Who Wants to be a Superhero?

Tonight my wife and I caught our first look at the new Sci-Fi channel series, Who Wants to be a Superhero? While it was about as tasteless as you would expect, one scene caught my attention. The would-be superheroes were given a task that involved putting on their uniforms and responding to an emergency under a time trial. As each contestant ran through a courtyard, they encountered a small girl crying out that she had lost her mommy. Most of the contestants ran past the girl and did not offer to help, thinking that they had a superhero feat to accomplish. What they did not know was, the little girl had been placed there by the show’s producers and she was the real test. Would the would-be superhero ignore the plight of a young girl to win a contest?

While we’ve all had fantasies of being a superhero (I know I spent many a summer day with a towel around my neck pretending to be Superman), we often miss the small piece of heroics that is right in front of our eyes. Let me give you an example of a simple heroic step any of us can take today and it could make all the difference in the world.

On July 29th, the Supreme Court was clear with the Bush Administration – What you are doing in Guantanamo is illegal. In Hamdan vs. Rumsfeld the Supreme Court chastised the Bush Administration, clearly telling them that they cannot ignore Article 3 of the Geneva Convention.

Now the President and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales would like Congress to once again abandon the rule of law and pass a proposal that violates the Supreme Court’s decision.

In essence, if the President gets his way, the very military commissions that were declared illegal would now be called legal. This proposal would take away the most basic process protections from detainees who are being held indefinitely.

If you believe that America should still stand for truth and justice, then go to http://action.aclu.org/tribunals and let your voice be heard!

According to the ACLU, the proposed bill would:

• Gut the enforceability of important Geneva Convention protections
  Allow the use of evidence obtained through coercion, including horrific abuse
  Sanction convictions based on secret evidence
  Bar a defendant from being present at his or her own trial
  Allow the use of hearsay evidence

Maybe it’s just me, but aren’t these the very values that this country was founded on? Are you heroic enough to do something about it? Well, start by going to http://action.aclu.org/tribunals, and then contact your Senators and Representatives directly to let them know how you feel. It’s best to call their local office. You should be able to find them in the phone book. After that pass this message on to others so they can be just as outraged and take action also.

If you want to be a superhero, at least in my eyes, please take action today. Take a stand for truth, justice and what used to be known as the American way.