Who Hates America?

by Paul on September 19, 2007

The effort to restore the elementary right of habeas corpus to US detainees was blocked today by a minority of votes in the Senate.

56 Senators voted for the amendment which would have restored the right foolishly taken away by the last Congress. Habeas corpus is, of course, a key obstacle to tryanny, and a fundamental expression of the concept that even the Sovereign is not above the Law. After centuries of use, it has become an important part of civilized legal systems around the world. It is, in fact, part of what it means to say “civilized legal system.”

Just a few years ago, had the minority party blocked the will of the majority on a vote of major importance, the media would be abuzz with high-sounding pronouncements about “obstructionism” and “blocking the will of the people”. Apparently a filibuster is OK with Trent Lott and his friends, as long as they themselves are doing it.

You’ll notice a curious commonality among party affiliation when reviewing the 43 Nay votes. Again and again, Democrats have been told that Washington is too partisan. The suggestion is that if only Democrats were willing to compromise, things would be better. Yet here we have a measure that would ensure that our nation maintains a civilized practice that has been supported by people of good will across parties for centuries longer than either the modern Democratic or Republican parties have existed, a measure sponsored by a member of their own party, a measure supported by a majority of the Senate and of the voting public, and what does the Republican Party do? Compromise? Follow a spirit of bi-partisanship?

Not hardly.

Oh, and by the way, next time someone refers to Joe Lieberman as either a moderate or a Democrat, laugh right in their faces and say loudly “habeas corpus.”

Update: Kevin Drum has more on the GOP filibustering at unprecedented rates. (Since Kevin posted this, they’ve already done another, blocking Vietnam veteran Senator Webb’s proposal to restore troop downtime to traditional levels.)

The Roll of Shame:

NAYs —43
Alexander (R-TN)
Allard (R-CO)
Barrasso (R-WY)
Bennett (R-UT)
Bond (R-MO)
Brownback (R-KS)
Bunning (R-KY)
Burr (R-NC)
Coburn (R-OK)
Cochran (R-MS)
Coleman (R-MN)
Collins (R-ME)
Corker (R-TN)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Craig (R-ID)
Crapo (R-ID)
DeMint (R-SC)
Dole (R-NC)
Domenici (R-NM)
Ensign (R-NV)
Enzi (R-WY)
Graham (R-SC)
Grassley (R-IA)
Gregg (R-NH)
Hatch (R-UT)
Hutchison (R-TX)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Isakson (R-GA)
Kyl (R-AZ)
Lieberman (ID-CT)
Lott (R-MS)
Martinez (R-FL)
McCain (R-AZ)
McConnell (R-KY)
Murkowski (R-AK)
Roberts (R-KS)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shelby (R-AL)
Stevens (R-AK)
Thune (R-SD)
Vitter (R-LA)
Voinovich (R-OH)
Warner (R-VA)

Not Voting – 1
Chambliss (R-GA)

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