Wednesday, May 09, 2007

Deal or No Deal

Probably more than many on the left side of the blogosphere, I've been willing to cut Congressional Democrats some slack - let them ease into their newfound positions of power, gently massage the levers of power to forge a solid foundation from which to push certain prerogatives and resist the urge to move too swiftly, without first cultivating ample public support. In particular, my Iraq war patience has drawn the ire of many hoping for faster, more comprehensive confrontation.

So now I'm calling in my "patience chit," so to speak. The issue, one that Hilzoy raises (as does Kevin, Atrios, Matt Stoller and many others) is whether or not the United States of America will re-establish the principle of habeas corpus in American run detention facilities and prisons. This is an issue that I have discussed on more than one occasion, for those looking for some background. Currently, there is chatter that House Democrats on the Armed Services Committee may insert the habeas-resurrecting language into an upcoming appropriations bill that will be hard for Bush to veto.

Matt Stoller has a list of the applicable House Members for your contacting pleasure. Drop them a line.

Kevin Drum says:

We could use some spine in this matter. Will the netroots help provide it?

I sure hope so.

It's incumbent on us all to keep the spotlight on the Democrats and Republicans in Congress (though 99% of the modern day Republican Party stopped caring about quaintisms like habeas corpus years ago - got no Soul and all that).

So how about it Senators Clinton and Obama? You too John Edwards. It's not your vote yet, but you could sure tell us where you stand on what should be the least controversial topic of our time: respect for habeas corpus (a well established principle in the Western tradition since...the freakin' Magna Carta!). If you can't spine up about that, what good are you.

Habeas corpus is deal breaker territory.

// posted by Eric Martin @ 3:09 PM |


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