At the newvotersproject, those under-35 can submit a question for Bush and Kerry. The best 12 will be selected and the candidates have agreed to answer them. Below is my question, although when I actually submitted it I had to edit it down to just 500 characters. I subsequently complained on their site that a serious political debate requires questions consisting of more than 500 characters.
Do you believe that every human being, regardless of citizenship, has the right not to be imprisoned unless provided prompt access to a fair system of justice in which they are made aware of the charges and evidence against them, provided opportunity to rebut that evidence and to introduce their own evidence, given access to legal counsel regardless of ability to pay, and presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt?
If not, why not? If so, please explain how to reconcile both Guantanamo and the continuing imprisonment of non-citizens in this country with such a belief.
It seems to me that this is a simple question that, while not a popular campaign issue, ought to dramatically illustrate how unprincipled the Bush administration is and how far we have been driven from what (I thought) were true American values.