment of reli-
   19 gion, including, but not limited to, a violation resulting
   20 from--
   21 ``(1) a veterans' memorial's containing religious
   22 words or imagery;
   23 ``(2) a public building's containing religious
   24 words or imagery;
   
   
   
   
   HR 2679 EH 3
   1 ``(3) the presence of religious words or imagery
   2 in the official seals of the several States and the po-
   3 litical subdivisions thereof; or
   4 ``(4) the chartering of Boy Scout units by com-
   5 ponents of States and political subdivisions, and the
   6 Boy Scouts' using public buildings of States and po-
   7 litical subdivisions.''.
   8 (b) ATTORNEY'S FEES.--Section 722(b) of the Re-
   9 vised Statutes of the United States (42 U.S.C. 1988(b))
   10 is amended by adding at the end the following: ``However,
   11 no fees shall be awarded under this subsection with re-
   12 spect to a claim described in subsection (b) of section nine-
   13 teen hundred and seventy nine.''.
   14 SEC. 3. LIMITATIONS ON CERTAIN LAWSUITS AGAINST THE
   15 UNITED STATES AND FEDERAL OFFICIALS.
   16 (a) IN GENERAL.--Notwithstanding any other provi-
   17 sion of law, a court shall not award reasonable fees and
   18 expenses of attorneys to the prevailing party on a claim
   19 of injury consisting of the violation of a prohibition in the
   20 Constitution against the establishment of religion brought
   21 against the United States or any agency or any official
   22 of the United States acting in his or her official capacity
   23 in any court having jurisdiction over such claim, and the
   24 remedies with respect to such a claim shall be limited to
   25 injunctive and declaratory relief.
   
   
   HR 2679 EH 4
   1 (b) DEFINITION.--As used in this section, the term
   2 ``a claim of injury consisting of the violation of a prohibi-
   3 tion in the Constitution against the establishment of reli-
   4 gion'' includes, but is not limited to, a claim of injury re-
   5 sulting from--
   6 (1) a veterans' memorial's containing religious
   7 words or imagery;
   8 (2) a Federal building's containing religious
   9 words or imagery;
   10 (3) the presence of religious words or imagery
   11 in the official seal of the United States and in its
   12 currency and official Pledge; or
   13 (4) the chartering of Boy Scout units by com-
   14 ponents of the Armed Forces of the United States
   15 and by other public entities, and the Boy Scouts'
   16 using Department of Defense and other public in-
   17 stallations.
   18 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.
   19 This Act and the amendments made by this Act take
   20 effect on the date of the enactment of this Act and apply
   21 to any case that--
   22 (1) is pending on such date of enactment; or
   
   
   
   
   HR 2679 EH 5
   1 (2) is commenced on or after such date of en-
   2 actment.
   Passed the House of Representatives September 26,
   2006.
   
   
   

This is a nightmarish melange of Camus, Kafka, and Orwell with a bad trip on bad acid.

[AX10]

1. America has fallen, no longer worthy of it's place in the world.

[MnFats]

2. i feel the same way. we live in a country that countenances...

...torture. How can people accept this? How can this be reversed?
are people just so unable to be informed about something like this?
it is so counterproductive in SO many ways.
we join the worst repressive regimes in permitting this.
how did George Bush manage to get this passed when his power is supposed to be waning?
are we a hateful nation?

[Monkeyman]

3. Yep AND NOW OUR KIDS WILL BE TORTURED

Yes I am yelling I am a vet who is so pissed off at the 12 Dems right now I can sceam it over and over again

[Ameritopia]

5. I think they would be tortured anyways

but this certainly doesn't help.

[C_U_L8R]

4. look at it this way...

every republican now has a big red sign across their foreheads...
TORTURE SUPPORTER

That's a mighty weapon for anyone who believes in this country
to shame these cromag-conservatives back into their dank stink.

Expose these torturers for everyone to see. Shame them in public.
Embarrass them in front of their friends.
Club them with their own word and beliefs.. often.

Don't give and relish every moment.
We will win !

[KoKo]

6. If you're not depressed it means you are on a BIG PHARMA Drug which

makes you IMMUNE! If you are just your average/every day Dem...then coping without Drugs becomes more and more difficult.

I think it comes down to finding what in our own "small circles" makes us feel fulfilled and doing "small kindnesses" to our fellow humans.

THE REST OF IT...is just so outta control that to SURVIVE we must remove ourselves to some extent from it... We are "down to the wire" and it's the "same old hand wringing." It gets kind of stale after awhile.

PEOPLE SURVIVE..under ALL KINDS of OPPRESSION. We are now under it... we "People" need to go to our "PLAN B" to survive. It's all that's left to us...and WE CAN DO IT! MILLIONS survive the world over under worse than BUSH....we do what we can but LOOK OUT FOR #1. That's what it comes down to...seems to me...plain as can be if Americans are willing to trash their Constitution for the Ignorant Son of a Crime Family. :shrug:

[muesa]

7. I have always had a bizzaro interest

in the history of societies under extreme stress (Russia just before the October Revolution, Germany at the time of the fall of the Wiemar Republic, even the US during much of the 1930's), as well as Argentina until fairly recently. And I now have that paranoid feeling that the Bushies are taking us that same path.

[KoKo]

8. I think the realization of what we are up against is

becoming more apparent than we could ever have imagined. Especially us Idealists who joined DU in the FIRST YEAR or TWO after the Selection.

It's Ugly...and the realization of possible "powerlessness" is kind of overwhelming some of us.

BUT...as I said...All over the world and from the Dawn of Time folks have survived and thrived under "Opression." Most here are smart enough to know what they have to do. And we have a "leg up" on the other folks who are just now "getting it."

Not to be Smug...by any means...but if one must SURVIVE then we here certainly at least KNOW what we are up against by now. TODAY couldn't have made it any more plainly...the WRITING ON THE WALL.

We will survive. And, we have a network. We an do it ...if we keep our wits about us. And, that ain't easy...but whatever this is ...so many have managed to cope with it before us...we can do it.. Depression about it for a few days to "lick wounds" is good...and healthy..then pull out and focus on how we deal now that we KNOW....WE KNOW IT ALL.