Triple Whammy

First, the Military Commissions Act really got me down. The bill itself, failing to rule out inhumane treatment of detainees and allowing the use of torture-induced evidence in trial of detainees (when the detainees can only hope that someday they may get a trial), coupled with the obscene farce of staged intra-party controversy resulting in a "compromise" dutifully reported by all the MSM just got me down. Especially in light of the magnificent national Guantanamo Teach-in beamed to over 400 schools on October 5. A handful of us at Southwestern Law School sat transfixed by the morning panels--well, at least the ones after we succeeded in catching the feed streaming from Seton Hall Law School. Among the many jaw-dropping moments was a remark by one of the participants in the journalists' panel: when asked why the press didn't challenge the lies issuing from the Bush administration concerning Iraq, terror, Guantanamo, you-name-it, one of the panelists objected that "we are not the opposition. We cover the government and the opposition, but there is no opposition." But opposition is everywhere! The only place you can't find opposition to the crimes being committed in the name of the American people is in Congress and in the MSM. I'm so sick of, of, of--well, I'm sick of a lot of things.

Meanwhile, in order to pick up the Guantanamo Teach-in feed (and, BTW, I believe the sessions were recorded and are available at the link above) I had to harness my Apple iBook G4 because the Law School's system couldn't stay connected. The Teach-in was therefore projected through my laptop for 6 hours, after which my valiant little laptop lapsed into gibberish and lost its mind. Probably coincidence, but I blame Fatherland Security. Without my iBook at my fingertips I apparently have nothing to say.

Of course, I could cull the many brilliant blogs listed in my blogroll for inspiration, linking here, commenting there, rolling with the general blogflow. Except that internet connectivity here in the wilderness of the San Fernando Valley is still hit or miss. So, thrown back on my own 20th-Century resources, I've been reading a book. A very good book: Critical Jurisprudence by Costas Douzinas and Adam Geary. Watch this space for a review.