I said the police state was official.  I bet you didn't believe me, eh?  Well, since you didn't listen to me…

The US Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit has ruled that, so long as the president calls you an "enemy combatant," the executive branch of our government can hold you indefinitely without recognizing any of your rights or protections under the Constitution.  In fact, the ruling eliminates all constitutional rights and protections once you've been declared an enemy of the state in this specific manner.  Oh, and it doesn't matter where you're arrested — here or abroad.

Am I the only one who finds that worrisome and problematic?  In conjunction with the new and improved Patriot Act which has now been infused with permanence, we Americans are truly living at the whim of our government.  It only takes one finger to point in your direction, then you lose everything America was founded on and become property of the state.

The significance of this particular ruling is that it empowers the government to make such arbitrary and binding arrests on our own soil.  They are in no way obligated to charge you with a crime, grant counsel, ensure a speedy trial, or any of those other rights the Constitution grants to all citizens.

I fear this could give rise to a new breed of McCarthyism.  It does, regardless of where the accusation comes from, create an even worse situation for the accused than did the Communist witch hunt under McCarthy if you are indeed thus detained.

Perhaps Susan Sarandon or Alec Baldwin can help me make plans for my escape just as they must have done for themselves during the 2000 election.  I'd like to think they'd be willing to share their wisdom.