Escape from Draconia

Tony Blair’s idea of throwing British Muslims in jail for three months without charge has been resoundingly rejected.

Hecklers shouted, ‘We aren’t a police state!’The House of Commons rejected a crucial provision of the government’s anti-terrorism bill today by a vote of 322-291, handing the once-invincible Prime Minister Tony Blair his first Commons defeat since he came to power eight years ago…

49 Labor members broke ranks and helped reject the government’s proposal, which would have increased to 90 days the time that terror suspects can be held without charge… Immediately after defeating the 90-day plan, the House of Commons passed an alternative proposal… to extend the detention period to 28 days…

To jeers and heckling from his opponents, one of whom shouted out, “We aren’t a police state!” Mr. Blair made it clear he believed that extreme times called for extreme measures… “Let’s not pretend that we can win the war on terror by passing every single law the government throws up,” Mr. Davis said. [Link]

I would have taken great pride in writing, ‘England learns well from its former colony,’ but that was only true before massive spying on ordinary Americans, legalized torture, secret CIA prisons, secret evidence, gag rules, suspension of jury trials and the Fascist Act.

How very un-American America has become worshipping the false god of political advantage. In casting off one draconian ruler, how did we become its student? In fighting another evil empire, did we become one ourselves? Stripping away what makes this America is a mark of weakness, not strength. The real problem is not police powers, it’s bureaucratic ineffectiveness. ‘In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.’

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