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Padilla found guilty. Leftists found traitorous.

Posted 16 Aug 2007 in Democrats, jihadists, liberals, military, stupidity, terrorism, treason

Jose Padilla has finally been found guilty of supporting terrorism.

Jose Padilla was convicted of federal terrorism support charges Thursday after being held for 3 1/2 years as an enemy combatant in a case that came to symbolize the Bush administration’s zeal to stop homegrown terror.

Padilla, a U.S. citizen from Chicago, was once accused of being part of an al-Qaida plot to detonate a radioactive “dirty bomb” in the U.S., but those allegations were not part of his trial.

Padilla, 36, and his foreign-born co-defendants, Adham Amin Hassoun and Kifah Wael Jayyousi, were convicted of conspiracy to murder, kidnap and maim people overseas, which carries a penalty of life in prison. All three were also convicted of two terrorism material support counts, which carry potential 15-year sentences each.

Now that this scumbag has been tried and convicted of plotting with al-Qaeda to murder Americans, what do the Leftists over at Daily Kos do? They complain that he wasn’t acquitted.

Rooting for terrorists to be released so they can kill Americans another day. Ah, there’s some “progressive” patriotism for ya.
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UPDATE: Before any leftists who read here go off on your talking points, let’s get some of the facts on the table. Ken at Say Anything lays it out pretty clearly.

Here is the false leftist narrative on the Padilla case: President Bush is using his unitary executive powers to arrest American citizens and hold them indefinitely without charges, legal counsel, or regard for any constitutional rights. A typical apoplectic leftist response is this, from the Democratic Underground: “imprisoned without charge for 3.5 years, physically and/or psychologically tortured ’til he’s half-insane, and what do we do? Convict him anyway. Now he’ll face the needle.” This Kos diarist warns: “everything points to a coming police state and woe unto all dissenters, both here and everywhere.”

Well, first of all, Padilla is facing life imprisonment, not the death penalty. As for being imprisoned for 3.5 years without charges, it isn’t as if he and his battalion of lawyers were not busy during that time: Padilla had a hearing on his petition for a writ of habeus corpus, had questions over the writ heard before the Supreme Court, and had a second appeal before the Fourth Circuit. The wheels of justice turn slowly, but that is true for everybody, not just al-Qaeda dirty bomb makers. [emphasis mine - RV]

As for the claims of torture, these came from a forensic psychologist hired by Padilla’s legal team. Enough said.

As for the overwrought fears of the Kos diarist, it is not true that the Padilla case means “woe unto all dissenters.” Only those ‘dissenters’ who also happen to be al-Qaeda operatives need worry about being classified as enemy combatants. It was Congress that passed legislation allowing this kind of detention for American citizens, not some Executive Order from President Bush. The Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) allows for military commissions to target nations, organizations or persons whom the President “determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the September 11, 2001 attacks, or harbored such organizations or persons.” The DUmmies and Kos Kultists might be surprised to learn that clownsuit-wearing hippies on stilts leading International A.N.S.W.E.R. protests are exempt. Padilla, being an al-Qaeda alum however, fits into that category quite nicely, and was held as an enemy combatant, not as a criminal suspect. Only when he was handed over to the Department of Justice for indictment did the time begin to toll for speedy trial requirements.

Of course, facts don’t matter when there is a narrative to be propounded.

Posted by FullMetalPatriot
12th gen. American, Constitutionalist, Harley-riding Texan, gun owner & NRA member, blogger, illustrator, Florida Gator alumnus. #TCOT

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