Replies to post #30239 on Discover GOP Opprobrium

[teapeebubbles]

Given this week’s court ruling on Guantanamo detainees, opponents of the Military Commissions Act are on the move.

A day after two military judges ruled against the Bush administration’s system for trying terrorism detainees, Democrats seized on the rulings on Tuesday as evidence that Congress should restore the right of those held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to challenge their detentions.

Senator Harry Reid, the Nevada Democrat who is the majority leader, said he would be willing to bring such legislation to the floor. The Senate Judiciary Committee is preparing to approve such a plan on Thursday.

Senator Patrick J. Leahy, the Vermont Democrat who is chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said the rulings on Monday in two cases added urgency to the push to restore detainees’ right to file habeas corpus suits. Congress eliminated that right last year while redesigning the military tribunals after the Supreme Court struck down the first plan.

Mr. Leahy criticized the administration for insisting on an approach to the tribunals “which even conservative courts say no to.”

“It just shows what happens when they want to just rush something through arbitrarily without actually listening to the people who actually knew what they are talking about,” he said Tuesday in an interview.

The Bush gang? Rush through legally dubious detainee legislation without knowing what they’re talking about? Never.

I couldn’t help but laugh at the reaction from Sen. John Warner (R-Va.), who helped write the MCA. “Congress cannot suddenly rewrite laws every time a federal district court judge or someone changes their view of the law,” Warner said. “Give it some time.”

Um, senator? Congress suddenly rewrote the law by passing the MCA in response to a Supreme Court ruling on detainees. There were no Republicans saying, “Give it some time” last September.