The Shame of a Nation
Friday, February 23rd, 2007Jose Padilla, according to a psychiatrist hired by his defense attorney, is suffering “symptoms of the Stockholm syndrome”, such that he is incapable of participating in his defense.
Padilla, you will remember, is a USA citizen arrested, on no hard evidence, in the Chicago airport upon his arrival on a flight from Switzerland; and, while Attorney General Ashcroft and Bush beat their chests about protecting the country from terrorism, jailed in New York. Shortly, so as to remove him from civil court purview, Padilla was declared an “enemy combatant”, based upon legal opinions rendered by then White House Counsel Alberto Gonzolez which he , in turn, based upon the bizarre fascist legal opinions rendered by Deputy Attorney General John Yoo (who opined that Bush could order the torturing of a child, including crushing his testicles, in an effort to make his father talk). Padilla was ensconced in a Naval brig in South Carolina, not allowed to consult his attorney, and tortured.
Anyone who doesn’t think that fascism has taken a firm hold in the USA should read this report of the whole shameful Padilla affair by The report is just that, a report, and not editorial commentary.
Kicking Calvin in Playa Baracoa.
