Crossposted from The People's View.
Wouldn't you know it, those pesky the-law-applies-to-everybody people are up to no good again. Even after the thorough tongue-lashing they received from GOP Patriotism, Inc. for reading the Miranda rights to the Christmas day underpants bomber, they're doing it again. They're reading terrorists their rights and letting them lawyer up. Not only are terrorists lawyering up, they are appearing in American civilian courts instead of military tribunals!!!! And yet, we have yet to hear nary a peep from the right wing. What's going on? Well, maybe you'll understand after you see the pictures of these terrorists (credit: Reuters):
Ahh, see, they are members of a Christian militia group, called the Hutaree, who, according to their indictments, plotted mass murder of police officers and to overthrow the US government. All of these people have been given access to lawyers (they have "lawyered up"), charged, and brought to court. An American civilian court. And they are, by definition of law, terrorists. The USA PATRIOT Act defines domestic terrorism in this way:
Section 802 of the USA PATRIOT Act (Pub. L. No. 107-52) expanded the definition of terrorism to cover "domestic," as opposed to international, terrorism. A person engages in domestic terrorism if they do an act "dangerous to human life" that is a violation of the criminal laws of a state or the United States, if the act appears to be intended to: (i) intimidate or coerce a civilian population; (ii) influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or (iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination or kidnapping.
As you can see, their indictment fits perfectly within the definition of terrorism. Yet, there aren't any calls for them to be stripped off all of their legal as well as human rights from conservatives. But the underpants bomber, who sang like a bird both before and after being read his rights, caused a poutrage! You think it might have something to do with the fact that the dude was Muslim and, you know, black?
Why aren't we hearing anything from Liz Cheney about how dangerous it is to read their rights to terrorists or to try them in civilian court, or even to hold them in an American prison? Where are all the calls for Attorney General Eric Holder or the relevant District Attorney to release the names of the lawyers who represent these people (if they have been provided lawyers at public expense)? Where is all the outrage about how no war is being declared on 'Christian terrorism?' After all, it's not like conservatives have any problem giving religious connotations to home-grown terrorism. They were quite comfortable calling the Forthoot shooter, Maj. Nidal Hasan, an Islamic terrorist, and holding Islam responsible for his act.
Where are all the calls about how these Hutaree terrorists must be held indefinitely without charges? I don't see anyone calling for these terrorists to be water-boarded so that we can get information from them about their cells and when they are plotting attacks. Where are the calls for all white Christian men to be strip-searched while entering federal buildings or police stations? At least this last question can't be answered by saying the Hutaree members are US citizens. When retired Lt. Gen. McInerney asked for Muslim men to be strip-searched in the US airports, he didn't make a caveat for Muslims who are US citizens.
You know who else meets those definitions of terrorism I quoted above? To Gregory Guisti, the man who is charged with threatening the life of the Speaker of the House, who is scheduled to be arraigned before a US civilian judge today. Guisti (allegedly) threated Speaker Pelosi's life specifically to intimidate the policy of Congress by intimidation and coercion. Charles Wilson will face similar charges in Washington state for threatening to assassinate US Sen. Patty Murray - also with the help of a lawyer and before a civilian court.
How about the white supremacist terrorist who opened fire on the Holocause Museum last year? He was given the right to a lawyer and charged in a US court (he died in a hospital before he could be tried). Clearly, his act met the definition of domestic terrorism, an attempt to intimidate or coerce a civilian population (namely, Jews and any non-white non-Christians). Do you all remember hearing anything from the right wing about how he should have been transferred to Guantanamo?
Last but not least, the terrorist who assassinated Dr. Tiller, women's health care provider last year - what about him? Scott Roeder killed a doctor in order to intimidate the entire population of doctors who practice women's reproductive medicine. He was allowed to lawyer up, charged in a civilian court, convicted, and sent to a US prison to serve his sentence of 50 years without parole without so much as drawing any outcry about how this terrorist cannot possibly be held in a US prison or put through the civilian court system. Where were the conservative meme about how dangerous it would be let a terrorist use our court system?
All this really proves two things: first, our legal system as well as our law enforcement are perfectly capable of dealing with terrorists. Second, the right wing in this country is an abject failure in applying their own standards of terrorism to terrorist acts perpetrated by white Cristians while they go around screaming about legal process being applied to black and Arabic Muslim perpetrators of other terrorist acts. But of course, this has nothing to do with racism and religious bigotry, only with a "post 9/11 mindset." Uh huh.
Self-plug: You can read this and other thoughts of mine on my blog, The People's View. You can also follow me on Twitter @thepeoplesview.