Arlen Specer takes the party line despite it making him look like a blithering idiot. According to Glenn Greenwald:

During the debate on his amendment, Arlen Specter said that the bill sends us back 900 years because it denies habeas corpus rights and allows the President to detain people indefinitely. He also said the bill violates core Constitutional protections.

He’s right! YAY! He understands!

Well, not exactly…

Then he voted for it.

How devoid of a conscience must you be to say voting for a bill would kill the Constitution (accurately so) and then proceed to vote for it anyway!?

And, another point. Why no fillibuster from the “principled” Democrats who sat there fillibustering judicial nominees? I guess it’s obvious where Democrats stand. Abortion and gay marriage are issues that require a fillibuster of a judicial nominee, however torture and the end of habeas corpus are not. Goes to show that they really have nothing in mind but getting re-elected and opposing this bill wouldn’t have a direct impact on their polling.

Of course Democrat supporters are going to spin this a lot differently. Actually, Glenn Greenwald, despite getting it right, does get this part seriously wrong:

Nonetheless, it is fair to say, given how lopsided this vote was (both in the House and the Senate), that the Republicans are the party of torture, indefinite and unreviewable detention powers, and limitless presidential power, even over U.S. citizens on U.S. soil. By contrast, Democrats have opposed these tyrannical, un-American and truly dangerous measures. Even if Democrats didn’t oppose them as vociferously as they could have and should have, this is still a meaningful and, at this point, critically important contrast.

That’s where he’s seriously wrong.

By not fillibustering the bill and allowing it to get voted on and passed, they proved themselves seriously complicit, especially considering that there were way more Democrats in favor than Republicans against. Had those Democrats not worried about how this would play in their home districts (wouldn’t wanna be called soft on terror, would you?) this bill would’ve been DOA.

Just for the record, McCain voted for it.

Our government sucks.

Our government needs to be gutted.

They’re all just a bunch of spineless corporate sellouts and poll responders. If this isn’t proof positive of the fact that Democrats are not the party of “doing the right thing” and that they’re so preoccupied with such pressing issues as the right to off your baby at will, I really don’t know what is.

All it would’ve taken to get this bill killed is a rider that said “Oh, and abortion would be made illegal.”

Suddenly, the Democrats would’ve done everything in their power to kill that bill.

via Vidiot.