Encouraging Signs, Pt. II

The President's planned torture/kangaroo court legislation just got a major smackdown-

A rebellious Senate committee defied President Bush on Thursday and approved terror-detainee legislation he has vowed to block, deepening Republican conflict over terrorism and national security in the middle of the election season.

Republican Sen. John Warner of Virginia, normally a Bush supporter, pushed the measure through his Armed Services Committee by a 15-9 vote, with Warner and three other GOP lawmakers joining Democrats. The vote set the stage for a showdown on the Senate floor as early as next week.

In an embarrassment to the White House, Colin Powell — Bush's first secretary of state — announced his opposition to his old boss' plan, saying ["The world is beginning to doubt the moral basis of our fight against terrorism"]....

...The president's measure would go further than the Senate package in allowing classified evidence to be withheld from defendants in terror trials, using coerced testimony and protecting CIA and other U.S. interrogators against prosecution for using methods that may violate the Geneva Conventions...

Okay, so when is President Bush going to say that these Republicans are aiding the terrorists?

(UPDATE: Oops, he practically did this morning! And told another bin Laden lie to boot.)

Seriously, kudos to all Committee members who took a stand against Bush's draconian plans.

Meanwhile, a revelation by Sen. Graham says that, according to one reporter, "the White House had [military lawyers] in a meeting for five hours... and tried to force them to sign a prepared statement" defending the President's position. Shameful.

Finally, one blogger shares my frustration that it was the Republicans who most vocally stood up to the President on this issue and not the Democrats, who did so quietly and away from the spotlight. "Dear Democrats: Please get off your asses", he writes. Amen.