...spending their time showing that they hold the same amount of respect for the Constitution and detainees in prison camps, the residents of the District of Columbia, and for American servicemen and women in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In short, they have no respect at all for any of them.
On Tuesday cloture motion, they voted to kill S. 1257, the D.C. Voting Rights Act. The Act would have given the residents of the District of Columbia full representation in Congress.
Then on Wednesday, in another cloture motion, the voted to kill an amendment to H.R. 1585, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 that would have restored habeas corpus rights for detainees.
Finally, later on Wednesday, as the bright sparkling star atop their Christmas tree of contempt, in one more cloture vote, they voted to kill another amendment to the Defense Authorization Act that would have limited the length of tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan served by U.S. troops.
I could rant and rave about their votes (and McCain's somewhat surprising backstab of American servicemen and women), but as despicable as their votes were, they aren't the most deserving of criticism over this.
It's time for Sen. Harry Reid to quit giving in to the Kyl, McCain, and the rest of the Republicans by going for a cloture motion to avoid a threatened filibuster; make 'em earn it.
Make them stand up on the floor of the Senate and on national television and hold up the business of the Senate...hell, the business of the entire nation...because they because the find habeas corpus, taxation with representation, and rested American troops all such dire threats to the Republic.
In other words, it's time for Sen. Reid and the rest of the Democrats that were sent to both chambers of Congress to improve things in D.C. to grow spines.
Washington Post coverage, via the Boston Globe, coverage of the tour of duty limits vote here.
AP coverage of the habeas corpus vote here.
Baltimore Sun coverage of the D.C. Voting Rights vote here.
Later!
1 comment:
Yes indeed, between the likes of McCain, Kyl, and our very own Ensign, we have a dandy triad of representatives who don't value representation, aren't defending the Constitution, and evidently don't mind if the Bush Administration takes a perfectly good military and wrecks it.
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