Charming comment on the Habeas Corpus article by Molly Ivins, see:
http://tinyurl.com/z8w4h  (truthdig)
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	• 	Comment #26226 by Geoffrey Transom  on  9/29  at  4:54 am

As I sit in the tower of a little 15th century chateau in the 
Maine-et-Loire, a gentle rain has begun outside. The swans in the 
little lake have gone to sit in the middle of the island that holds the 
remains of a 12th century keep.

  The main part of the house where I live is older than the United 
States. During the Revolutionary War (France’s, not the US War of 
Independence) this house was used by both loyalists and anti-monarchy 
forces - some of whom (on both sides) fought with Lafayette when he 
helped the US revolutionaries (and who can forget the debt owed to the 
French navy for the lifting of the blockade?).

  Point is - I am here, and you poor Yanks are stuck in a teenage 
country with a pre-teen Boy Emperor (whose IQ is only about 12 points 
above the old definition of “cretin"). Since you believe - at a 
national level - that history began sometime after the last white 
teenage missing-girl-du-jour went missing, you are a fortiori blind to 
the causes of much of global anti-Americanism (by which I mean anti 
US-GOVERNMENT-ism, not animosity toward the people - who, like people 
everywhere, are a mixed bunch but who are basically honest and decent).

  Here in Frog-land, there is a curious ambivalence to political 
leaders. They are considered vaugely aristocratic (in a country which 
guillotined much of its senior aristocracy) but are also considered as 
not to be trusted. Sure, taxes are reasonably high (but Tax-to-GDP is 
not significantly different to the US when ALL taxes are counted… and 
the French deficit is smaller). And although the historical record 
shows that six drunk Germans with a BB gun can take France in about 24 
hours, at least the Frogs don’t write their national myth based on 
turning up to the major wars well after half-time when both sides are 
buggered, and then declaring that YOU were the decisive factor in the 
victory of the winner.

  For as history also shows, the US mighty military is HOPELESS against 
any half-determined enemy with anything more threatening than a pointy 
stick.

  But back to the point : your sell-out political class (who have been 
the sane since Shay’s rebellion) who have just undone every advance in 
human rights since the Battle of Hastings.

  It serves you right - if you let your Republic become an Empire, and 
are too stupid as a nation to see the warning signs (Rome, Greece, 
France) regarding what happens when you turn into an Empire, then you 
deserve your own semi-literate Caligula.

  In France, you will notice that most of the seats of power have moats 
- because historically whenever politicians have done something that 
was genuinely an outrage against public morality, the peasants would 
literally STORM the barricades.

  Me, je suis anarchiste. I would not trust a politician to tell me if 
it was raining. It should be NO SURPRISE to anybody that these vermin 
act in ways that are entirely self-serving and have little regard for 
the Rawlsian ‘veil of ignorance’.

  Gee it’s beautiful here. Sure, that teeny twerp Sarkozy might become 
Emperor this year (I doubt it), but the actual effect on most people’s 
lives is mercifully little. Especially for non-Frogs (we’re Aussies)... 
you just turn up at the prefecture every so often and say “I’ll be here 
for another few months”. Sweet.

  A note for those who think that Dubya is a “six-footer” (i.e., a real 
man - anyone under 6 feet in height should not be allowed to be a 
political leader). Sarkozy is about 5-foot-seven, and we were shown 
last night a photo of him shaking Dubya’s hand… and they are the SAME 
HEIGHT.

  Short man syndrome… plus, the guy was a cheerleader in college. (Can 
you spell “Not that there’s anything wrong with that” or “Jeff Gannon 
Sleepover"). How many of Perle, Wolfowitz, Rumsfeld, Cheney, Bush, 
Libby, et cetera, are under 6 feet tall?

  Yes, I am a rabid anti-Shortite. Short men are the cause of the 
world’s ills.

  Excuse me for the moment - I have to go eat some cheese.

  Cheerio,

  GT
  France.