This reading brought a number of contemporary political issues to mind. Instead of posting on each one, I thought I would just summarize in one post and see if any spur interest.
:

Terry Schiavo - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terri_Schiavo - Along the lines of the pro-life debate, the Terry Schiavo controversy a couple years ago calls our sovereignty over life and death into question. Once again, the debate splits along party lines. The majority Democratic stance was that 'brain death' or, in this case, consistent vegetative state = death. The Republican "sanctity of life" position holds that anyone showing any capacity for life must be kept on life support. In other words, Terry Schiavo's husband should not have the right to sacrifice her.

stem cells - Are discarded embryos considered "VPs" by present-day scientists. That is, are they the form of human-like life that can be used as experimental tools.

Valery Plame - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plame_affair - Valery Plame's outing shows eerie similarities to Agamben's description of Hitler's rule. I'm referring to the notion that the Fuehrer's word is instantly law. In the same way, there was no chance of prosecuting someone for the actual outing of Plame as a spy because Bush would inevitably testify that he authorized said outing. In this national security affair, Bush's word is law. As soon as he determines it is alright to expose a former covert agent, it is in fact alright. Anyone else outing the same agent would be committing treason. Thus, Bush the sovereign "Decider" is effectively outside the law while his word is the law.

Guantanamo Bay - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guantanamo_Bay_Naval_Base (wikipedia is so convenient...)- Akin to the Agamben's historical examples of concentration camps, Guantanamo is stipulated by extraordinary laws and operates outside of normal US law. The detainees are completely denationalized and called "enemy combatants". They are not American criminals but also not recognized as members of any foreign country, so we recognize no one's jurisdiction over their captivity. The Justice Department continually argues that they should not get the trial rights of American citizens. Are these the true homo sacer of our times? Indeed, even people legally in the US can be detained without due process under the Patriot Act.