But I'm not. I'm not surprised the congress is giving the president exactly what he wants, to be able to torture, detain and do as he will with enemy combatants right before election time. I'd really like to say I'm surprised. But I'm not. I'm not surprised that mere months before the 2006 elections and only a couple of years before the next presidential election *cough*McCainrollsoveragaintokeephisrepublicanshappy*cough* that congress will pass a bill into law without a) really understanding what they are doing, b) thinking of anything except politics. Depressing yes, surprising no.
This is a good recap on slate, it covers much of the anger and outrage people should be feeling at this point (I know I am). Though again, and not to much surprise, people aren't.
Quoting from that article:
Last time Congress rubber-stamped a major terrorism-related law no one had bothered to read in the first place, we got the Patriot Act. That alone should lead us to wonder whether there shouldn't be a mandatory three-month cooling-off period whenever Congress enacts broad laws that rewrite the Constitution.
There is wisdom in those words.
Oh, and personal favorite from McCain, supposedly not your average republican.
That brings us to a second stunning aspect of the so-called compromise: Not only do our elected officials have no idea what deal they've just struck, but they also have no idea what they were even bargaining about. In his Face the Nation interview, McCain revealed that he was in fact quite clueless as to what these "alternative interrogation measures"—the ones the president insists the CIA must use—actually include. "It's hard for me to get into these techniques," McCain said. "First of all, I'm not privy to them, but I only know what I've seen in public reporting."
He has no idea what he and other congressmen just voted as acceptable law (and as soon as it passes the House, it will be law).
The president of our united states can now "legally" do whatever he wants in regards to torture, tribunal courts, and more. Great, good fucking job guys. Geneva convention be damned
Really, this is total sham. The Geneva convention was made with the idea in times of war not only do not need to resort to means of barbaric torture, but that our troups, our soldiers that risk their lives day in and day out, would be able to expect the same. But just like any other rule/law/agreement/etc that has stood in this administration's way, we're going to disregard it, consequences be damned. To use a term Tycho shared with us the other day, it's a goddamn retard rodeo in congress these days.
What Would Matt Do: Require that politicians actually do their job. Maybe just on Thursdays, that would be a 100% improvement from now.