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Habeas pueruli.

Oh, we know how to make Khalid Sheikh Mohammed talk, boasted an unnamed American law enforcement official. We have access to his kids.

Kids? said the CIA. Sure, we’ve got the kids. Flew ’em to an undisclosed location in the States. No, not Cheney’s. We’re treating ’em with kid gloves. Legal guardian? Rights? What?

No, wait a minute, said the US. We don’t have the kids. We never had the kids. What are you, high?

Confused? Frustrated? Infuriated? Aw, heck. Don’t be. There’s a simple explanation: we (by which I mean thee and me) don’t even know for sure where Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is. We (by which I mean them what represents us) have yet to habeas the corpus, so what’s a couple of kids compared to Public Enemy No. 22? I mean, 2?

Road to Surfdom (via TalkLeft) gives us a taste of how it’s playing in Paducah (as it were).

All of which makes this—more likely? Less likely? Utterly unfounded? Crazy—like a fox? Good? Bad? Indifferent?

“We have no information to substantiate that claim.” —Fills you with confidence, don’t it?

The only thing I can state with any certainty myself is that I’m highly skeptical of the claim that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed’s arrest—whenever and wherever it occurred—is itself an advertisement of the efficacy of the USA PATRIOT Act. But I’m a cantankerous and partisan sonofabitch on the subject, so you should maybe take that with a grain of salt, too.

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