This just makes my head hurt. With only two days for everybody to read, digest, and consider the impact of such important legislation — and next to no time for debate on the floor — H.R. 6166 has been passed by the House of Representatives. Just like that. That’s no time for any citizens to reasonably react. That’s not even enough time for the first letters to the editor on the bill to reach publication.
Before you can say, “wait, wait…”, the Senate is poised to pass the bill tomorrow morning. And here’s the kicker. To commemorate the passage of this habeus corpus smashing, constitution ignoring, Geneva Conventions scrubbing, death by bureaucratic committee enabling piece of wholly unAmerican legislation, George W. Bush is going to drop by Capitol Hill for a pre-passage PEP RALLY with Senators of the Republican Party. A PEP RALLY!
Who scripts this? A comedian? A person’s right to a fair trial will be stripped away, bureaucratic committees will decide without provision for review whether someone gets shoved in a gulag, and George W. Bush is travelling down to Capitol Hill for a PEP RALLY?
Don’t hold out hope any longer that someone in government is going to fix this for you. The Supreme Court has been stacked with authoritarian, liberty-hating goons. We’re talking about Chief Justice John Roberts here, who thought it was a good idea to arrest a 12-year-old girl for eating a single french fry on the DC Metro! He and his gang of five are going to rescue constitutional liberty? No, the Supreme Court won’t overturn this. They’ll wet themselves at the prospect of stamping it with their approval.
Who else is going to fix this? The Democrats, who failed to prevent an Iraq war, who failed to stop the installation of John Roberts, who failed to stop the installation of Samuel Alito, who failed to block the passage of this bill, the Democrats are going to save us? Bullshit! The Democrats are going to wring their hands and have little competitions to see which of them can most convincingly pretend how much they love torture with the bizarre idea that one or two of the conservative authoritarian goons holding this country in thrall might vote for them this November instead of a Republican politician like Oklahoma Senator James Inhofe, who actually does love torture.
No, friends, the dream of America is being swiftly bludgeoned by one party, and its distress calls are being ignored by the other party. And if you let your irrational fears sway your vote in 2004, the fault lies with you.
=====
If you have an activist bone in your body — hell, if you have activist cartilage — visit Senate.gov, find contact information for your two Senators, and call them now, now, now, now, now, NOW, before it is too late for you to have done something about it, and tell both of your Senators in no uncertain terms they must vote NO on S.3930, the Senate equivalent of H.R. 6166. Because maybe I’m wrong, and maybe there is a bit of hope, and maybe you can do something to stop this moral disaster from unfolding.
=====
My name is “W” and I am a famous man, so I have to sort of disguise myself and not get anyone all up in a huff. First of all, I indeed am tanked right now. We just won a big one on fuXXing up them there terrorists! It’s true, also, that I pumped that special girl down over there at Foggy Bottom! I pumped her lots a times and spurted, too! I got in hot water over it, though, and I can’t walk down there no more else I will get myself in a big problem at home. I can do the blowup dolls, though, and I got one ordered special that looks like my favorite piano player over at, well, you know, Foggy Bottom is what they call it. Cept her bottom ain’t foggy, it’s as wet and musky as anythin’ you ever seen before and it smells good too! Okay, I gotta go. Take care now! I like your blog, keep up the good job and let’s really fuxx them democrats up this year and then we can finish making America into a fascist domocracy and we can kill them fuxx sand niggers over there in the Middle Beast. I told Don to go over there and have his troops start rapin their kids and all, thinkin that my scare em a bit, you know. Well I gotta go. Bye bye now!
Time is of the essence. The senate is expected to pass the SR 3930 tomorrow with little discussion:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060927/ap_on_go_co/congress_terrorism
Here is a link to a list of democratic reps who voted for torture:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/9/27/17617/4598
Some chatter on the blogosphere is talking about Obama’s comments about how quickly the vote was taken without an opportunity for anyone to really find out what they were voting on.
Apparently the bill does away with habeus corpus, authorizes torture retroactively, and applies to American citizens. Here’s the language that allows the secretary of defense to determine who is an enemy combatant.
I have sent the following message under the topic “homeland security” to both my senators, “Vote NO on detainee torture S.3930.”
I signed my name and city, then dug out my voter registration card and added the ward and precinct number.
I called Senator Dianne “Political Weathervane” Feinstein’s office.
As of 9:30 this morning, Ms. Feinstein has “no position” on S 3930.
No position on the right of habeas corpus.
No position on allowing the president to “interpret” the Geneva Conventions.
No position on retroactively pardoning war criminals.
No position on indefinite detentions.
If you are voting in California this November, think long and hard before you vote for Feinstein for senate. I will never, ever, vote for this woman again. It’s a vote against the freedoms Americans hold most dear. Or, well, not a “against” them so much as, you know, “no position”…
Did a little more checking and, apparently, Ms. Feinstein has taken a stand against the bill after all. Just thought I’d set the record straight here.
Just a hint: next time, tell the poor staff answering your phones when you plan to do the right thing.
For up-to-date info on senate action including which amendments have been voted up or down and links to today’s speeches and streaming video, check greenwald.blogspot.com
Alan, I get an essentially blank blogspot page at that address. Do you have an alternative? I’m using talkleft.com — which I find to be a set of really smart people.
sorry, if you google it you get the corrected address:
http://glenngreenwald.blogspot.com/
oh, shit, according to ACLU site, the bill passed is identical to the house bill, so no conference committee, and no hammering out differences, which would give everyone a chance to read the bill for the first time and start having second thoughts, or maybe even public discourse. I wonder what other quick and dirty little surprises congress has in store before the end of the session.
Instead of bemoaning the small amount of time the congress actually is in session, when they keep voting themselves more and longer breaks, we should remember that oldtimer pundit (Will Rodgers? Mark Twain?) who said “We’re lucky we don’t get as much governmnet as we pay for.”