Let's restore the Constitution. That's a good idea, right? Who hates the Constitution?Terrorists, that's who. And that's the problem. We're fighting the War on Terror in Iraq and, as far as Republicans are concerned, we'll keep doing it until time stops. But terrorists exist in places other than Iraq and despite the fact that we want to "fight them over there, so we don't have to fight them here," some terrorists refuse to take the invitation to come fight in Iraq.
How to deal with these holdouts? We know that terrorists hate our freedoms, because President Bush told us so. That's what this whole thing is about. Osama bin Laden sees us voting for school board members and referenda on garbage pickup. He sees us stand in court and make our cases under the rule of law and the cause of reason and justice. He sees us enjoying free speech. This, apparently, enrages him. Bin Laden's never actually said anything about how much he hates our freedom, but the president said that's what this is all about, so there ya go.
Since terrorist wallflowers seem intent on sitting out the war in Iraq, there's only one thing to do -- get rid of freedom. That way, the terrorists will knock it off.
At least, that seems to be the reasoning behind yesterday's filibuster of an amendment to restore Habeas Corpus for detainees. This is the new strategy to win the War on Terror; capitulate and become unfree. That'll show 'em.
Voice of America:
Legislation that would have given detainees held by the United States the right to challenge their detention in U.S. courts has been blocked in the Senate by lawmakers arguing the measure would undermine the U.S. war on terrorism. VOA's Deborah Tate reports from Capitol Hill.
The Senate voted 56-43, four votes short of the 60 necessary, and largely along party lines, to limit debate and move the legislation to a final vote.
The measure would have restored to foreign terrorism suspects the right of habeas corpus, which bars the government from imprisoning people without a court review.
See, Democrats don't get it. The President tells us, "My biggest job is to protect the American people." Of course, he swore an oath -- twice, in fact -- that says his biggest job is to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." It doesn't actually say anything about protecting the american people. But the Presidential Oath of Office is just a formality, just something you've got to say, like swearing to tell the truth in court or agreeing to serve every weekend you're scheduled to in the National Guard -- everyone says it, nobody means it.
The president and his Republican allies know that the only way to defeat terrorists is to give them nothing to fight for. And that means getting out of the freedom business ASAP. Of course, it's unfair to say that the filibuster of Habeas Corpus restoration was entirely Republican. It was bipartisan -- Republicans were joined by a member of the Connecticut for Lieberman Party. Only the Democrats sat out this wise abandonment of a basic civil right. The vote count is here, see for yourself.
Ari Melber writes for The Nation that "it is a sad sign that we are reduced to counting votes for which members of Congress are upholding their oath to support the Constitution." Clearly, he doesn't get it. Nor does Joe Biden, who said, "As I've said before, the terrorists win when we abandon our civil liberties. The way we win is to show them that we can fight this war without changing our character as a nation. I hope the Senate reconsiders this issue once again."
No, no, no, no! That's bass ackward, Joe. Terrorists lose when we give up our civil liberties -- they hate our freedom, remember? We're depriving them of the target of their hate. We'll fight them in the Senate, so we don't have to fight them over here.
See, the Democrats have been so slow on the uptake here that Republicans have been forced to use the filibuster at a rate higher than any other Senate session in history. There were 42 filibusters as of July 16th of this year, while there were only 52 by Democrats for the entire session in 2006. At this rate, Republicans will be forced to filibuster terrorist-friendly freedoms 153 times before this session is over -- nearly three times the record of 58 since the filibuster rules were rewritten with Senate Rule 22.
So, while the GOP is forced to filibuster freedom, important issues that affect everyone are being ignored; banning flag burning, getting rid of evolution in schools, finding new and interesting ways to hate the homosexual menace, and plastering the Ten Commandments over every blank ten square inches in America. You know, the stuff we can all agree on. The stuff that really matters. America isn't about freedom, it's about those little flag lapel pins and Jesus.As the Connecticut for Lieberman Party joins the Republican Party in future, bipartisan filibusters, remember that terrorists hate our freedom. If they refuse to fight us in Iraq, then we have to give up freedom, so we don't have to fight them here.
Seriously, is freedom worth risking your safety for? The Republican Party doesn't think so.
And neither does the Connecticut for Lieberman Party.
--Wisco
Technorati tags: politics; humor; republican; filibuster; religious right; terrorism; America isn't about freedom and civil liberties, like Habeas Corpus, it's about Jesus and the Ten Commandments
