Shameful

In addition to their gross incompetence, many of us lose track of how the Bush Administration's zealousness leads them to just be assholes. Witness the case of Maher Arar this is shameful. They should be impeached for no other reason than running a third-world dictatorship in a land that declares itself to be a beacon of freedom.

And why? Less to keep "you safe" and more to enable them to kill:

This was the case that caused Pat Leahy to have a genuine and intense outburst of rage after Alberto Gonazles placidly recited his mindless buzzphrases to defend the administration's conduct here. It is hard to see how anyone doesn't have a similar burst of outrage when thinking about what our government has done, and continues to do, to Maher Arar (of course, the purposeful dehuminization of Arabs and Muslims allows us to not only bomb them free of any regrets, but also to subject them to treatment of this sort).

At least the Canadian Government seems to be run by people with a minimal sense of conscience and decency. The contrast with our own government, in this case at least, is depressingly glaring.

And finally, via Crooks & Liars we find out just how low the "beacon-on-the-hill" has sunk in the eyes of its closest neighbor:

A Canadian Commission on the extraordinary rendition case of Maher Arar has recommended that the RCMP withold information from countries with "questionable human rights records". That's right, folks, the former shining beacon of democracy is now considered by Canada to have a questionable human rights record. How proud our Founding Fathers must be.