Friday, September 15, 2006

The Ides of September

El Presidente almost never goes to "The Hill," the U.S. Capitol where the Senate and the House occasionally clock in to work (what? 83 days so far this whole year), but he went up there yesterday to personally plead for legislation ... not, mind you, for some grand federal plan to rebuild hurricane damage or reform immigration or even fly to Mars. No, he went up there to plead for the explicit right to torture detainees and maintain secret prisons in countries where they don't cavil much about torturing detainees.

Six years in, and we don't recognize this country any more.

Oh, he was coy about it, to be sure. He didn't come out and say he was seeking the right to torture. No, the silver-tongued devil said he wants Congress to give him the right to use "an alternative set of procedures." And if Congress doesn't bend to his will, then it's just appeasing terrorists.

El Presidente also wants explicit permission to try "detainees" and presumably condemn them to death in special courts that will deny the accused the right to see the evidence against them, some of which will likely be the fruits of torture.

This is not the country I remember.

This is imperial Rome.

At least four Roman senators (for the moment) are standing up to the Emporer -- Warner, McCain, Graham, and Collins. They have a lot to lose. But we have even more.

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