Gone with the Bushies: Final cut

By GottaLaff

What if you were at a movie theater watching an abysmal film, one that took years to produce but still got two thumbs down, and right in the middle of it, at its very lowest-most-panworthy point, the director walks into the theater and yells, "Cut! This is not only bad, it's horrendous! Send it back to the editor!" Mr. DeMille had just gotten previews of the early reviews, and decided to take a final, drastic step to save his reputation and his very job. The projector grinds to a halt, the audience hoots in protest, and the director hopes he can salvage what's left of his abominable reputation. Enter, stage far-right, the Bush administration:

The Bush administration wants to rewrite the official evidence against Guantanamo Bay detainees, allowing it to shore up its cases before they come under scrutiny by civilian judges for the first time.

The government has stood behind the evidence for years. Military review boards relied on it to justify holding hundreds of prisoners indefinitely without charge. Justice Department attorneys said it was thoroughly and fairly reviewed.

Now that federal judges are about to review the evidence, however, the government says it needs to make changes.

Cut!! Are these guys union? No? Remove them from the set!

The decision follows last week's Supreme Court ruling, which held that detainees have the right to challenge their detention in civilian court, not just before secret military panels. At a closed-door meeting with judges and defense attorneys this week, government lawyers said they needed time to add new evidence and make other changes to evidentiary documents known as "factual returns."

Attorneys for the detainees criticized the idea, saying the government is basically asking for a last-minute do-over. "It's sort of an admission that the original returns were defective," said attorney David Remes, who represents many detainees and attended Wednesday's meeting. "It's also an admission that the government thinks it needs to beef up the evidence."

Fade out. The End.

There are some directors who deserve to be blacklisted.

More here.