Beyond Shameful

With only the Senate hurdle left to clear, we are almost the torture country...

AP: House approves bill on terror detainees

The House approved legislation Wednesday giving the Bush administration authority to interrogate and prosecute terrorism detainees, moving President Bush to the edge of a pre-election victory with a key piece of his anti-terror plan.

The mostly party-line 253-168 vote in the Republican-run House prompted bitter charges afterward by House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., that opposition Democrats were coddling terrorists, perhaps foreshadowing campaign attack ads to come...

PERHAPS?! Jesus Christ, Associated Press, I know you're just a wire service and you're not allowed to add commentary, but c'mon! The campaign attack ads not only accusing Democrats of coddling terrorists, but comparing them to terrorists themselves, have been airing non-stop since 2002. The only reason this vile legislation was even rushed for a September vote was so that it could be used as an electoral wedge (see previous entry). That context is entirely necessary to point out in an article like this.

More-

In a statement issued after the vote, Bush, who will visit GOP senators Thursday morning, urged the Senate to approve the measure and congratulated the House for its "commitment to strengthening our national security."

Hastert's comments were biting. He said in a statement that Democrats supporting the measure "voted today in favor of MORE rights for terrorists."

He added, "So the same terrorists who plan to harm innocent Americans and their freedom worldwide would be coddled, if we followed the Democrat plan."

Have you no sense of decency, Mr. Speaker, at long last? Have you no sense of decency?

Amazingly enough, one of the more sane takes on this whole debacle comes the Washington Post's editorial board, which has had a spotty record when it comes to these issues. Yesterday's editorial- 'Rush to Error'- said-

As we have said before, there is no need for Congress to act immediately. No terrorist suspects are being held in the CIA detention "program" that President Bush has so vigorously defended. Justice for the al-Qaeda suspects he has delivered to Guantanamo has already been delayed for years by the administration's actions and can wait a few more months. What's important is that any legal system approved by Congress pass the tests set by Sen. John W. Warner (R-Va.) months ago: that the United States can be proud of it, that the world will see it as fair and humane, and that the Supreme Court can uphold it.

The compromise legislation cobbled together in the past week by administration officials and a group of Republican senators, including Mr. Warner, doesn't pass those tests...

...White House pressure may have persuaded many in Congress that the easiest course is to quickly approve the detention bill in its present form and leave town. If so, their actions almost surely will come back to haunt them...

Their actions have been haunting us for years, why stop now, they would say.

Finally, I saw a new AP headline title 'GOP on track to pass anti-terror bill'. This is proof enough of Rove's success in marketing this monstrosity. This is not an 'anti-terror' bill. It's a 'legalize torture and indefinite imprisonment and get us off the hook retroactively for war crimes' bill. If this bill passes, the decision of who is and is not a "terrorist" is solely up to the President's discretion, with no legal need to prove or barely make any accusations for this. This will defeat terrorism forever... how?