Padilla

It's no surprise that Padilla was found guilty. But it doesn't take a surprise to trigger a reaction of disgust and anger in me, by now it's just a level of consciousness that retreats and then returns with each new outrage, the surge vote, the FISA vote, the Padilla torture and then show trial. We really did learn a lot from the Soviet Union.

It's clear that the system of rights that are embodied in the Constitution, as much as they ever existed, no longer do once the National Security State has been invoked. Neither the elected officials nor the bureaucracy nor the citizens believe in them, and we poor fools trying to make sense of the series of events that continue to come into view would do well to realize that.

Once again, I urge everyone who reads this blog to think very carefully about the call for a general strike on 9/11/07. It remains way below the radar screen of the media and the A, B, and C list bloggers (there was a DKos diary that mentioned it), but it is a call to action that is both doable, and if done in any significant numbers could be a wakeup call. If there too few, we'll have a day off from the rat race at least.

Free Padilla!