Not Yo' Momma!

Let me make this perfectly clear. If you believe that everyone deserves the right to challenge his or her imprisonment in a court of law and require the government to produce the evidence to justify your imprisonment then John McSame is your worst enemy. Today the Supreme Court handed down a landmark decision which rejected the Bush administration's grab for imperial power and restored the ancient right of habeas corpus. This is a hugely important decision with respect to whether this is a country of laws or not.

Today, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) criticized to the Supreme Court’s ruling granting Guantanamo Bay detainees the right to challenge their detention in civilian courts:

It obviously concerns me. These are unlawful combatants. They are not American citizens. We should pay attention to Justice Roberts. It is a decision the Supreme Court has made and now we need to move forward. As you know, I always favored the closing of Guantanamo Bay, and I still think we ought to do that.

This statement defines McSame and his philosophy completely. It clearly demonstrates his fundamental lack of understanding of the true issue surrounding Gitmo and the actions of the Bush administration. The issue has never been about closing Guantanamo. While Gitmo will be a stain on the soul of America for generations and it should have never been established, its existence is not the paramount issue. Hello, it's the fundamental violation of human rights that is at issue here!
McSame talks endlessly, while leaning on his credentials as a former POW, about no torture and treating prisoners humanely but every time he has had the chance to do something meaningful, whether legislatively or rhetorically, he's wound up up crawling into bed with the administration.

This via Think Progress:

– In 2004, the Supreme Court ruled in Rasul v. Bush that the Bush administration had no jurisdiction to strip habeas corpus rights from detainees. In 2005, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) introduced legislation overturning this decision and thus stripping detainees of their rights. McCain voted for the bill, which passed 49-42.

– The Military Commissions Act of 2006 denied anyone Bush labeled “an ‘illegal enemy combatant’ the ancient right to challenge his imprisonment in court.” McCain weakly pushed to strengthen the torture restrictions in the legislation, but ignored the lack of habeas rights. In the end, he voted for the Military Commissions Act.

– In 2007, Senate conservatives successfully filibustered legislation that would have “given military detainees the right to protest their detention in federal court.” In a 56-43 vote, the chamber fell just four shy of the 60 needed to cut off debate and proceed with the bill. McCain was part of the conservative filibuster and voted against moving forward with the legislation.

Today, the McCain campaign blog also approvingly cited Justice Antonin Scalia’s exceptionally extreme rhetoric on the consequences of the decision.

Somehow, with the unchallenged assistance of the American media, McSame has created the meme that he will "do the right thing" when it comes to torture and prisoners of war. Somehow, his experience as a POW in Viet Nam has made his opinion unassailable when it comes to such things. The reality is that he is our worst nightmare on these issues. At every turn McSame has gathered around the GOP camp fire and he's right there holding hands and singing along with Shrub and Cheney.