Trust an American. Cut a tax.

In movie news:

I'm really looking forward to seeing Clerks 2, since I was a big fan of the original indie classic. I read that the sequel got an eight-minute standing ovation at Cannes, but that could be due to the Jerry Lewis factor (i.e., French people enjoying seeing Americans making asses of themselves).

I just saw a commercial for Woody Allen's new film Scoop and was surprised by the fact that they're announcing it with the phrase "from the director of Match Point." Not a breath about the Woodster's involvement, although he is featured in the clips. Kind of sad his name no longer carries cachet, at least to those studio marketing types.

In political news:

On The Daily Show tonight, I saw a clip of Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi singing Elvis songs in the presence of Dubya. I had heard other sound bites earlier in the week, but didn't realize he'd serenaded Dubbie with the apropos lyric: "Wise men say, only fools rush in." Nice work, Koizumi.

Speaking of Dubya, I was so relieved to hear that the Supreme Court had ruled against the U.S. administration's Wild West justice policy regarding the Guantanamo detainees and that White House was responding respectfully. Could some modicum of sanity be returning?

I was reading a post regarding the matter in the blog of a right-wing citizen today. I was really disappointed in the hysterical tone that he took towards the decision, slamming all the newspapers and magazines that had featured positive editorials on the subject saying that you wouldn't want those publications to have your back in a knife fight. Hmm. Maybe you'd want them to have your back if you were falsely accused of starting a knife fight, aye?

I guess it's no surprise that neo-con types would be angry that the Supreme Court had called their beloved Bush "on the carpet" for the Gitmo limbo, but it seems ridiculous to me that they don't understand that snubbing the Geneva Convention only hurts the U.S. by putting American soldiers at more risk, fueling more jihadist revenge and losing the respect of the U.S.'s current or potential allies. The old "slippery slope" syndrome. Their argument is that this is a post-September 11 world. The enemy doesn't wear uniforms or come from a sovereign nation. So, the rules of war have changed. That shouldn't excuse creating legal and moral loopholes that will only backfire on those who leap through them.

In the same post, and its related comments from readers, there was heated criticism of the Supreme Court as being made up of "activist judges." Didn't seem to bother them when the same institution basically gave their Commander-in-Chief his job in the first place. (See: Florida voting scandal.)

Since I wasn't familiar with the specifics of the Geneva Convention myself, I appreciated that MSNBC.com offered this summary:

"There have been four Geneva Conventions, each subsequently amended.

The first Geneva Convention was adopted in 1864 and provided for protection of sick and wounded soldiers on the field of battle.

The second convention, formulated in 1868, extended those protections to sailors wounded in sea battles.

The third convention, in 1929, protected prisoners of war. It legislated that prisoners of war were not criminals and should be treated humanely and released at the end of hostilities.

The fourth convention, ratified in 1949, rewrote, expanded, and replaced the language of the first three conventions. It brought civilians under the protection of international laws that prohibit murder, torture, hostage-taking, and extra-judicial sentencing and executions. In 1977, two protocols were added to the Geneva Conventions of 1949, extending protection to victims of conflicts not formally declared as wars and to victims of civil conflict within a state. In each category, protection extends to the medical, religious, and humanitarian aid personnel helping affected groups. As of June 1993, 178 states were signatories to the 1949 Conventions, with 61 ratifications."

Hmm. Makes damn good sense to me. But then again, so did the Kyoto Treaty. Global community. What a quaint idea.