Magna Carta

Why it is important. And why you should care about it. You can read it here, here and here.

And, by implication, why the Bush Administration will be condemned by history as a tyrannical regime.

"To no one will we sell, to no one deny or delay right or justice." Unless, of course, the Bush Administration says that you happen to be an "enemy combatant." The Bush Administration, to my knowledge, has never backed off of its position that it has the unilateral right to declare anybody as an enemy combatant without any review. Yes, the Bush Administration could snatch you off the street, declare you to be an enemy combatant, and disappear you into its gulag.

"No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or exiled, or deprived of his standing in any other way, nor will we proceed with force against him, or send others to do so, except by the lawful judgement of his equals or by the law of the land." Unless, of course, the FBI issues a "National Security Letter" and then they will proceed against your bank accounts and search your property without any judicial review.

"We will appoint as justices, constables, sheriffs, or other officials, only men that know the law of the realm and are minded to keep it well." Unless, of course, Karl Rove thinks you'd enforce the law against Democrats and not enforce the law against Republicans.

This is what the Republicans have wrought, a government that ignores the law. There is no doubt that if Chimpy McJackboot were sitting at Runnymede in 1215, he'd attach a signing statement to the Magna Carta.