The Bush Administration's continued war on citizens has lead the US Senate to vote 65-34 (pretty much down party lines, mind you) in favor of S.3930, a "A bill to authorize trial by military commission for violations of the law of war, and for other purposes."

UPDATE: I misinterpreted some data and need to make a correction. A single Republican voted against S.3930, which led me to believe that this issue was a very Republican/Democrat issue, but in fact, twelve Democrats also supported this bill, which is different than I previously understood.

According to Bruce Ackerman, professor of law and political science at Yale and author of "Before the Next Attack: Preserving Civil Liberties in an Age of Terrorism," the Bush Administration can now seize any citizen as an enemy combatant, preventing the detainee from a trial by their peers or any other legal protection afforded to citizens.

The US is now clear to torture and permanently detain citizens if there's any suspicion that an individual might be linked in some way to terrorism, a term which the Bush Administration constantly redefines to fit their needs.

The United States has certainly drifted away from the ideals set out by this country at its inception. In 1779, Thomas Jefferson, in a letter to Thomas Paine said:

"I consider [trial by jury] as the only anchor ever yet imagined by man, by which a government can be held to the principles of its constitution."