September 28, 2006-65 US Senators Vote To Make USA Torture State

[Jcrowley]

Grouped By Vote Position

YEAs ---65
Alexander (R-TN)
Allard (R-CO)
Allen (R-VA)
Bennett (R-UT)
Bond (R-MO)
Brownback (R-KS)
Bunning (R-KY)
Burns (R-MT)
Burr (R-NC)
Carper (D-DE)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Coburn (R-OK)
Cochran (R-MS)
Coleman (R-MN)
Collins (R-ME)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Craig (R-ID)
Crapo (R-ID)
DeMint (R-SC)
DeWine (R-OH)
Dole (R-NC)
Domenici (R-NM)
Ensign (R-NV)
Enzi (R-WY)
Frist (R-TN)
Graham (R-SC)
Grassley (R-IA)
Gregg (R-NH)
Hagel (R-NE)
Hatch (R-UT)
Hutchison (R-TX)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Isakson (R-GA)
Johnson (D-SD)
Kyl (R-AZ)
Landrieu (D-LA)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Lieberman (D-CT)
Lott (R-MS)
Lugar (R-IN)
Martinez (R-FL)
McCain (R-AZ)
McConnell (R-KY)
Menendez (D-NJ)
Murkowski (R-AK)
Nelson (D-FL)
Nelson (D-NE)
Pryor (D-AR)
Roberts (R-KS)
Rockefeller (D-WV)
Salazar (D-CO)
Santorum (R-PA)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shelby (R-AL)
Smith (R-OR)
Specter (R-PA)
Stabenow (D-MI)
Stevens (R-AK)
Sununu (R-NH)
Talent (R-MO)
Thomas (R-WY)
Thune (R-SD)
Vitter (R-LA)
Voinovich (R-OH)
Warner (R-VA)

NAYs ---34
Akaka (D-HI)
Baucus (D-MT)
Bayh (D-IN)
Biden (D-DE)
Bingaman (D-NM)
Boxer (D-CA)
Byrd (D-WV)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Chafee (R-RI)
Clinton (D-NY)
Conrad (D-ND)
Dayton (D-MN)
Dodd (D-CT)
Dorgan (D-ND)
Durbin (D-IL)
Feingold (D-WI)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Harkin (D-IA)
Inouye (D-HI)
Jeffords (I-VT)
Kennedy (D-MA)
Kerry (D-MA)
Kohl (D-WI)
Leahy (D-VT)
Levin (D-MI)
Lincoln (D-AR)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Murray (D-WA)
Obama (D-IL)
Reed (D-RI)
Reid (D-NV)
Sarbanes (D-MD)
Schumer (D-NY)
Wyden (D-OR)

Not Voting - 1
Snowe (R-ME

[Rabrrrrrr]

1. When I think of all the evil, horrible, nasty, America-destroying shit

the republicans have done in the last 26 years, this is at the top of the list.

This is the one evil, unchristian, heretical, double and triple evil legislation that, finally, has me crying.

[robertpaulsen]

2. Thanks. Bookmarked in friggin' stone.

Now I'll remember who to blame when they come for me.

[Jcrowley]

4. Mark the date

Make headlines and post around town. C'mon folks let's not get caught up in the technicalities and language we all know what this means. This is targeting all "enemies of the state" and particularly those in the domestic "war on terror." This means if you are involved in any anti-corporate activity, any governmental dissent, contribute to any "terrorist organizations", like Code Pink, you could get swallowed up in the American Gulag just as easily as the mythical al-Qaeda boogeymen.

[Eric J in MN]

3. Arlen Specter voted for this awful bill.

He cares about habeas corpus, but not much.

[Dudley_DUright]

10. Specter caves every time

You can count on it.

[hvn_nbr_2]

11. Specter is like a chihuahua

He runs around barking but never does a freaking thing in the end. He always shoots his mouth off and talks tough, then caves.

[kysrsoze]

19. Not one f*ckin' Reslug voted against this. They're ALL @ssholes

Plus the 14 spineless @sshole Dems.

[greatauntoftriplets]

21. Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island voted no.

:) He's a Republican.

[EFerrari]

20. Specter's job is to huff and puff and then do as Junior wants.

He does the same thing every time.

[BobRossi]

5. Just emailed Stabenow.

She won't be getting my vote.

[Stephanie]

6. SHAME. You are no longer Democrats >

Carper (D-DE)
Johnson (D-SD)
Landrieu (D-LA)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Lieberman (D-CT)
Menendez (D-NJ)
Nelson (D-FL)
Nelson (D-NE)
Pryor (D-AR)
Rockefeller (D-WV)
Salazar (D-CO)
Stabenow (D-MI)

[femmocrat]

15. What the hell is wrong with these people??? n/t

[The Gunslinger]

16. And neither am I

I am now an independant

[Buzz Clik]

7. They only made it official. Time to validate our state-supported terrorism

[Jcrowley]

17. Quite true

Torture Tactics Refined In US Prisons, ACLU Says
By Nathan Burchfiel
CNSNews.com Staff Writer
September 28, 2006

(CNSNews.com) - The director of the American Civil Liberties Union's National Prisoner Project Wednesday accused U.S. governments past and present of honing torture tactics in American prisons before they were allegedly implemented in terrorist detention centers in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

"If you look at the iconic pictures from Abu Ghraib," Elizabeth Alexander told reporters at the U.S. Capitol Wednesday, "you can match up these photos with the same abuses at American prisons, each one of them."

Alexander said the infamous torture tactics uncovered at Abu Ghraib were first used in American prisons, but without cameras. "The photo from Abu Ghraib showing a mock execution matches events in Sacramento, California, in which guards staged mock executions of prisoners," she said.

http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewNation.asp?Page=/Nation/archive/200609/NAT20060928b.html

[newsguyatl]

8. may these "dems" be branded with the scarlet letter of "T"

for torture.

i hope their voters won't forget.

