In an attempt to distract the media, President Saddam Hussain was sent before an Iraqi judge, hoping journalists would keep busy recounting and recalling the excesses of the former Iraqi leader. It was a screen for President Bush’s failures in the Iraq war.
But it seems that this strategy was counterproductive. Prominent attorneys from across the world started arriving in Iraq to defend Saddam Hussain, including the daughter of Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi, who is a law professor and is famous for her competence. It is obvious that Hussain’s world-renowned defense attorneys would certainly scrutinize carefully President Bush’s Iraq invasion, giving the international community a chance to witness their arguments.
The political situation has changed in the United States itself. While the U.S. public considers Saddam a criminal, it is not ready to absolve President Bush of any wrongdoing. There are several other factors that suggest that the winds of change are here. Recently, the U.S. Supreme Court gave the verdict that the government cannot detain foreigners or American citizens for an indefinite period without trial. The Supreme Court verdict was a slap in the face for the Bush administration.
Before the court verdict, the Bush administration had started believing that it could continue to rob the U.S. people of their civil liberties using threats of terrorism as a smokescreen. The Administration’s was feeling pretty sure of itself, considering that the majority of the judges in the Supreme Court are conservatives vetted by the Republican Party. Bush and his cronies assumed that they were ideologically on the same page. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Justice William Rehnquist is an ultra conservative and has remained instrumental in promoting conservatism during the past few years. However, it seems that his control over the U.S. Supreme Court ended this year, when out of 17 controversial cases, just eight were decided in accordance with the wishes of the Chief Justice.
The Supreme Court appears to be moving away from conservativism. That’s why it decided that despite this being the decade of war against terror, foreigners detained by the United States suspected of terrorism charges can seek justice from U.S. courts, prohibiting the Bush Administration from trying them in secretive military tribunals. Rather now it would have to prove the charges against a suspect in an open court and in compliance with the laws and statues of the country’s judiciary.
Similarly, U.S. citizens can no longer be kept in detention without bringing charges against them. It may be recalled that the majority of the U.S. detainees are Muslims. The U.S. Supreme Court forced the Bush Administration to stop treating human beings like animals.
Changes in the country’s political atmosphere are also very much visible now. President Bush’s Democratic rival in the presidential race, John Kerry, had no money for his campaign until the beginning of this year, diminishing his chances for an electoral victory. However, by July, John Kerry had raised $180 million for his campaign, which itself is a record. A staggering $4 million was raised for Kerry in just one day over the internet. It is instructive to mention here that Americans who cannot afford to contribute more than $50 or $100 dollars are making these contributions, unlike past candidates who relied on the contributions from the rich and from big corporations. This election campaign is more popular due to the immense number of small contributions coming form the lowest rung of the social ladder.
Kerry is reaping the dividends of the emerging trend of heavy public contributions. It appears that a large portion of the U.S. population is as eager to defeat Bush at the ballot as those who are victims of his savagery. Although opinion polls are still suggesting that the two candidates are going neck and neck, signs suggest that the tables have already turned on President Bush – the country’s silent majority is no longer willing to tolerate him at the helm.
Public opinion polls conducted by the media cannot feel this change. If they had the finger on the pulse of change, how could they go so wrong with the presidential elections in Spain and India? The political climate has changed so much in today’s United States that if Bush and his colleagues pulled some political gimmick to win the election, it would surely backfire.
