This is an historic election in many ways. We have already, of course, seen an historic Democratic primary and now have the first African-American candidate running for President. Historians will look back and hopefully see many shifts along the lines of race and gender in this country as we move forward out of this election season. What they will also see is that we are, at this moment, standing at a cross roads with respect to our Constitutional freedoms. Who we elect in November could, literally, make all the difference in the world.
On Monday, June 2, The Guardian carried this article:
US Accused of holding terror suspects on prison ships. The article is based on analysis done by the UK human rights organization,
Reprieve. It is frightening and you need to read it. Essentially, the research from Reprieve shows that we are snatching people, taking them to secret ships, interrogating them (i.e. beating the hell out of them), and keeping them there for as long as a couple of months before then moving them to one of our detention centers, like Guantanamo Bay.
And once they get to Gitmo, what happens? We know that they are held for years, frequently without access to attorneys, frequently under abusive conditions. How does all of this happen? With the help of a little known piece of legislation called the
Military Commissions Act. This frightening piece of legislation allows the President to declare anyone ... that's
anyone, folks ... an enemy combatant. OK, let's be clear, that's you, me, your Mom, my brother, your child's teacher, your next door neighbor ... anyone ... an "enemy combatant." Once that happens, that person has no rights.
But wait, the
Supreme Court just trumped that and restored the right of habeas corpus to these folks. But it was a narrow decision, 5-4. The next President will almost certainly be appointing at least one Supreme Court justice. John McCain will appoint someone who supports and upholds the tenets of the Military Commissions Act, for which he became a staunch supporter and made impassioned speeches for on the floor. In contrast, Barack Obama voted against the Act, taught the Constitution, and believes in upholding and restoring the power of our Constitution. No matter what you feel about a justice's stance on issues like reproductive choice or gun control, you must stand with the Constitution and cast your vote in November for someone who will stand with her, as well. The Military Commissions Act is fundamentally opposed to our Constitution. We cannot allow it to trump the rights and freedoms that make us who we are.
Forget the economy, forget the war, forget education, forget health care. The Constitution is on the table in this election. Cast your vote wisely.
When you visit the link to donate to the McCain campaign, he invites you to join "over 74,000" other donors. Senator Obama's campaign has over 1,700,000 individual donors. That's a ratio of almost 23 to 1 in favor of Obama. 
"across the aisle"
To help ease their fund-raising woes, John McCain’s campaign has devised a new system to increase the maximum amount an individual can donate to the unofficial Republican nominee’s election efforts. The new structure allows 
Hobbs played Lincoln Davis right into their hands.