"Is there any problem with finding someone guilty before stringing them up,...'
Therein lies the problem. The fear might rightly be one has to wait for the would-be pilot to hijack an aircraft to prove he is guilty.
"or has Gitmo gotten everyone salivating too much?"
Now what has Gitmo got to do with it?
>Therein lies the problem. The fear might rightly be one has to wait for the would-be pilot to hijack an aircraft to prove he is guilty.
But there are alternatives other than these two endpoints. There's investigation prior to conviction. There's the evident fact that this student was already violating immigration laws, etc. Then there's the fraud charges. But no...jump right to "off with his head" and we are as barbaric as those who we oppose.
Now what has Gitmo got to do with it?
Prior to the Clinton/Bush era, this country had a quaint concept that a person was innocent until proven guilty. Now, by some sleight of hand, we don't even have to worry about kangaroo courts (a little Aussie lingo, there!)...we go right to indefinite punishment without trial.
Now we have FReepers calling for execution without trial. Seems to me that the terrorists are doing a good job at tearing down the foundations of what made us great--and they're doing it to the cheers of so-called conservatives! That's the scary part.