Colbert on Torture, "Compromise," and Opposition

Someone sent me this Colbert clip yesterday and I think it's spot-on about the so-called "compromise" that the Bush administration and a few Republicans crafted on detainee treatment. That deal resulted in last week's horrible vote, which effectively lifted habeas corpus and further crippled our compliance with the Geneva Conventions.

True to form, Colbert has some choice words for Republicans and Democrats, but whatever your views on the parties, opposition to the White House's torture and detention policies has never been more necessary - or we'll turn around and wake up in a very different country than the one we know and love.

The news isn't all bad. As Lisa told us so early last Saturday morning, hours after the loss on tribunals, we were able to hold back a vote that would have written the Bush illegal spy program into law, and handed the president a get-out-of-jail-free card for violating the First Amendment, the Fourth Amendment and FISA. That vote still may come, so we all must remain vigilant. But they sure would have liked to take it home and campaign with it, and they cannot.

(The other good news is that Stephen Colbert probably still has the ACLU membership card I gave him when I appeared on the show. I bet he's been taking it out and looking at it a bit more often recently ...)