evilbrent said:
But I believe that the US government, specifically the Bush family and their Saudi partners KNOW (knew) that we're out of oil, and that the end-game has begun. For the US to maintain its position in the world as the global society crashes and 4 billion people starve to death in the first year... when entire countries vanish... when wars are fought over food... when people begin to eat their seed-grain... then they need to A) be able to control the population and B) be in a position to sieze control of the last of the oil.
That's where the Patriot Act comes from. That's where Habeus Corpus went. That's why torture is ok again. That's why the US government now invades countries for their oil. That's why they're not encouraging - IMPLORING - the US people to abandon their oil-driven lifestyle.
For people who have similar beliefs, what do you think of the established checks and balances on any branch of the federal government? This includes 2-term limit on the presidency (McCain, Clinton, and Obama have all spoke out against torture; Clinton and Obama say they will withdraw from Iraq ASAP), the legal system, and Congress?
There are several examples of federal courts ruling against the Bush administration in these matters. One of the most recent was in February of this year when the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit declined to reconsider an order requiring the government to produce nearly all the info it has on many of the Guantanamo detainees. This will allow for cases from 180 of the detaines challenging their detention to proceed. One pillars of the detainees' cases, of course, is the right to habeas corpus.
Another big legal move occurred last December when the US Supreme Court accepted two cases that will determine whether federal judges can prevent military officials from handing over US citizens to the Iraqis for criminal prosecution or punishment. The Bush administration did not want the Supreme Court to accept these cases as it maintains the US federal courts have no jurisdiction over the matter. This directly deals with habeas corpus as well.
Last summer, the US Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit clipped a big part of Bush's assertion of executive power with regard to terrorism. It held that the government can't declare civilians in this country "enemy combatants" and allow the military to hold them indefinitely.
There's many other examples, but this is already too long and legally geeked-out for nearly anyone to read (to those you have, have a large, caffeinated beverage on me, with my apologies).
If you believe it, do you think that this conspiracy or plan will continue past the Bush administration and do you think the US governmental system lacks the required checks and balances to push back?