but maybe Salon is just giving the Republicans the benefit of the doubt. If this isn't a smokescreen, then I guess all of us Dems should just continue to sit on the sidelines and contemplate how low this country has sunk as we watch the party in control of all 3 branches of our government argue over (oh, pardon me, have a "serious debate" about) whether or not America is going to retroactively legalize torture. (And let's also contemplate the irony of Majority Leader Bill Frist, a medical doctor, leading the fight to squelch the McCain-Warner-Graham bill. Apparently for Dr. Frist it's not much of a leap to go from torturing cats to torturing people.)

"In other words, the bill would tell the millions of legal immigrants living in America, participating in American families, working for American businesses, and paying American taxes, that our government may at any minute pick them up and detain them indefinitely without charge, and without any access to the courts or even to military tribunals, unless and until the government determines that they are not enemy combatants."

Suddenly that Halliburton/KBR detention centers contract that was announced back in January is making a lot more sense. From Halliburton's own press release:

KBR announced today that its Government and Infrastructure division has been awarded an Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract to support the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities in the event of an emergency. ... With a maximum total value of $385 million over a five-year term, consisting of a one-year based period and four one-year options, the competitively awarded contract will be executed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Fort Worth District. KBR held the previous ICE contract from 2000 through 2005. ... The contract, which is effective immediately, provides for establishing temporary detention and processing capabilities to augment existing ICE Detention and Removal Operations (DRO) Program facilities in the event of an emergency influx of immigrants into the U.S., or to support the rapid development of new programs. ... The contract may also provide migrant detention support to other U.S. Government organizations in the event of an immigration emergency, as well as the development of a plan to react to a national emergency, such as a natural disaster.

I've been wondering for months just what the hell Bush was up to with these detention centers. Bravo to Pat Leahy for speaking up and speaking out but I'm not sure anybody's even listening. If Congress hands this kind of power to George Bush when they should be impeaching him instead, then I think I can finally stop wondering what those detention centers will be used for.

I just sent an email to Sherrod Brown that started out by saying how shocked and disappointed I was to see that he had voted FOR HR6166. I then reproduced the quote that Tim did include, prefacing it with the assumption that Rep. Brown had read the entire letter. I hope Sherrod Brown at least gets a twinge from my final paragraph:

I assume you voted FOR the Military Commissions Act, Rep. Brown, because to vote against it would have been fodder for another Mike DeWine ad. How sad that that was more important to you than standing with the vast majority of Democrats who listened to their conscience and voted NO yesterday. George W. Bush has frequently, perhaps permanently, made me ashamed to be an American. With your vote yesterday, sir, you added to my shame.

Will I still vote for Sherrod Brown on Nov. 7? Yes, but without the enthusiasm that I would have had if he had voted against HR6166. What a shame that Dennis Kucinich, another Ohio Democrat, doesn't get the respect that he so richly deserves. The man can sum things up in a single sentence as he did yesterday ("This bill is everything we don't believe in) and, when the need arises, he can be almost eloquent. Dennis Kucinich on civil liberties:

The "Patriot Act" is not what American patriots have fought and died for. To allow our Bill of Rights to be nullified without judicial supervision invites tyranny. The Attorney General has been handed unfettered power to wiretap, search, jail, and invade our most sacred right to privacy. The government must not be allowed, without probable cause or warrant, to snoop on our communications, medical records, library records, and student records.

The recent disclosures of the President's refusal to follow the FISA law should worry all Americans concerned with the dangers posed by a too-powerful executive. We elect Presidents, not kings, and no president is above a clearly written law expressly curbing his powers.

Rock on, Dennis!!

What I find particularly damning is that Rep. Alexander apparently went straight to Rep. Tom Reynolds with this problem instead of going to the authorities. Since Reynolds' only "leadership" function within the Congress is that he's the chairman of the RNCC, it seems pretty obvious to me that Alexander's ONLY concern was the political fallout that could result. Even more damning and/or stupid, I suppose, is that if Hastert and other GOP leaders were also made aware of this, why didn't they exert sufficient pressure on Foley to convince him not to run for re-election? Are they so arrogant that they thought they could continue to keep this dirty little secret in perpetuity? How this could be considered anything other than a cover-up is beyond me.