Supreme Court Restores Habeas Corpus for Detainees

So long, torture loving, John McCain voted for Military Commissions Act:

Federal judges cannot block U.S. military officials from turning over two Americans held in Iraq to local authorities who want to prosecute them for involvement in the insurgency or criminal activity, the Supreme Court ruled on Thursday.

The high court's decision was a defeat for two Americans who say they are innocent and who are being held by U.S. soldiers at Camp Cropper near Baghdad International Airport.

The usual suspects (Roberts, Scalia, Alito, Thomas) dissented.

Slowly but surely.

Importance of Bringing the Troops Home

For John McCain, not very:

Q: If it’s working, senator, do you now have a better estimate of when American forces can come home from Iraq?

McCAIN: No, but that’s not too important. What’s important is the casualties in Iraq. Americans are in South Korea. Americans are in Japan. American troops are in Germany. That’s all fine.

Of course. It's not like constantly fighting a war has any effect on the troops:

Maj. Lance Waldorf took pride in what he did during two tours in Afghanistan as a civil affairs officer, helping villagers build schools, roads and hospitals.

And, his wife said, he was looking forward to a third tour in Africa in the coming months. As she prepares for his funeral, set for Saturday, Lana Waldorf is comforted by the good her husband did while deployed and her deep Christian faith.

Lance Waldorf, 40, was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head Monday at the Great Lakes National Cemetery in Holly Township. A note, his will and family photos were nearby. While he exhibited signs of depression, Lana Waldorf, 51, said her husband seemed to be doing better in recent days. He was in the U.S. Army Reserves.

It's not important enough to bring them home. That John McCain doesn't understand this and is unable to draw a distinction between South Korea and Germany, which are peaceful outposts, and Iraq, which is a war zone, speaks volumes about his judgment and leadership.

They Don't Want Us There Either

In a shocking turn of events, Iraqis don't agree with the words put into their mouths by the Bush administration:

Iraqi officials have raised a number of objections to the draft documents, both publicly and privately. And they are now suggesting that the latest proposal isn't even worth submitting to their parliament for approval.

The war was never about the condition of the Iraqi people, WMD or whatever excuse Bush and his enablers managed to peddle that day. It was about everlasting glory for the boy who would be king.

Bush to Talk on Economy

Mr. Bush, in a departure statement on the South Lawn, sought to address anxieties about the economy.

"A lot of Americans are concerned about our economy. I can understand why," he said. "Gasoline prices are high; energy prices are high." He said the economic stimulus package approved by Congress should help matters.

Bush talking on a subject of which he has absolutely no clue will surely help people's anxieties.

Link.

Republicans Hate You

Love money:

Republicans have blocked efforts to bring a global warming bill up for a final Senate vote after a bitter debate over its economic costs and whether it would push gasoline prices higher.

Democratic leaders Friday fell 12 votes short of getting the 60 votes needed to end a Republican filibuster on the measure. The vote was 48-36.

Majority Leader Harry Reid now must decide whether to pull the bill and push the climate change issue to next year with a new Congress and a new president.

The bill would cap carbon dioxide coming from power plants and factories with a target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 71% by mid-century. Opponents say it amounts to a huge tax increase and would lead to higher energy prices.

"It's a huge tax increase," argued Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, a prominent coal-producing state. He maintained that the proposed system of allowing widespread trading of carbon emissions allowances would produce "the largest restructuring of the American economy since the New Deal."

That New Deal really sucked something horrible. Most Americans think so too, especially the ones who suck this country dry with their social security paychecks.

(emphasis mine)

Lieberman Forms New McCain Group

BFF JOE!!!!!

Former Democrat Joe Lieberman today launched a new bipartisan grassroots group to build support for presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain.

In the solicitation for "Citizens for McCain," Lieberman, now an independent US senator from Connecticut, notes that he caucuses with Democrats in the Senate and was the Democratic vice presidential nominee in 2000.

Looks like he felt pretty threatened by Obama.

On Hillary Undermining Obama's Victory

There's been some agita in the left blogosphere over Hillary's ungracious way of conceding by continuing to claim that she won the popular vote and therefore has some claim to the nomination. Some bloggers say that this somehow undermines Obama's legitimacy as the Democratic nominee. I don't think this is the case. It seems to me like everyone - the rest of the Democratic party, the Republican party, the media, many Hillary supporters - are ready to move on to the general and are no longer paying attention to her. I'd prefer if she didn't make those remarks, but even if she does she'll just sound whiny and no one will care.

Joe Is Stupid and Ugly

and nobody likes him:

[D]uring a Senate vote Wednesday, Obama dragged Lieberman by the hand to a far corner of the Senate chamber and engaged in what appeared to reporters in the gallery as an intense, three-minute conversation.

While it was unclear what the two were discussing, the body language suggested that Obama was trying to convince Lieberman of something and his stance appeared slightly intimidating.

Using forceful, but not angry, hand gestures, Obama literally backed up Lieberman against the wall, leaned in very close at times, and appeared to be trying to dominate the conversation, as the two talked over each other in a few instances.

Still, Obama and Lieberman seemed to be trying to keep the back-and-forth congenial as they both patted each other on the back during and after the exchange

Except Lindsey Graham of course.

Over

Barack Obama will now go on to defeat John McCain:

Sen. Barack Obama captured enough convention delegates Tuesday to make a historic claim to the Democratic presidential nomination, the first African-American to earn a major party's nod.

The first-term Illinois senator defeated what had once been the most powerful machine in the party. His rival, Sen. Hillary Clinton, the former first lady who sought to be history's first female nominee, saluted him. But she did not concede, even as she signaled openness to being considered as his vice presidential running mate.

Yes we can.

Personal Carbon Rationing

This is a pretty cool idea:

Every adult should be forced to use a 'carbon ration card' when they pay for petrol, airline tickets or household energy, MPs say.

The influential Environmental Audit Committee says a personal carbon trading scheme is the best and fairest way of cutting Britain's CO2 emissions without penalising the poor.

Under the scheme, everyone would be given an annual carbon allowance to use when buying oil, gas, electricity and flights.

Not sure how I feel about it if everyone has the same allowances, but it could be a good starting point.

In related news, commander prissypants will, in all likelihood, veto the Lieberman-Warner climate change bill that is being debated in the Senate.