A few days ago, many Republican bloggers thought KSM didn't deserve a trial. Now they are calling the civilian trial a "show trial" because it is possible that the government could continue to detain KSM in the unlikely instance he gets off. Allahpundit:
Not only will we be right back where we started, it will expose the federal trial as nothing more than a show trial. Show trials are conducted by despots and dictators to give only a thin veneer of legality to political detentions and executions. If the state isn’t prepared to abide by the decision of the court, including dismissals and acquittals, then the use of the trial system is worse than useless. It demeans the federal system needed for Americans to seek unbiased justice.
Drum makes an obvious counter-point:
I'm not categorically opposed to using military tribunals in cases like this, but that's hardly an option anymore thanks to the Bush administration's contemptuous efforts to turn them into obvious kangaroo courts. Hell, even military lawyers couldn't stomach them. As for an international court, that would be fine too except that conservatives have blocked every attempt to make the United States a party to them. The only real choice left, if you want ensure something within shouting distance of a fair trial, is a civilian court.
I'm just delighted and amazed that anyone on the right now cares about "show trials". Where were they during the Bush administration's disgustingly rigged "military tribunals"? Oh, yes, I remember - where the tea-partiers were when Bush added $5 trillion to the debt. Way up their own posteriors.