Jul. 26, 2006 - 20:20 MDT

WILL IT GO ?

Two short articles (items ?) in this morning's Rocky Mountain News under National Briefing sound the alarm to me if to no one else. The first one is from District Of Columbia, quoted here in full:

BUSH ENVISIONS TERRORISM TRIALS ALLOWING HEARSAY

WASHINGTON -- "Legislation drafted by the Bush administration setting out new rules on bringing terror detainees to trial would allow hearsay evidence to be introduced unless it was deemed "unreliable" and would permit defendants to be excluded from their own trials if necessary to protect national security, according to a copy of the proposal."

"The bill which officials said was being circulated within the administations, is not final, but it indicates the direction of the administration's approach for dealing with a Supreme Court decision that struck down the tribunals established to try terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba."

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The second "item" is from CHICAGO, also quoted in full :

JUDGE BOOTS ATTEMPT TO SHIELD PHONE RECORDS

"Citing national security, a federal judge Tuesday threw out a lawsuit aimed at blocking AT&T Inc. from giving telephone records to the government for use in the war on terror."

"The court is persuaded that requiring AT&T to confirm or deny whether it has disclosed large quantities of telephone records to the federal government could give adversaries of this country valuable insight into the government's intelligence activities," U.S. District Judge Matthew F. Kennelly said."

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The second item seems to me to be a dead giveaway that the records have been turned over to the government. Maybe I am wrong . . . . .

The first "item" is most scary. Hearsay has to my mind always been discredited in courts of law, and should be, I think. And just who and what court will have the right to decide if said "hearsay" is unreliable ? And would that court dare deem said hearsay unreliable ?

Excluding defendants from their own trials on the excuse of national security stretches the administration's credibility even further. I fear that by arm twisting, gentle persuasion and horse trading this proposed bill will be passed. I just wonder at our administration's aims and how far WILL IT GO ? . . . . . . . . . .

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