Out Of Sight...

The Chateau D'If rises again. While I grant you that many an oppressive regime has silenced its opposition in the past, and though this is certainly (not known to be) such a case, one common factor between then and now remains the same. People are being whisked off to nowhere hell-holes to be kept, questioned, tortured, and 'sentenced' all in secrecy, well outside the borders of US judicial reach.

For several years now, since September 11th, the rumor mill has been rapidly churning about reports of secret prison sites, ranging from Saudi Arabia to old KGB gulags in Siberia. Bush and crew dodged or denied any questions about this issue, such as in this excerpt from dKosopedia.com:

White House press secretary Scott McClellan insisted that the U.S. is the world leader on human rights, despite outrage in Europe over reports of secret CIA prisons. "When it comes to human rights, there is no greater leader than the United States of America, and we show that by holding people accountable when they break the law or violate human rights, and we show that by supporting the advance of freedom and democracy and supporting those in countries that are having their human rights denied or violated, like North Korea." Source: Annie Gearan. "White House Says U.S. is World Leader on Human Rights Despite Secret-Prison Reports." Associated Press. December 2, 2005

There are known cases, such as Maher Arar and Khalid al-Masri, in which known innocent civilians have been accused of such crimes and have simply disappeared in much the same way victims of the KGB might have at one time. When their captors can obtain no credible information from them, they are simply dropped off in the middle of some foreign country without so much as an 'Ooops!'

Bush has flatly admitted he lied on several occasions. Somehow though, a full 30% of our voting populous still manages to find a way to support him. Stunning.