We’™re all painfully aware that the torture bill passed the senate yesterday evening by a comfortable margin. The handwriting had been on the wall for a couple of days. As the debate wore on, it was increasingly clear that the Democratic Party would not put up much of a fight against the effort to codify all forms of torture, provide immunity (retroactively) against war crimes prosecution (in the U.S.) for those who authorized or engaged in torture, and gut the fundamental right of habeas corpus.

Then, when the kabuki theatre surrounding the torture bill was reaching a climax, I felt a sense of deja vu all over again, but I couldn’™t quite put my finger on it. Fortunately, Susie at Suburban Guerrilla put up a post yesterday afternoon that caused the pieces to fall into place for me’¦

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