Conservatives Against Fair Trials.

This RedState "action alert," is just mind-boggling (via John Cole):

Today Barack Obama is going to announce that the terrorist mastermind of September 11th, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, will be sent to New York City for a criminal trial in a civilian court.

In that trial, the terrorist will get all the rights afforded an American citizen in a criminal trial, including the right to a fair trial, the right to a taxpayer funded attorney, the right to review all the evidence against him, potentially including classified intelligence matters, the right to exclude evidence against him including, potentially, any confession obtained through enhanced interrogation techniques, etc.

At best, this will be a show trial fit not for the American Republic, but a third world kleptocratic totalitarian regime. At worse, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed will gain access to classified material he can then leak to other terrorists while New York yet again becomes a target for terrorists. We have already had occasions in this country where terrorists’ sympathetic lawyers have conveyed information, orders, and plans to other terrorists.

It should go without saying that the idea that KSM is going to "leak classified information to other terrorists" while on trial is rubbish, but let's parse the reasoning of this "argument." Giving KSM the right to a fair trial would make us like a "third world kleptocratic totalitarian regime."

They have fair trials in those? You'd need to clone George Orwell five times over to untangle this nonsense. Michelle Malkin merely froths at the mouth, not even bothering to mount an argument. Neither does Jonah Goldberg. They're just outraged, outraged that America is trying a criminal like KSM in civilian court instead of giving him a show trial in some kangaroo court where evidence obtained through torture could be used. This would prove what a free and open democracy we are. Another likely argument against a civilian trial is that it would give KSM a "bully pulpit." Frankly, nothing KSM or anyone else could say in some maniacal rant against the United States would do as much damage to the U.S. as failing to give him a fair trial.

The Fifth, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution guarantee fair trials in the United States. Denying people fair trials based on the crimes they're accused of committing defeats the entire purpose of due process. I realized that conservatives have decided to meet Obama's every act with the same level of high-pitched, shrieking outrage, but they might want to consider what it is they're actually opposing.

Eric Holder has said he will seek the death penalty for KSM and his alleged co-conspirators. I suspect that if the accused are convicted and sentenced to death, conservatives will demand that the only way for us not to look like an ancient, decadent Western European empire would be to have KSM torn apart by wild animals inside a large stadium.

-- A. Serwer