Jose Padilla died under questioning weeks ago, and is buried under 34,000 tons of cement in the Nevada desert.

Or maybe he's still alive?  Nobody knows, because he's been kept completely hidden away by our chief government thugs, Bush and Ashcroft.

I am purely speculating when I say that he's already gone from this earth.  But one thing is NOT speculation: His life is being stolen from him, day by day, drop by drop.  And he IS "gone from this earth," held in isolation with, if news reports are correct, a light burning 24 hours per day.  Unless he's different from other people, and I assume he's not, these conditions amount to a prescription for madness, a madness only partially reversible once the inhuman conditions end (if they ever do).

That's not life, that's death on the installment plan.  Sentence first, charges and trial delayed forever.  There's a word for that, a not very nice word: murder.

Not everyone agrees.  I've gotten letters, after writing previous columns on Padilla, from people who take great glee in his internment.  "Throw away the key!" seems to be a common phrase making the rounds, a sentiment which, if not very imaginative, is at least very clear.

I can sympathize with the feeling of wanting to lock up someone evil forever, but what, exactly, is Jose Padilla guilty of?  We don't know, because thugs Bush and Ashcroft won't charge him.  Apparently, they're scared.  Scared of being exposed in their filthy little plot to deprive a native-born American citizen of his life.

Perhaps, compared to the many murders perpetrated by government thugs past, present, and future, Jose Padilla doesn't seem like much of a big deal.  But, to my view, his case is a very big deal.  One could even say, as Padilla goes, so goes the nation.  If they can come for the Padillas with impunity, no American citizen will be safe.  No, not even you chest-thumping neocon chickenhawks.

Isn't it funny that Ashcroft has gone almost into hiding since his dramatic announcement from Russia that Padilla's arrest broke up a huge plot?  We hear reports that the rest of the Bush administration was furious with Ashcroft, apparently because his claims were wildly exaggerated, perhaps even completely fabricated.  And yet Padilla remains behind bars--why?  I can only believe it is because Ashcroft KNOWS Padilla is innocent, and, rather than having the cojones to admit it, he hopes to cower in safety forever.  Of course, this will require that the scapegoat can never be allowed to go free, or even tell his side of the story.

Ashcroft and Bush, you are cowards and criminals.  Eventually, every one of your lies will be exposed.

History, at least, will not allow the murder of Jose Padilla to go unanswered.