So I was watching the Daily Show, and they were talking about how ‘radical’ it is  the 9/11 guys might get tried in New York City in a civilian court. This confused me a bit, because Newt Gingrich indicated that New Yorkers would not like this happening, and I don’t understand why.

I mean, these guys attacked New York. They damaged the very fabric of life there and destroyed one of it’s iconic landmarks. While I think it’s a travesty we’ve not rebuilt something bigger and better there (if possible, taller than any building in Dubai, but hey) that we could parade them in front of, showing them that any harm they think they can cause if fleeting and momentary at best, I don’t understand why anyone would think New Yorkers don’t want the trial in their city.

Hell, if I lived in New York I’d want the trial to take place at Yankee Stadium, on the jumbotron. I’d want to eat hot dogs with pork in them while I watched the trial. I’d want my wife, with her face completely uncovered, wearing a tight shirt, and driving the car to be sitting beside me. I’d assume every New Yorker would want something similar. What kind of message is it sending if we’re too afraid to have them in NYC? What are they going to use their super powers to burn holes in their cells and escape? How long do you think they’d last on the streets of Manhattan -without- the protection of the NYPD? Put it on the news they are running around free and assuming they don’t end up in the East River, I somehow think they’d be found pretty quick.

I just hate the idea that people in our government think we’re such a group of weak-willed, frightened children we can’t stomach this. One of the basic tenants of our Democracy is our Justice system. We don’t behead people, we don’t cut off thieves hands, we don’t stone women in the street. Why, in a war that comes down to ideals and beliefs, would we want to abandon our core values for a sense of security we don’t even want?

-J