Comments (47)

Dataman wrote on February 12, 2007 11:50 PM:

I hope they write in language specifically invalidating "signing statement" exceptions.

Richard L. Adlof wrote on February 13, 2007 12:17 AM:

Woooo Hooo!

tweez wrote on February 13, 2007 12:29 AM:

I don't expect that this will actually result in any real changes in US policy, but good on 'em anyway.

BTW, where do our wonderful Democratic presidential candidates stand on this issue? It's a shame for them that one of 'em didn't get in front on this issue first.

canucklehead wrote on February 13, 2007 12:34 AM:

A nice touch - let's put congress on notice that they'll have to take a stand on torture and habeas.

Keep building the narrative.

PeteJacobsen wrote on February 13, 2007 1:14 AM:

I, for one, need something like this to be introduced. It feels like something real, something positive, is being put out for a vote. It gives me just a bit of hope that the "Patriot" Act won't be with us forever. Thanks to Dodd and Menendez!

Ruth wrote on February 13, 2007 1:33 AM:

It is so painful to think about America these days, and the kind of freedom we thought we had, and realize it is almost completely gone because of the dumbing down of the educational system and the encouragement of many immigrants to this country who have no idea what habeas corpus means, and yet they form the bulk of American youth filling our campuses.
If this turns out right I will be very much surprised.

Richard Blanc wrote on February 13, 2007 1:39 AM:

One of the presidential hopefuls is out in front on this. Senator Dodd has tossed his hat into the ring.

stevasard wrote on February 13, 2007 2:31 AM:

Oh, is it binding or non-binding? It's been a month of the new congress, it's about time they start doing something other than collaborating.

bjobotts wrote on February 13, 2007 3:15 AM:

I can't believe I live ion a land where torture is not only legal but encouraged. Seems every episode of Fox's tv series "24" shows a gruesome torture scene now trying to make it an acceptable form of interrogation. It's total bullshit and is shameful to this country which should be setting an example to societies of brutal dictators of decency instead of imitating their techniques. Signing statements should be disallowed. See how far down in infamy Cheney/Bush/Gonzales/Rice/Rumsfeld have dragged America. I salute Dodd/Menendez in their attempt to bring us back out of these 'dark ages'.

Rick wrote on February 13, 2007 4:01 AM:

Without a doubt it has been our appalling treatment of prisoners that has done the most damage to our reputation. The Iraq war like other will eventually (hopefully sooner rather than later) be consigned to the dustbin of history. Sadly the torture and mistreatment of prisoners will taint our reputation for generations.

To make the point but not to in anyway draw comparison; just think about the first and second World Wars. In both cases the Germans were the aggressors. However nobody vilifies Kaiser William II as much as Hitler. (Even though if you look at the actual statistics a great deal more soldiers died in the WW1 than in WW2). Obviously the reason why Hitler is so justifiably vilified was not because of the war but because of the Holocaust.

Again I am not in any way making a comparison, the Holocaust was undoubtedly the most evil event in modern human history and our treatment of prisoners is in no way comparable. . That being said clearly the abandoning of morally acceptable behaviour has a greater effect on the judgment of a country and its people than the mistakes and mismanagement of a war.

Unfortunately most politicians in Washington are unable to see this. Further it should be pointed out that the only way to redeem ourselves with respect to these morally unacceptable methods would be to impeach both Bush and Cheney. Since that is unlikely to happen our reputation will be stained and our moral authority diminished for generations.

Al in Austex wrote on February 13, 2007 5:16 AM:

Not only is this an imperative that we push back on the sadistic practices of BushCo -because this what Americans have traditionally always defended. But our preservation of human rights -also helps keep us focused on our real terrorist targets.
C-Span had on a former undercover FBI agent that went after the Neo Nazis;and the agent said that habeaus corpus among other Bill of Rights protections made law enforcement concentrate on the bad guys and did not allow the terrorist to recruit more members . Every time we render some poor innocent to Syria we just made the Wahabi's recruiters job that much easier.
We must oppose BushCo by any and all means necessary .
(Can we start Impeachment Proceedings on Bush Cheney yet ?)
Al in Austex

Ben Cronin wrote on February 13, 2007 9:26 AM:

Agreed with all the above comments, esp re: impeachment -- however, Rick, I think you are wrong on WWI vs. WWII casualties. WWII produced something on the order of sixty million dead, of which 20+ million were military; WWI produced 9 million military dead. I think perhaps you're thinking of the relative proportion of military vs. civilian dead, which was far weighted towards the latter in WWII.

jlhb wrote on February 13, 2007 9:43 AM:

Who names these bills? All you need is one Republican mouthpiece yelling "'Effective Terrorists'! We've got plenty of 'effective terrorists, and the Democrats want more of them!"

jeweke wrote on February 13, 2007 9:49 AM:

Specter introduced a measure to restore Habeas earlier this session:
http://www.us.billhop.com/bills/110/S.185/

pj in jesusland wrote on February 13, 2007 10:01 AM:

I can hear it now -- liberal talk show hosts will be pressing their guests -- "Senator, are you for human rights or against it?"

Conservative talk show hosts will be saying "Senator, are you for the terrorists or against them?"

We just need to be ready for the follow-up: that equal application of the rule of law supercedes a desire for revenge, but the firm application of the justice system usually achieves the best results.

The US justice system is one of many things that draws the respect of people around the world, respect that has been tarnished under the policies of the Bush Administration.

Yellow Dog wrote on February 13, 2007 11:16 AM:

Just to cover all possible loopholes, can we make sure that the bill explicitly and permanently restores habeas corpus rights to EVERYONE within arm's reach of the U.S. justice system? Detainees, immigrants legal and otherwise, foreign visitors ... Oh yeah, and actual native-born citizens, too. Just for giggles.

wag wrote on February 13, 2007 11:22 AM:

Seems every episode of Fox's tv series "24" shows a gruesome torture scene now trying to make it an acceptable form of interrogation
Posted by: bjobotts
Date: February 13, 2007 03:15 AM

Just a note, on the current season of 24, torture is being shown in a more murky light than on previous seasons. Jack Bauer was misled by information gained through torture, and the bad guys are using torture to corerse nominally good people into doing horrible things.

24 is a mirror in which you can see whatever you are looking for.

slb wrote on February 13, 2007 3:14 PM:

>>...the only way to redeem ourselves with respect to these morally unacceptable methods would be to impeach both Bush and Cheney.<<

Bush, Cheney AND Gonzalez.

Richard L. Adlof wrote on February 13, 2007 3:21 PM:

Why do I have reoccuring nightmare that Bush is going to declare that both houses of Congress are tay-er-est cells and ship the lot of them to Gitmo for a little attitude correction?

Joe wrote on February 13, 2007 6:49 PM:

Put the facts together, and it becomes clear.
The USA is becoming a police state:

http://home.comcast.net/~plutarch/PoliceState.html

malcolm wrote on February 13, 2007 10:06 PM:

Everyone can be a co-sponsor of the Dodd bill. You can sign on at www.chrisdodd.com/habeas. This is much more important than anything else on the table; I hope many of you will sign. Thanks.

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