The Rule of Law, now back in fasion!

According to the New York Times, we shouldn't be holding people with no review, making up courts as we go along, and making people disappear because we thought they might have looked kinda terroristic. Where was the sudden outbreak of common sense 7 years ago?

"If the ruling stands, presidents would be able to throw out due process, habeas corpus and other basic constitutional and statutory rights for anyone they declared to have terrorist ties. That is an intolerable reading of the law — and one that the Supreme Court should quickly reverse."

I've always thought that we were a country of laws, not men. The Bush administration has proven me wrong time and time again, I guess, but I still want to believe. This is yet another reason to read Thomas Paine. The pamphlet Common Sense (1776) has this gem: "For as in absolute governments the king is law, so in free countries the law ought to be king; and there ought to be no other."

If we had this all figured out in 1776, what happened? Who was standing up while all of us were sitting silently on our hands? Note that I'm putting myself in this basket. After my stint with the local Green Party, I felt like there was no way to make a difference with third party solutions, at least until we get instant runoff voting installed. Now, I'm again believing that I need to do something, personally, to make change in the world.

Any suggestions?