One thing we have come to learn about this Congress is that they talk the talk and then walk as they demonstrated again on FISA. There was the usual talk about not giving in to Bush then total capitulation along with the usual groveling. Unfortunately, our supposed nominee for the presidency has gone back on his promise and joined the grovelers.

There are not words to describe my dismay and disgust at the House vote this morning on H.R. 6304, or The FISA Amendments Act of 2008. By a vote of 293-129 the House voted to sanction warrantless wiretapping and handed immunity to telecommunications companies for their roles in domestic spying.

There is a lot of debate in the public space this week over the impact of the United States Supreme Court’s ruling that gives detainees in a “holding pattern” at Guantanamo Bay access to the United States Courts for the purpose of presenting petitions of habeas corpus.

It is a generally accepted misunderstanding that the Court’s ruling gave new rights to the detainees, which seems to be the issue that is the most controversial.

The purpose of today’s discussion is to explain why that view of the ruling is dead wrong…and to offer some thoughts on why this ruling might actually be one of the most important “restraint of government” rulings to have come down the pike in some time.

So off we go, eh?

Our enemies didn't adhere to the Geneva Convention. Many of my comrades were subjected to very cruel, very inhumane and degrading treatment, a few of them even unto death. But every one of us -- every single one of us -- knew and took great strength from the belief that we were different from our enemies, that we were better than them, that we, if the roles were reversed, would not disgrace ourselves by committing or countenancing such mistreatment of them. - John McCain, Republican US Senator

In this decision, the supreme court ruled on a case where the president had ordered Texas to obey the treaty obligations of the Vienna Convention, which states that a nation must be informed when one of its citizens is charged with a serious crime by another nation.

Texas disobeyed, and the court agreed with Texas, saying that the president had no power to order Texas to obey the law.

Cross posted from the front page of Docudharma.

Here's a new Orwellian term to add to the list containing such gems as "Clear Skies", "No child left behind", or the PATRIOT Act itself.

Safe Homes is the name of the program in Boston whose goal is to get police inside homes without warrants to conduct a search.

They think that many families will allow this out of fear their child may be somehow involved in gun violence.

Make the jump.

This morning, CNN is reporting that Congress's approval rating is at an all time low. When the population understands the ramifications of the "Thought Crime Prevention Bill" - you can bet their ratings will plummet even more. First, here's what CNN had to say, then we'll explore what the Thought Crimes Prevention Bill entails, and how it will affect Americans:

Under the headline "With Democrats Like These..." The New York Times editorial today begins "Every now and then, we are tempted to double-check that the Democrats actually won control of Congress last year."

In the realm of political thought there has never been a more powerful idea than America.  For the first time in history a nation was formed expressly to protect the liberty of its citizens, who were conceived as equals, from the predations of tyrants.  The founders knew tyranny first hand and were determined to design a system that would preclude it from ever taking hold in the United States of America.  

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales finally announced his resignation  today after meeting with the president at his ranch in Crawford Texas. This time there was no "spend time with family" excuse given. The reasons for his departure were obvious to everyone except the president. This was his reaction:

copyright paul kane 2007 all rights reserved

Congress' criminal majority has once again raped the Constitution, this time with the "Protect America Act". Personal privacy rights of US citizens -- massively violated by presidential usurper Bush's warrantless wiretaps since soon after the 9/11 attacks -- are just one facet of the Constitutional rape by Congressional thugs in the PAA. Under Reagan and Clinton, institutional tyranny quietly crept along toward the super rich's objectives for global govt control. Under the Bush Usurpation, with its 3-branch fascist despotism, "tyranny runs like a cheetah".

Jose Padilla, center, is escorted to a waiting police vechicle by federal marshals in this Jan. 5, 2006, file photo. He has been on trial in Miami for most of this year, charged with conspiring with al Qaeda to detonate a "dirty bomb" in the United States. Photo by J. Pat Carter, AP