Marble Composition

Cheney's Woodshed

That's the place where Republican Senators go when they disagree with the Vice President. That goes for virtually everything. That's where, lest we forget, that Arlen Spector was taken, and summarily beaten, before he was allowed to take the high Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee. He was told, tow the line, or have the chairmanship yanked and we'll hand to someone who will. As Glenn Greenwald helpfully points out, Old Arlen is standing at full attention and telling us Cheney can ignore the 1978 FISA law altogether, and spy on anyone he wants. So much for Arlen's "legacy", but Glenn's post highlights the fact that it necessary to have a good lawyer around (Um, that would be Glenn, not Arlen).

There are many other examples as well, such as Pat Roberts, Chair of the Senate Committee on Intelligence, and his sham Phase I investigation, and his stalling of Phase II on the dissembling and lies the administration told to lead us to war in Iraq. Pat knows his place very well.

Now, as Bush makes his electoral push to shred some more of the tenants of American democracy, namely HabeusaCorpus and Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions, there are three Republican Senators standing in his way: John McCain (R-AZ), John Warner (R-VA), and Lindsey Graham (R-SC). Cheney is saying, basically, that evidence obtained under extreme duress (read: torture) , can be used against accused terrorists, and that the "defendants" cannot see the evidence against them if it's classified.

As the New York Times has reported, Senator Graham appears unwilling to play ball:

“It would be unacceptable, legally, in my opinion, to give someone the death penalty in a trial where they never heard the evidence against them,” said Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who has played a key role in the drafting of alternative legislation as a member of the Armed Services Committee and a military judge. “ ‘Trust us, you’re guilty, we’re going to execute you, but we can’t tell you why’? That’s not going to pass muster; that’s not necessary.”

From the same piece, the Marines don't seem to back the bill either:

Brig, Gen. James C. Walker, the top uniformed lawyer for the Marines, said that no civilized country should deny a defendant the right to see the evidence against him and that the United States “should not be the first.”

As this bill percolates up through committee, and to the full Senate before the recess, it'll be interesting to see whether these three "moderate" Senators hold their ground, or become just another trio of folders that we can toss away into the heap known as the The Fraud Caucus.

One thing you can be sure of is that when you're summoned to the Woodshed, it's not Old Hickory you'll be struck with; Cheney prefers a lead pipe.

posted by FuzzFinger @ 9/08/2006 08:31:00 PM