Took 'Em A While
by tristero
From an editorial in today's NY Times:Senators John McCain and Joseph Lieberman have a bill that would require the military detention and trial of anyone accused of any terrorism-related crime, including American citizens. That is the stuff of police states.
In a sensible mainstream media, that kind of no-shit-sherlock statement would be as laughably obvious as going out your way to remark that rock and roll is here to stay, vegetables are good for you, or This is Spinal Tap is a very funny movie.
In other words, the police state wet dreams of the rightwing have been glaringly obvious to anyone with eyes, ears, and a brain for decades. As has the willingness of opportunistic, unscrupulous, and dishonest politicians to advocate extremely creepy programs and ideas. Appalled the worthy Times editors most assuredly should be. But they seem genuinely shocked that such "moderate" voices as McCain and Lieberman are behaving like fascist wannabes, or worse. They haven't been paying attention.
Still, good of the Times to notice, better late than never, etc, etc. I just wish they had when it would have made more of a difference. Like, say, in the mid 1990's, when the Times was, instead, pro-actively contributing to the far-right coup d'etat known as Whitewater.