So, king George and the Republicans are exploiting 9/11 once again. Sounds like an echo chamber here. Are there any doubts that these current bunch do not give a hoot about, or understand and appreciate our culture of liberal democracy? Being in power seem to matter to them more than living up to America's democratic ideal. If we let them succeed, then we deserve whatever package they unrap upon us. That would be democracy, pure and simple.

"Bush and Cheney caught eating babies"

How this spells trouble for the Dems, next on MSM-TV...

We've seen these political tactics before.

1) The Republicans establish a frame of reference within which advocating torture and kangaroo courts is defending 'Merica and advocating due process and respect for Human Rights runs the political risk of being depicted as an advocate for terrorist masterind Khalid Sheik Mohammed.

2) The Democrats will accept the framework within which the discussion is offered and will give weak denials of defending the terrorist. Some might feel they should play ball with the administration rather then get branded as a terrorist sympathizer. Some might try to explain the "complex nuances" of their position to the largely idiotic and emotionally driven public.

some techniques they might use would be:

a) Attack Kangaroo courts in the context of our founding father's experience of them with Great Britain.

b) Attack torture as an accurate means of obtaining actionable evidence. French Algiers is the best example, but referencing anything French will be counterproductive. Besides, most 'Mericans want *revenge*, not Justice or Security.

c) Attack the violation of civil rights as giving away the hen house to protect it from the fox.

3) What the Democrats need to do is control the Framework of the discussion and attack the Administration for their deplorable and ineffective policies. There's absolutely NO REASON to take a defensive stance in this debate. Valid Logical points are largely lost on the voting public. This is an emotional discourse. Harness the rising tide of negative emotions against the current administration:

a) Betrayal. They broke that unbeleivable sense of unity when they steered toward Iraq instead of focusing on Al Queda.

b) Incompetence. They've even bungled the misguided decisions they did make. Torture is not a good intelligence gathering technique regardless of its moral repugnancy.

c) Insincerity. They lied about Weapons of Mass Distruction. They lied about Iraq's connection to 9/11. They lied about the Plame incident. They lied about honoring the due process of the FISA Act. They lied about having CIA black sites.

d) Hypocrisy. Calling an emergency session of Congress to contradict the lawful and very emotionally personal decision of Michael Schiavo with regard to his wife? A Senator with an M.D. declaredg her fine when the final autopsy revealed she barely had any neurons left. Where was the emergency session of Congress for Katrina?

Why am I not seeing more video montages (a la Daily Show) of clip after clip of them connecting 9/11 to Iraq and then the clip from last week where Bush admits it had nothing to do with them?

Montages of him mentioning that they were following FISA regulations even when he was already ignoring them.

Montages of them denying the existence of Black sites until they finally acknowledged they existed.

Denying torture until it was proven that they were torturing...

Saying there would be repercussions for who ever leaked Plame's identity, until it turned out to be one of their own (surprise, surprise)

We shouldn't even have to *say* anything anymore. They've run the show for 6 years, and there's enough video evidence out of their own mouths to tie a noose around their own necks.

Every Democrat running for election should have a laptop with these self-incriminating video clips so that they can play specific ones by only hitting a pre-programmed hotkey.

These are Compassionate Conservatives, and they only use Compassionate Torture. They are Neo Conservatives, and they only run Neo Dungeons. What the heck are you complaining about?

WHY does Dick Cheney so desperately want the power to legally torture?

I fear that the explanation could actually a pretty straightforward connect-the-dots sort of thing...

1. George W. Bush (and perhaps Dick Cheney, too?) can legally declare anyone he wants an "enemy combatant", thereby effectively stripping them not only of their US citizenship (if they are a citizen to begin with, of course) but of even the most basic human rights.

2. He can then legally order US operatives to torture or kill them without the slightest fear.

It seems to me that this is a legal basis for rounding up, "disappearing", and torturing political opponents, uncooperative media types, and pretty much anyone else in the world. Such power is virtually...godlike.

The Dems need to dig their heels in and take a strong position FOR due process, humane behavior, civil rights, etc.

"Yes," the Dems should say, "even Khalid Sheik Mohammed deserves due process. This is what makes the United States worth preserving. This is what makes us better than someone like KSM."

"President Bush, Vice President Cheney, Donald Rumseld and the rest of the administration have broken everything they've touched. One needs only to look at Iraq to understand the magnitude of their ineptness."

"This abject incompetence and failure to accomplish anything in the face of whatever real threats exist to our country need to stop now. This is where we draw the line and are taking our stand."

"We will not allow this gang of clowns to continue to make a mockery of the most important values of our great nation. Today, by reasonably constraining this cynical power grab on the part of a failure of an administration and a failure of a political party, we, the Democrats, the loyal opposition, begin the somber task of steering America back in the right direction."

"There is a light at the end of the tunnel. Today we turn towards that light."

Greenwald hits all the major points spot on.

The public had begun to doubt that anyone being held at Gitmo was actually a terrorist and had expressed its relief that SCOTUS was finally putting some muscle back into the separation of powers. Bush has tanked in his popularity and in the perception of his competence.

What else could they do? They had to either produce a miracle in Iraq, arm wrestle Ahmadinejad into submission, or produce the head of Bin Laden on a silver platter. Since they, after all, are truly incompetent -- not just putting on a show to lure Democrats into a false sense of security -- they had to conjure an illusion to capture the attention of the public and rally the Republican base.

The illusion is that Gitmo will now house some real terrorists, who will genuinely deserve to be prosecuted in a kangaroo court. When Democrats object to giving Bush the power to convict the terrorists through such sleight of hand as hearsay testimony, secret evidence, and hog-tied defense attorneys, Bush and his assassins will pounce on them.

We are heading straight down the same cynical path that we've trod so many times before. Any ideas how we can avoid the same outcome, this November?