Pirate's Cove

As soon as Salim Ahmed Hamdan was convicted Wednesday, July 6, there were several things expected

1. The ACLU and other leftist organizations would pitch hissy fits. Mission accomplished
2. Many liberals/progressives would tell us the decision was bad and would take the opportunity to rail at BushCo. Mission accomplished
3. The Credentialed Media would release editorials against the decision. Mission accomplished!

Starting with CBS News, who had theirs out late Wednesday

So the tiny little fish in the barrel was indeed shot. In the least surprising verdict of this or any other year, a panel of U.S. soldiers Wednesday convicted former Osama bin Laden chauffeur Salim Hamdan of supporting al Qaeda operations before and shortly after the terror attacks on America. (snip)

And so a trial that changed the face of American constitutional law (and may yet do so again) ends precisely as it was designed to end by the people in power who designed the legal war on terror. With a conviction. With the White House and Pentagon boasting of the efficacy of the process. And with a model now set for the much more important trials of Mohammed and Ramzi Binalshibh, two truly bad guys. This round goes to the government in a fight that was rigged from the beginning. What happens in the next few rounds is anyone’s guess.

And the article got across exactly the tone the Progressives wanted, inciting exactly the type of comments one would expect, such as

when we subvert the law to protect the likes of bush,

we become the terrorists,

all americans should be ashamed after this sham trial

At least the article at CBS was by an individual. The one at the New York Times represents the position of the New York Times: Guilty As Ordered

Now that was a real nail-biter. The court designed by the White House and its Congressional enablers to guarantee convictions of high-profile detainees in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba — using evidence obtained by torture and secret evidence as desired — has held its first trial. It produced … a guilty verdict.

The rules of justice on Guantánamo are so stacked against defendants that the only surprise was that Mr. Hamdan was actually acquitted on the more serious count of conspiring (it was unclear with whom) to kill Americans during the invasion of Afghanistan after Sept. 11, 2001.

We are not arguing that the United States should condone terrorism or those who support it, or that the guilty should not be punished severely. But in a democracy, trials must be governed by fair rules, and judges must be guided by the law and the evidence, not pressure from the government. The military commission system, which falls far short of these standards, is a stain on the United States.

In other words, give terrorist, people who are NOT American citizens and/or not applying for US citizenship, the full rights of American citizens. Funny how the sympathy on the Left goes to the Islamists, wrapped up in fake caring about Constitutional Rights.

The headline, tone, and writing of the editorial also seems to be taking shots at the military folks who served during this tral, apparently calling them mindless automatons.

Quite frankly, the Bush Admin. did mess up, as they should have named the Islamists who were caught as POW’s, as distasteful as that is, so that they could have held them until the end of the War on Terrorism, without any trials, per the Geneva Convention.