[Jcrowley]

9. Here's some convoluted reasoning

The smart politics of the detainee vote
Did adroit Democratic candidates take away one of the GOP's best issues?
Sherrod Brown
Nick Wass / AP file

Democratic Senate candidate in Ohio, Rep. Sherrod Brown, a fierce critic of President Bush, voted for the administration-supported bill on detainees.

By Tom Curry
National affairs writer
MSNBC
When the House voted Wednesday to pass the Bush administration-supported bill on treatment of detainees at Guantanamo Naval Base, the biggest surprise— at first blush — was that Ohio Democrat Sherrod Brown, a fierce opponent of the Iraq war and of President Bush, voted for the bill.

Brown, the Democrats’ Senate candidate in Ohio against Republican Sen. Mike DeWine, led all House Democrats in 2005 in the percentage of votes in which he opposed the president: 93.5 percent, according to Congressional Quarterly.
--snip---

Brown explained his vote this way in an interview with MSNBC.com Thursday: "Unlike Mike DeWine, I'm willing to stand up to my party when they're wrong."

Why Brown voted 'yes'
He said the detainees "are not soldiers, not combatants representing a government, these are terrorists."

He added, "I supported a compromise because I think John McCain, a former prisoner of war, understands what we need to do to ensure our soldiers are safe."

He added, "Some people just don't want me to agree with George Bush on anything."

Brown’s vote for the detainee bill made sense. In one move, Brown snatched away an issue that the Republicans might have used to tar him.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15049251

[boolean]

12. Big surprise to see Lieberman on the yea side!

Not.

[derby378]

13. LIEberman voted "Aye?" Gee, now there's a surprise...

Good riddance to bad rubbish.

:mad:

[boolean]

14. 9/28.....U.S.A. R.I.P.

:cry:

[Jcrowley]

18. Human rights advocates yesterday lobbied against the bill

Human rights advocates yesterday lobbied against the bill.

``This would purport to allow the president, after some incident, to round up scores of people -- people who are lawfully here -- and hold them in military prisons with no access to the legal system, whatsoever, indefinitely," said Joe Onek , senior policy analyst at the Open Society Policy Center, a Washington-based advocacy organization

Other last-minute additions to the bill include provisions that would broaden the definition of enemy combatant to include anyone who gives material support to enemies of the United States and its allies, and would prevent detainees who have been released from US custody from suing the US government for torture or mistreatment.

But the part of the bill that worries advocates for immigrants most is the one stating that ``no court, justice, or judge shall have jurisdiction to hear or consider an application for a writ of habeas corpus filed by or on behalf of an alien detained by the United States who has been determined by the United States to have been properly detained as an enemy combatant or is awaiting such determination."

``Habeas corpus" is the legal mechanism that gives people the right to ask federal courts to review their imprisonment.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2006/09/28/legal_residents_rights_curbed_in_detainee_bill/

[KamaAina]

22. Both NJ Dems?!

Sure, Menendez may have been angling for the torture vote in his tough election campaign :sarcasm: (or just avoiding the inevitable "Menendez voted to support the terrorists" repuke attack ad :puke: ), but why Lautenberg? Have they been watching too many Sopranos reruns: "I'm gopnna whack you but good..."?

[KamaAina]

23. I've got it! We must call for Torture Reform!

remember when the 'pukes were like parrots squawking "Rawk, tort reform, tort reform, rawk!"? :-)

[Jcrowley]

24. You're so 20th Century

"It’s not like the 20th century, where you had time to get warrants."
-Michael Chertoff, Head of Homeland Security

[autorank]

25. I guess they didn't get the memo...

YEAs ---65 (of whome the following joined the Republicans)

Carper (D-DE)
Johnson (D-SD)
Landrieu (D-LA)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Lieberman (D-CT)
Menendez (D-NJ)
Nelson (D-FL)
Nelson (D-NE)
Pryor (D-AR)
Rockefeller (D-WV)
Salazar (D-CO)
Stabenow (D-MI)

[Jcrowley]

26. Kick

Among other things, the Act will:

* Strip the US courts of jurisdiction to hear or consider habeas corpus appeals challenging the lawfulness or conditions of detention of anyone held in US custody as an “enemy combatant”. Judicial review of cases would be severely limited. The law would apply retroactively, and thus could result in more than 200 pending appeals filed on behalf of Guantánamo detainees being thrown out of court.

* Permit the executive to convene military commissions to try “alien unlawful enemy combatants”, as determined by the executive under a dangerously broad definition, in trials that would provide foreign nationals so labeled with a lower standard of justice than US citizens accused of the same crimes. This would violate the prohibition on the discriminatory application of fair trial rights.

* Permit the use in military commission trials of evidence extracted under cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

* Give the military commissions the power to hand down death sentences after trials that did not meet international standards.

* Permit the executive to determine who is an “enemy combatant” under any “competent tribunal” established by the executive, and endorse the Combatant Status Review Tribunal (CSRT), the wholly inadequate administrative procedure that has been employed in Guantánamo to review individual detentions.

* Prohibit any person from invoking the Geneva Conventions or their protocols as a source of rights in any action in any US court.

* Narrow the scope of the War Crimes Act by not expressly criminalizing acts that constitute "outrages upon personal dignity, particularly humiliating and degrading treatment" banned under international law. Amnesty International believes that the USA has routinely failed to respect the human dignity of detainees in the "war on terror".

* Endorse the administration’s "war paradigm" – under which the USA has selectively applied the laws of war and rejected international human rights law. The legislation would backdate the "war on terror" to before the 11 September 2001 in order to be able to try individuals in front of military commissions for "war crimes" committed before that date.