"The United States does not torture."
Pres. Bush, Sept. 6, 2006

Zubaydah, Bush and the Bureaucracy of Torture

Michael Collins
"Scoop" Independent News
Washington, D.C.

The devastating attack of 9/11 conferred unprecedented popularity on the Bush administration. This was more a reflection of the strong desire for national unity in the wake of a tragedy than an endorsement of Bush policies.

After the attack, there was a frantic effort inside the administration to show a major success in their newly proclaimed war on terror. The administration knew what the public didn't: Far from being surprised by airplanes used as weapons, they'd had a series of warnings from intelligence sources that commercial airplanes were indeed the next weapon of choice by terrorists. Once that information became public, the Bush administration would need something more to boost its image.

Image: Justice (Tonnetti/1913) - From the Connecticut State Library website
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Themis, Goddess of Justice (Barbara Swatt/UWLS):
Her ability to foresee the future enabled her to become one of the oracles at Delphi, which in turn led to her establishment as the goddess of divine justice. Classical representations of Themis did not show her blindfolded (because of her talent for prophecy, she had no need to be blinded) nor was she holding a sword (because she represented common consent, not coercion).

Modern statuary presents the goddess as both blind and armed, which more closely fits the administration of "Justice" in our modern, civilized, and forward-looking world.
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Scott Horton: The President-Tyrant (9 Dec '07):
Let [the President] say what the government is, if it be not a tyranny . . . In questions of power, then, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution. [Thomas Jefferson- The Kentucky Resolutions, art. 8, Oct., 1798.

Christie Wilson/HonoluluAdvertiser: Judge lifts injunction on Hawaii Superferry

"The ruling by Maui Circuit Judge Joseph Cardoza wrapped up — for now at least — a 2 1/2-year legal challenge that nearly scuttled the $250 million enterprise and ignited a bitter public debate that exposed deep geographic, racial, cultural and political divisions within the state."
[Image + more @ Sierra Club Maui. More news below]