Should Al Gore make all future trips to Europe on a sailboat? Should he ride a bike to all of his speaking engagements? How about moving his family into a tiny house?

Of course he’ll never do any of the things mentioned above, but let me say something that may scare people who know me: I don’t care that much if Al Gore is a selfish pig and has a rather portly carbon footprint. In this case, the message overshadows the man.

If grandpa lights up a cigarette whilst telling you to never start smoking because it’s a filthy habit, are you going to call him a hypocrite and light up the next day?

PS: Al Gore does try a bit. He buys carbon offset credits and plants trees.

This has given me new hope in the American spirit and the majority’s ability to adapt and learn. Yes, yes, we still have many people who are very misguided or just plain stupid, but I now feel a sense of hope!

Now we just need the recount in Virginia to show Webb as the winner.

(If you want to read it for yourself, click here)

So everyone knows the big headline: The U.S. no longer follows the precepts of the Geneva Conventions in regards to the treatment of prisoners of war, summarily legalizing (retroactively) the institutional and organized torture of detainees. In addition to all of this, however, there was some more scary stuff in The Act.

For example, did you know that as a citizen of the United states of America, even you can be considered an unlawful enemy combatant? But who designates someone as an unlawful enemy combatant? The President or Secretary of Defense does, of course [10 U.S.C. § 948d(c)].

It’s not just habeas corpus that is in danger, but some of the most fundamental of civil rights. There are provisions to allow for the introduction of evidence procured without a search warrant [10 U.S.C. § 949a(b)(2)(B)], evidence that is “top secret” and is never disclosed to the defense [10 U.S.C. § 949d(f)(2)(B)], mandatory self-incrimination [10 U.S.C. § 948b(d)(1)(B)], etc., etc. There’s just way too much for me to mention.

To balance the scales, though, I must admit that there have been some notable resources incorrectly stating that the convening authority has full discretion to overturn not guilty findings by the military commission. The portion of the act that is used to push this belief is found in 10 U.S.C. § 950b(c)(1); which states in part: The authority under this subsection to modify the findings and sentence of a military commission under this chapter is a matter of the sole discretion and prerogative of the convening authority. Of course, later in the chapter, the ability to overturn a not guilty finding is, inter alia, severely limited [10 U.S.C. § 950b(d)(2)(B)].

So back to the original question. Are we one step closer to fascism? I think it’s another small step for George W. Bush, but one giant leap towards fascism for America.