> tapioca world tour

Well well, it seems our fearless leader can’t continue his reign of unrestricted fascism without a slap on the wrist from people with actual law degrees. My favorite part of this article about the outcome of Hamdan v. Rumsfeld is the part where W. is quoted as saying, “I’d like to close Guantanamo. I also recognize that we’re holding some people that are darn dangerous.”

Two years ago, the court rejected Bush’s claim that he had authority to seize and detain terrorism suspects and indefinitely deny them access to courts or lawyers. In this follow-up case, the justices focused solely on the issue of trials for some of the men.

The vote was split 5-3, with moderate Justice Anthony M. Kennedy joining the court’s liberal members in most of the ruling against the Bush administration. Chief Justice John Roberts, named to the lead the court last September by Bush, was sidelined in the case because as an appeals court judge he had backed the government over Hamdan.

Thursday’s ruling overturned that decision.