Military Commissions Act of 2006

Congress has just passed sweeping legislation which, among other things, permits the President to interpret the Geneva Conventions (never mind that COURTS interpret laws, and that ratified treaties ARE laws under our Constitution), to detain any non-American indefinitely (that means potentially for life) without a trial (never mind that habeas corpus, or the right to challenge detention in COURT, is a fundamental right under the Constitution), to use evidence obtained through coersion or secret evidence (never mind the Confrontation Clause in the Constitution), and the list goes on.... See http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6165648

The vote was largely along party lines. Remember this when history judges this vote.

When I was a child, I believed that the United States was the greatest defender of human rights. The bad guys were always out there, beyond our borders -- the Soviet Union, Apartheid, and so on. Our allies were Amnesty International and other organizations fighting for human rights. Read now what Amnesty International thinks of the Military Commissions Act of 2006.