SENATE OFFERS DISCOUNT ON HUMAN RIGHTS

SENATORS AGREE to screw Guantanamo prisoners slightly less, applaud themselves for virtue.  [story]

A bipartisan group of senators reached a compromise yesterday that would dramatically alter U.S. policy for treating captured terrorist suspects by granting them a final recourse to the federal courts but stripping them of some key legal rights.
The compromise links legislation written by Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), which would deny detainees broad access to federal courts, with a new measure authored by Sen. Carl M. Levin (D-Mich.) that would grant detainees the right to appeal the verdict of a military tribunal to a federal appeals court. The deal will come to a vote today, and the authors say they are confident it will pass.

NO DETAINEES were available for comment. The McCain torture concerns must be addressed and there is still a battle in the house.  A big concern is how to get over the hump that is Cheney.  Roy Blunt wins tonight’s Blunt Idiot Without Irony Award, name after Roy Blunt for speaking bluntly.

"It's fair to say the White House has made the case -- both the president and the vice president -- that the McCain amendment is harmful," acting House Majority Leader Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) said last week.

IT’S FAIR to say unfair torture is harmful.  Mister Blunt is none to sharp.

A BIG PROBLEM immediately comes to mind as far as habeas corpus and “the compromise.”

Levin's language [amending Graham’s measure] would grant any detainee sentenced to death or at least 10 years of prison by a military trial an automatic appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The court would review guilt or innocence and could also determine the constitutionality of the entire process case by case, Graham said. Those sentenced to less than 10 years could petition the appeals court for review.

GOOD JOB, SENATORS! Pat yourselves on the back.  Bravo. But what about all the detainees that never get charged and just rot?  How long will that process be allowed to drag on?