"Dirty" Bomber Jose Padilla Ordered Released

A judge has ordered that Jose Padilla either be charged with a crime by the U.S. government or he will be released in 45 days.

Padilla was arrested in 2002 after an FBI investigation revealed that Padilla had contacted Al Qada operatives & offered to attack the USA with a nuclear weapon that he had read how to build on the web. The operatives, instead, suggested Padilla work on a "dirty bomb". It was a feeble plan, but nevertheless he was arrested & designated as an enemy combatant.

We have to agree with the judge's decision in this case. Regardless of what Padilla may or may not have attempted, he is a U.S. citizen & he should be accorded full rights as a citizen. If Padilla is left in limbo with no charges being filed for a year, 5 years, 10 years, what does that say about the federal government's ability to choose at their discretion or justification which other citizens can be held without charge.

As reprehensible as his crimes may have been, the civil & legal rights of all American citizens are of greater concern. While protecting the rights of the likes of small time gangster Padilla, we are protecting the rights of all.

Charge Padilla & let him get his day in court. Save the "enemy combatant" title for enemy combatants.

Democracy Dominoes?

In a surprising development, Egytpian President Hosni Mubarak has opened the door to multi-candidate presidential polls in Egypt. Mubarak has been in power since 1981 & has never had to face electoral opposition to his position as President. Egypt has not had a contested election since 1952. The move came a few day after Secretary of State Rice cancelled a visit with Mubarak, a move seen as a sign of Washington's displeasure with Mubarak's failure at reform. The next Presidential election is this September.

Mubarak, 76, said he had proposed parliament change the constitution "to give the opportunity to political parties to enter the presidential elections and provide guarantees that allow more than one candidate to be put forward to the presidency for people to choose among them freely. I took the reins of this initiative in order to start a new era ... on the way of reform."

South of Egypt, the leader of the small country of Togo has promised free & democratic elections this April. Faure Gnassingbe recently assumed the Presidency after the death of his autocratic father.

In Lebanon, the pot has been stirred with the assassination of a popular political leader by suspected Syrian operatives. Syria has occupied the country for over 20 years & in effect controls the country. But the Lebanese have responded, Christians & Muslims alike, for Syria to finally get out of Lebanon.

All this comes on the heels of the successful Afghan & Iraqi elections, as well as the recent Palestinian elections. Even Saudi Arabia held it first ever municipal elections.

The Bush doctrine may just be succeeding - encouraging & supporting democracy in the Middle East. But dollars to donuts, the naysayers & Bush haters will continue wishing the rest of the world failure in any attempts at democracy if in the process each successful step to a more democratic world validates Bush's policies & his vision.

Oh, The Power Of Cheese!

CNN's chief news executive, Eason Jordan, quit Friday over controversial remarks he made at the World Economic Forum in Europe last month. He allegedly asserted that he knew of 12 journalists who had not only been killed by US troops in Iraq, but they had in fact been purposely targeted by the U.S. military. He repeated the assertion a few times, though he could not provide proof.

Outrageous as his undocumented charge was, especially considering his position at CNN, it was equally outrageous that the mainstream media did not report it. But then again, the media covers for those in its' profession.

It took one solitary blogger who was at the event to post Jordan's comments. The blogosphere answered & word was spread. Rep. Barney Franks, who was at the Forum & challenged Jordan's ridiculous statement, confirmed what was said. It was found that a video was taken of the conference, which the organizers initially agreed to release, then suddenly declined to. Thanks probably to CNN pressure for the change of heart. Still the mainstream media published nothing, nor aired the controversy.

The blogosphere went critical on the mainstream media for apparently ignoring a slanderous statement by one of their own. Meanwhile, the blogosphere kept at it, sharing information, updating the latest events surrounding the controversy. Finally, a few of the media mentioned it briefly or only in the context of castigating the blogoshere for its' "attacks" on Jordan. As the scandal spread on the blogosphere, some Congressmen finally took note of Jordan's statement. Additionally, Fox news & a few other television outlets brought it out. Then the Washington Times & a few other papers reported it or editorialized on it. It was at this time that Jordan resigned.

Though Jordan backed off on his statement & tried to claim misstatement, etc, neither he nor CNN used their influence to get the transcript or video of his speech released. If Jordan did not say what he was reported to have said, the video would have been invaluable to him. Even without the video, if he truly did not make that statement, why did he then resign? CNN's only previous response was an e-mail to some bloggers saying that Jordan's remarks were taken out of context (yeah, right).

Two points: The first is that even high ranking executives in the mainstream media throw out irresponsible charges without documentation. Their bias & unprofessional reporting is manifested all the way down the food chain of the news media. Who says there is no left-wing media bias?

The second point is that, as with Dan Blather & CBS's phony Bush Guard documents, the blogosphere is watching. The blogosphere has become the fact checker, the impetus for keeping the mainstream media honest & unbiased & when they are not, then the blogosphere will awaken & check the facts & research & network & spread the word. The blogosphere is fast becoming a power in its own right. And the Dan Blathers & Eason Jordans of the media had better watch out.

Oh, the power of the Blog.

Toying With Hostages

An Islamist web site has a photo of this American soldier, John Adams, being held hostage by Iraqi insurgents. The problem is that the U.S. military reports no missing soldiers. Further, a manufacturer of action figures has stated that the "soldier" looks remarkably like one of their products & the gun to its head is not the typical AK-47 that insurgents use. In fact, it is probably the M-16 that comes with the action figure.

Are the terrorists that desperate that they have to stoop to kidnapping action figures now? This puts the terrorists into the running for Comedy Central programming. What a pathetic lot they are. Full story here.

UPDATE: Breaking news - Fox News has just reported that another great American has been taken hostage by the terrorists. Al-Qada is truly to be feared now. Ohh, the humanity!