Club G'itmo And Leaks

The big political news this week is the Supreme Court decision concerning how we handle detainees during our war on terror. The Supreme Court was clearing wrong in their decision this week and you can see the political lines, of which there should be none, in their division. The people conspiring against us who are held at Guantanamo Bay are not US citizens and should not have the same rights as US citizens in our court system. The detainees are also not signatories to the Geneva Convention, so it doesn't apply to them, either. It's obvious that there are those that believe that the US is the bad guy here, but that is clearly not the case and our military should be able to do what it takes to get this war on terrorism won. Besides, the detainees are lucky they weren't gunned down in this was so they should feel lucky to be alive. Thankfully, the Congress is probably going to set up what the president wants anyway, so it will bypass this horrible Supreme Court decision.

Another sore subject this week has been the press leaks of highly sensitive information concerning a classified program. I'm not a fan of much of the press as is due to their agendas. I watch shows like Meet The Press, Fox News Sunday, and listen to and read Rush Limbaugh when I can. I view CNN and Fox News both and check out their websites for news and sports. (Ok, for entertainment, too.) All sides have an agenda, but it's funny how the more conservative side seems to give you more facts about the issues. Liberal newspapers like my own Des Moines Register don't provide as many facts for you to make your own opinion or if they do, they bury it in the story so that you have to read the whole article to get it. Most headlines in these papers try to make you think that liberal ideas are mainstream when in fact they are not.

Leaking has become quite the big deal the last several years. There are those in the government that are still there who disagree with this administration and are doing their level best to thwart the changes that need to be made in the bureaucracy. There needs to be something put in place to stop government leaks. The laws are there, but more enforcement needs to be done. Newspapers do not have a right to hide their sources according to the first amendment. I'm not sure where they got this idea that they are so untouchable. When you do a story, there should be no anonymous sources or if there are, an eventual revealing or an actual revealing to authorities who need to know.

Ideally, newspapers would not have an opinion page and simply report the news with all the facts. The facts would be presented without wording that provides an opinion. Yes, that's the dream, but it seems that many people want to be spoon fed their opinions instead of developing them on their own with proper research. Thankfully, I'm part of the majority on most of the issues that are important to me. It will just take time to undo the things the liberals did over the course of 40-50 years but as long as I and others keep voting the way we do, change will come.