And now for something completely stupid

From our old friend


"It would have been a serious mistake to have read the suspect in the attempted Times Square car bombing his Miranda rights" - never mind that in this case the conservative's "case" for not doing so is removed by virtue of the fact that the suspect is an American citizen through the naturalization process and not merely some random Nigerian banker's kid with a masochistic streak and a visa that should have been pulled. (And that case was already itself fraught with legal ridiculousness to suggest that we shouldn't have Mirandized a criminal because "he wasn't an American" when he was arrested in American jurisdiction for a crime committed and attempted against American citizens and property).

"...said he expected the suspect in the case could face charges that might warrant a death sentence if convicted." That's odd. How could a suspect be successfully convicted in a death penalty case if he was never Mirandized by his arresting agents? It's almost as if they either a) don't really want us to have trials in the first place or b) don't seem to know what the rule of law is (despite lecturing us constantly about its importance when applied to those evil brown people from "Mexico" or, more pressing, Muslim nations that we have conquered and attempted to provide such things to). Or both.

"said the treatment of the defendant in this case would serve as an example to would-be terrorists in the future." - True. How strange that they grasp this essential feature and yet are so ready to set an example by surrendering our standard rules and procedures to obtain convictions of criminal actors in order to do something else entirely. If we set an example that we will treat someone as an "enemy combatant" instead of as a scumbag with a bomb in his truck who tried to kill innocent people, I assume that's the example they want to send off. I'm not sure they grasp that this is not an effective deterrent.

Oh one other point. The continued level of incompetence goes well beyond bomb construction. Sure, if you are a bomber, you may want to watch the news first so you learn how to make a proper bomb. You might also want to take a method of transportation other than a flight directly to a Muslim country.