The End of Civilization
Congress has passed the horrible Military Commissions Act of 2006, authorizing indefinite detention and torture of Americans, revoking their rights to represent themselves at trial, or to a jury of their peers, and containing language that declares the law ineligible for review by the Supreme Court.
And the jihadists, I’m told, hate us for our freedoms. Well, maybe now they’ll back off.
The law also permits the use of illegally-obtained evidence at trial, though it does make the rather nice distinction between torturing the suspect and torturing the suspect’s friends — anything you learn from the latter is allowed, while anything you learn from the former is still off-limits. Is this a great country, or what? No word on whether or not any special “Fourth Amendment Zones” are planned, where the (now-former) rights will still be observed.
It’s a terrible day, but it’s worth noting those in Congress who voted against type:
Honor Roll (Republicans voting No):
Senate:
Lincoln Chafee
House:
Roscoe Bartlett
Wayne Gilchrest
Walter Jones
Steven LaTourette
James Leach
Jerry Moran
Ron Paul
Hall of Shame (Democrats voting Yes):
Senate:
Tom Carper
Tim Johnson
Mary Landrieu
Frank Lautenberg
Joe Lieberman
Robert Menendez
Ben Nelson
Bill Nelson
Mark Pryor
Jay Rockefeller
Ken Salazar
Debbie Stabenow
House:
Robert E. Andrews, NJ 1st
John Barrow, GA 12th
Melissa L. Bean, IL 8th
Sanford D. Bishop, Jr., GA 2nd
Dan Boren, OK 2nd
Leonard L. Boswell, IA 3rd
Allen Boyd, FL 2nd
Sherrod Brown, OH 13th
Ben Chandler, KY 6th
Robert E. (Bud) Cramer, Jr., AL 5th
Henry Cuellar, TX 28th
Artur Davis, AL 7th
Lincoln Davis, TN 4th
Chet Edwards, TX 17th
Bob Etheridge, NC 2nd
Harold E. Ford, Jr., TN 9th
Bart Gordon, TN 6th
Stephanie Herseth, SD At Large
Brian Higgins, NY 27th
Tim Holden, PA 17th
Jim Marshall, GA 3rd
Jim Matheson, UT 2nd
Mike McIntyre, NC 7th
Charlie Melancon, LA 3rd
Michael H. Michaud, ME 2nd
Dennis Moore, KS 3rd
Collin C. Peterson, MN 7th
Earl Pomeroy, ND At Large
Mike Ross, AR 4th
John T. Salazar, CO 3rd
David Scott, GA 13th
John M. Spratt, Jr., SC 5th
John S. Tanner, TN 8th
Gene Taylor, MS 4th
Good commentary at truthout.org:
“In Case I Disappear”
by William Rivers Pitt
September 29, 2006
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