The words could have been spoken by a government official in Orwell’s 1984: “Today, I am announcing several steps that broaden our ability to bring terrorists to justice, provide oversight for our actions, and ensure the humane treatment of detainees,” President Barack Obama said.What Obama actually did, the Washington Post reported, was to sign “an executive order … that will create a formal system of indefinite detention for those held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, who continue to pose a significant threat to national security. The administration also said it will start new military commission trials for detainees there.”In other words, Obama, who ran for president in 2008 promising to reverse the atrocious human-rights record of George W. Bush, has formally embraced his predecessor’s policy of detaining persons suspected of being, but never proven to be, terrorists. A review process will be set up — within the executive, not the judicial, branch — making it little more than a sham. Obama’s pledge to close the prison is officially history. His executive order asserts presidential authority to hold people indefinitely without ever bringing them before any kind of judicial authority, not even military commissions, which have been criticized as kangaroo courts even by some of the prosecutors.The Post notes, “The executive order applies to at least 48 of the 172 detainees who remain at Guantanamo Bay. An inter-agency panel led by Justice Department lawyers determined that this group could not be prosecuted in military commissions or in federal court because evidentiary problems would hamper a trial.”Thus either the evidence could not be disclosed without revealing classified material or it would be inadmissible under the evidentiary rules at the heart of traditional Anglo-American jurisprudence. The first problem could be remedied with closed court sessions, as it has been many times in the past. As for the second, why would evidence against a prisoner be inadmissible? Among the likely reasons is that it was obtained by torture inflicted by the CIA or one of the CIA’s outsourced torturers under the program known as “extraordinary rendition.”Traditionally in the United States, when the government cannot bear its burden of proof before a court, it must set a suspect free. But the so-called “war on terror” changed all that for people arbitrarily branded terrorist suspects or enemy combatants. Carrying on the policy established by Bush, the Obama administration takes the position that someone felt to be a threat to national security can be denied a trial and held prisoner indefinitely. Nothing is more un-American.Naturally, Republican hawks love Obama’s order. Rep. Peter T. King, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, who held hearings on domestic Islamic radicalism, praised him for ratifying Bush’s policy: “I commend the Obama administration for issuing this executive order. The bottom line is that it affirms the Bush administration policy that our government has the right to detain dangerous terrorists until the cessation of hostilities.”u u uAs Guantanamo-watcher Andy Worthington reminds us, the men held at Guantanamo typically were not captured on any battlefield. (Although if they were, they came into conflict with U.S. forces only after Bush ordered an invasion and occupation of their country. Resistance to those forces hardly constitutes a threat to the American people.) The hostilities King refers to are an open-ended crusade that manufactures its own enemies. Former commander Stanley McChrystal estimated that 10 “terrorists” are created for every one killed — the military equivalent of a perpetual-motion machine. Since the conflict is designed never to end, Guantanamo detainees could be held for the rest of their lives without ever having the case against them properly heard by a judge. In some cases, even when prisoners have been ordered released under a habeas corpus petition, the Obama administration has continued holding them. The venerable principle of habeas corpus itself has been diluted beyond recognition.The Bush-Obama policy disgraces America. Where are the Progressive Democrats who likened Bush to Hitler when he was doing what Obama is doing now? Sheldon Richman is senior fellow at The Future of Freedom Foundation (fff.org).
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Greg Fricke and James Boehmer, co-owners of Peggy Mercury in Kent, recently launched their first fashion line, “Imaginary Concerts.”
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Fricke and Boehmer are not there to stock their shelves with the same products customers find at standard makeup retailers. They’re there to help customers find what works for them. That usually means asking customers about themselves and learning about their beauty habits, skin, style and the way they like to present themselves. Fricke and Boehmer believe it’s their job to help customers bring out the qualities that suit them and determine what works best for their look.
So much of the Peggy Mercury world is about emboldening people to become more creative, and possibly bolder, versions of themselves. Some of this comes through the store’s creative collaborations with artists, designers and stylists.
It’s part of an ethos that encourages them and their friends to use the shop as a kind of laboratory, trying out new creative experiments without knowing how they might turn out. Whether in fashion, painting, fiber arts or photography, the projects almost always turn out marvelously.
A line of sterling silver charms they sell started as a small project by their friend Nolan Percival. In the beginning, the pieces were for close friends and loved ones. But Boehmer and Fricke encouraged Percival to get a little more serious about the project and create a whole line for the store. Today, it’s one of their top-selling collections.
Classic styles, bold colors, and creative concerts make up the “Imaginary Concerts” line at Peggy Mercury.Provided
“Imaginary Concerts” has the duo taking their own advice.
The project started as a way for Boehmer to connect with his mother, who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Taking old concert shirts from his own collection, Boehmer and his mother began cutting out the graphics with the idea that they would make a quilt together. Unfortunately, she died before they could complete the project in 2025. The pieces, which were ready for production, were put on the back burner as Boehmer and Fricke dealt with their loss and the whirlwind of projects that never seemed to cease at Peggy Mercury.
But the harsh winter of 2026 presented an opportunity to take some time and focus on themselves. Part of that meant revisiting and redefining the concert T-shirt project. This time, instead of looking to the warmth and comfort of a quilt, they turned to another passion — fashion.
Taking a page from their own book, they wanted to create something that felt comfortable to them. They took two disparate loves — one rooted in simple preppy style, with clean lines and classic silhouettes, and the other in the nitty gritty worlds of punk rock and pop — and blended them together to create something entirely new. Pulling from the staples of vintage Brooks Brothers and Charvet collections, they applied the graphic elements with bold stitching reminiscent of punk jackets of the ‘70s and ‘80s, but with a much more sophisticated air.
But the remixing isn’t just the pairing of prep and punk. The pieces are not canon. They take liberties with the realities of concert tours, combining one band’s dates with another band’s logos, mixing them all up until the reality is lost and imagination is the only truth.
Shirts from Peggy Mercury’s first fashion line, “Imaginary Concerts,” hang on display.Provided
Adding to the mix is an element of perpetual creativity. Art can be messy, both figuratively and literally, and many of Fricke and Boehmer’s artist friends carry evidence of their work on them at all times. As a nod to these tireless creatives, the duo added haphazard splashes of bright color, giving the line an even more distinctive feel.
For them, “Imaginary Concerts” passes the “Peggy Test.” The mythical Peggy Mercury is a fictional figurehead for the company, a character who thrives on creativity and change. The name, much like the clothing line, is a mixture of interests: Mercury is a planet, a deity and an elusive, transformative element, while Peggy is the wonderfully stylish and boundary-pushing Peggy Guggenheim.
Everything Fricke and Boehmer put in their store has to pass this test: Would Peggy Mercury approve? For their first collection, the answer is a resounding yes.
Peggy Mercury is at 9 Maple St., Unit 2, Kent.
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