We Know That We Don't Know

In his recent testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales displayed for all one of the things he honestly doesn't know.

And that's the Constitution of the United States.

Questioned about depriving detainees of habeas corpus, Gonzales asserted before a bog-woggled panel of Senators that, "� the Constitution doesn't say that every individual in the United States or every citizen has or is assured the right of habeas corpus. It doesn't say that. It simply says that the right of habeas corpus shall not be suspended."

As others have pointed out, the Constitution states, "The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it."

But being as that privilege is not explicitly established anywhere else, in the eyes of Alberto Gonzales, you don't have it unless the government deigns to give it to you.

Which raises the question of how the Constitution suspends a privilege that you don't have, rebellion or invasion notwithstanding.

Senator Sam Brownback announced his plans to run for president in 2008, describing it as setting foot upon the yellow brick road.

Look, I know you're from Kansas, Senator, but perhaps you want to consider that Dorothy set foot on the yellow brick road after getting tossed about by a tornado and taking a clout to the head. It was a dream, symbolic in some respects, but certainly not indicative of responsible leadership.

Dorothy went to Oz to find her way home, discovering, ultimately, that she was never truly lost. Oz represents a thing, something we believe will complete us, like the Scarecrow's Brain, or the Tin Man's Heart, or the Lion's Courage.

If you're seeking the White House in the same manner, you're the wrong man for the job.

But I'm sure you look absolutely fabulous in those ruby slippers.

To be fair, Brownback is pitching his tent with God. We have to bring God back into America.

"To walk away from the Almighty is to embrace decline for a nation," Brownback says. "To embrace Him leads to renewal, for individuals and for nations."

When I look at the leading lights of the Bush Administration, I don't see people who have been renewed. I see an awful lot of frowns and scowls (Dick Cheney, Condi Rice); I see a man who is so lost that he giggles and laughs when asked about Iraq (George W. Bush); and people who believe that torture is sound foreign policy (Donald Rumsfeld, Alberto Gonzales).

To suggest that these people are, in any way, walking with Christ Jesus is to spurn all that He taught us. The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory belong to God, not man � not even those with pretensions of being godly men.

Saturday brought us twenty more casualties in Iraq, raising the month's total to 46.

You have a choice of viewing it as 3,047 total deaths, or 21,454 troops committed to President Bush's surge.

Perhaps it's time to pursue a policy that gets back to serving our country instead of being sacrificed for our country.

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