Lincoln was a topsy-turvy man

Hooray for habeas corpus!  At least a few people in the federal government are beginning to remember that the United States Constitution governs what the United States Government can do.  It doesn't grant specific right to American citizens, it flat-out tells the government: "Here are things you are absolutely, entirely obligated to do.  And here are the things that you may not, under any circumstances, no matter what, never ever ever do."  Sure there's some gray area in the middle, but the beauty of it is where those grey areas aren't, such as Section 9 of Article 1:

The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it.

Huh.  Note that it doesn't say that 'American citizens are entitled to habeas corpus', but rather that the right can't be suspended barring rebellion or invasion.  Last time I checked, there's no rebellion against the American government*, and we sure as hell have not been invaded.  Hopefully, those prisoners will come a bit closer to justice soon.

In vaguely related news - as the last president to suspend habeas corpus was one Mr. Lincoln (which admittedly was during a rebellion) - at work I've been doing an inventory of our reserve materials.  We keep a copy of all program books behind the counter on reserve, for in-library use only, and I'm making sure that what we have matches the list of what we should have and that all the books are in decent condition.  One of the items is some photocopied excerpts from the Lincoln-Douglas debates, used in senior seminar.  It's just photocopies, purchased from the bookstore, in one of those three-hole folders.  I flip it open to make sure it's not marked up and whatnot**, and...the back of every page is upside-down.  Meaning, they're two-sided copies, and while page number 1 is right-side up, page 2 on the back is upside down.

Please understand that most likely, someone with a college degree assembled these packets and thought it was okay to sell them for $2.

Sometimes, this school makes my brain hurt, not in the expected way.

*Hey, guess what?  If we'd get the hell out of some of the places we are, a lot of people will be happier with us!

**If I believed in the afterlife, I would absolutely believe that there is a very specially unpleasant section of hell reserved for those who write in library books.  Ingrates.