The bill’s ultimate passage was assured on Wednesday when Democrats agreed to forgo a filibuster in return for consideration of the (Specter) amendment. Any changes in the Senate bill, however, would have made it impossible for Republican leaders to meet their goal of sending the bill to the White House before adjourning on Friday to hit the campaign trail.
The Specter amendment failed. They are going to vote on the Kennedy and Byrd amendments now. They will fail. The Dems have already agreed not to filibuster, hoping the Specter amendment might pass. This shameful cave-in will never be forgotten. Ever. We haven’t forgotten other blemishes on our history, like the Japanese internments, the Dred Scott case, or the resolution authorizing force in Iraq. And if the Dems think they have bought some protection against charges they are weak on terrorism, they are wrong.
Underscoring the political stakes involved, White House spokesman Tony Snow said today that President Bush will emphasize Democratic opposition to the bill in campaign appearances.
“He’ll be citing some of the comments that members of the Democratic leadership have made in recent days about what they think is necessary for winning the war on terror,” Mr. Snow told reporters en route to a fundraiser in Alabama, according to a transcript provided by the White House.
I doubt he will be quoting this:
“What this bill would do is take our civilization back 900 years,” to before the adoption of the writ of habeus corpus in medieval England, Senator Specter said.
The Democrats didn’t prove they are strong on terrorism. They proved they are weak on human rights and defending the Constitution.
