SHAME! SHAME!

The Senate has rejected Arlen Specter's amendment to the detainee mistreatment bill. The amendment would have removed the provision stripping courts of the jurisdiction to hear habeus corpus claims from detainees. The vote was 48 for and 51 against. Four Republicans, Specter, Chafee (involved in a tight race in deep blue Rhode Island), Smith of Oregon (a mild surprise)and Sununu of New Hampshire (less of a surprise than you might think) voted for the amendment. One Democrat, Nelson of Nebraska--the most conservative (whatever that means these days) Democrat in the Senate--voted with the torturers. Susan Collins (R. ME), Lindsay Graham (R. SC), John McCain (R. AZ) and Richard Lugar (D, IN), all supposedly respectable or reasonable Republicans, voted to keep the obviously unconstitutional provision in the bill. Olympia Snowe, of Maine, who's up for re-election (though apparently not in danger) absented herself.

Remember that the habeus provision was not the only evil part of this bill, as The New York Times mentioned today.

More shame for every American, even those of us who have fought against these outrages.