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You could have seen this one coming. Republicans bitching about the Times Square bomber being read his Miranda rights. First there was the increasingly irrelevant John McCain
“Obviously that would be a serious mistake…at least until we find out as much information we have.”
“Don’t give this guy his Miranda rights until we find out what it’s all about.”
What total idiocy. The suspect is an American citizen. They HAVE to read him his rights or risk having all evidence thrown out of court.
Steve Benen puts it into perspective.
Look, I know McCain’s in a tough primary and has to prove himself to the far-right, but this Miranda-related demagoguery is growing stale.
Najibullah Zazi was Mirandized, and the entire case went beautifully. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was Mirandized, and the results have been excellent. When shoe bomber Richard Reid was taken into custody, the Bush/Cheney administration read him his rights five minutes after he was taken off the plane he tried to blow up, and McCain never said a word. It’s been standard practice, especially with American citizens upon their arrest, for years — spanning administrations of both parties.
Can’t McCain just let the grown-ups do what they do without offering suggestions from the peanut gallery? The Joint Terrorism Task Force caught the suspect 48 hours after the attempted bombing; the frequently-confused Arizonan should probably trust them to know how best to proceed.
Republican Rep. Peter King chimed in with his worthless two cents.
“Did they Mirandize him? I know he’s an American citizen but still.”
Which all leads us to the following observation.
Yesterday, when the primary suspect in the attempted bombing of Times Square was a middle-aged white guy, Republican leaders were the picture of calm, sober leadership. High-ranking Republicans on committees related to national security like Pete Hoekstra and Peter King urged people not to jump to conclusions, while Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell praised New Yorkers for not succumbing to fear.
That was yesterday. Today, as in the aftermath of the failed underwear bombing on Christmas Day, Republicans are eager to give that power back. With the Justice Department announcing the arrest of Faisal Shahzad, a Pakistani-born American citizen and Connecticut resident in connection with the failed plot, Republicans have returned to their usual script.
One word. Race.
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[...] McCain. The man who voted to allow the CIA to do to prisoners what the Vietnamese once did to him now favors shredding any constitutional rights for an American citizen suspected of a terror attack. Yes, he [...]