Ding-Dong the Donkey's Dead
So we now have passed a bill that's pro-torture, anti-habeas corpus and should have been subtitled "now that we've set the Constitution on fire, we better piss on it to put the blaze out."
Thanks to this law, you or I--that is if you're reading this and are a U.S. citizen--can now be declared an "enemy combatant." Thanks to this law, we can be arrested, not told why, and be held indefinitely. Thanks to this law, we can spend time while incarcerated with "professionals" whose job it is to torture. Thanks to this law, if we are ever released, we have no recourse for what was done to us if we turn out to be innocent.
Thanks to this law, our only protection from this happening is the good sense, grace, and judgment of President George W. Bush.
But this law tells us other things, too. First we get this line quoted in the New York Times today: "'It is a kind of difficult vote [against the bill] to explain, at least where I come from,' said Senator John Cornyn, Republican of Texas." So at last we have evidence that Texas really isn't part of America, or at least the part that believes in justice and separation of powers and antiquated stuff like that.
Second, Joe Lieberman voted for the bill. Good thing he's part of his own party now and not embarrassing the Dems anymore. I'm stil not sure why he didn't name his new party Lieberman for Lieberman.
Third, that doesn't mean the Dems don't embarrass themselves all on their own. That NYT article begins with the sentence: "The Democratic vote in the Senate on Thursday against legislation governing the treatment of terrorism suspects showed that party leaders believe that President Bush’s power to wield national security as a political issue is seriously diminished." Huh? 12 Democrats voted for the bill--that's a quarter of their number in the Senate. They might as well be Monty Python's Black Knight claiming "it's only a flesh wound."
If Democrats can't stand up and say, "America doesn't torture. America believes in the rule of law and fair trials even for those we find the most reprehensible," then why is there a Democratic party?
Scarier still, is there still an America?
Thanks to this law, you or I--that is if you're reading this and are a U.S. citizen--can now be declared an "enemy combatant." Thanks to this law, we can be arrested, not told why, and be held indefinitely. Thanks to this law, we can spend time while incarcerated with "professionals" whose job it is to torture. Thanks to this law, if we are ever released, we have no recourse for what was done to us if we turn out to be innocent.
Thanks to this law, our only protection from this happening is the good sense, grace, and judgment of President George W. Bush.
But this law tells us other things, too. First we get this line quoted in the New York Times today: "'It is a kind of difficult vote [against the bill] to explain, at least where I come from,' said Senator John Cornyn, Republican of Texas." So at last we have evidence that Texas really isn't part of America, or at least the part that believes in justice and separation of powers and antiquated stuff like that.
Second, Joe Lieberman voted for the bill. Good thing he's part of his own party now and not embarrassing the Dems anymore. I'm stil not sure why he didn't name his new party Lieberman for Lieberman.
Third, that doesn't mean the Dems don't embarrass themselves all on their own. That NYT article begins with the sentence: "The Democratic vote in the Senate on Thursday against legislation governing the treatment of terrorism suspects showed that party leaders believe that President Bush’s power to wield national security as a political issue is seriously diminished." Huh? 12 Democrats voted for the bill--that's a quarter of their number in the Senate. They might as well be Monty Python's Black Knight claiming "it's only a flesh wound."
If Democrats can't stand up and say, "America doesn't torture. America believes in the rule of law and fair trials even for those we find the most reprehensible," then why is there a Democratic party?
Scarier still, is there still an America?
posted by George at 10:18 AM
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