Achtung, baby

Talking Points Memo: Führerprinzip at at the Department of Justice.

Tony Snow dies

My first thought on hearing of the death of former White House press secretary Tony Snow was something along these lines: Jesus, that was fast.

Plenty of time to assess his brief tenure in the Bush administration, though I imagine many people are starting early. For some old-fashioned reason, I generally believe in a three-day rule for this kind of thing.

Condolences to the family and friends Snow leaves behind.

See also: Bill Wolfrum’s piece on Snow at Shakesville.

Was Karen Hughes involved with this?

WaPo: “Public diplomacy” in action. Or is that inaction?

Habeus rights for Guantanamo Bay detainees

Earlier today, Liss at Shakesville noted the 5-4 Supreme Court ruling stating that Guantanamo Bay detainees have the constitutional right to challenge their detention in civilian courts.

Kennedy, Breyer, Ginsburg, Souter, and Stevens formed the majority. Roberts, Alito, Scalia, and Thomas dissented, with Roberts admonishing his colleagues in the dissent for striking down what he called “the most generous set of procedural protections ever afforded aliens detained by this country as enemy combatants.” Snort.

A rare victory for human rights under the executive excesses of the Bush administration. SCOTUSblog provides more details:

In a stunning blow to the Bush Administration in its war-on-terrorism policies, the Supreme Court ruled Thursday that foreign nationals held at Guantanamo Bay have a right to pursue habeas challenges to their detention. The Court, dividing 5-4, ruled that Congress had not validly taken away habeas rights. If Congress wishes to suspend habeas, it must do so only as the Constitution allows — when the country faces rebellion or invasion.

The Court stressed that it was not ruling that the detainees are entitled to be released — that is, entitled to have writs issued to end their confinement. That issue, it said, is left to the District Court judges who will be hearing the challenges. The Court also said that “we do not address whether the President has authority to detain” individuals during the war on terrorism, and hold them at the U.S. Naval base in Cuba; that, too, it said, is to be considered first by the District judges.

The Court also declared that detainees do not have to go through the special civilian court review process that Congress created in 2005, since that is not an adequate substitute for habeas rights.

The message from the court: The president is not a king. This essential fact was cast aside by those in power after 9/11, ushering in an age of diminished liberties of the most basic sort, an age of unchecked electronic surveillance and the Patriot Act. In misguided efforts to protect ourselves, we rubbished much of the best of who we are.

We yield the floor to Glenn Greenwald:

Our political and media elite were more than willing — they were eager — to relinquish that right to the President in the name of keeping us Safe from Terrorists. Today, the U.S. Supreme Court, in what will be one of the most celebrated landmark rulings of this generation, re-instated that basic right, and in so doing, restored one of the most critical safeguards against the very tyranny this country was founded to prevent.

The obligatory Karl Rove post

Actually, I don’t think I care about Rove’s announced resignation and am not sure much has changed apart from atmospherics. Svengali will still be on The Decider’s speed dial, regardless of his removal from the official organizational chart, and - as we’ve seen with Harriet Miers - Rove will doubtless enjoy the shield of executive privilege should he be troubled by pesky subpoenas.

Still, as a symbol of the failure to establish a thousand-year Republican reign, Rove’s resignation serves us well. The dream ends not with the blare of trumpets, but with a middle-of-the-night whimper.

Addendum: Serendipitously, an Atlantic Monthly article by Joshua Green exposes Rove’s overblown reputation as a political mastermind.

The story of why an ambitious Republican president working with a Republican Congress failed to achieve most of what he set out to do finds Rove at center stage. A big paradox of Bush’s presidency is that Rove, who had maybe the best purely political mind in a generation and almost limitless opportunities to apply it from the very outset, managed to steer the administration toward disaster.

(HT to Political Wire.)

For in that sleep of death what dreams may come

Though fear spreads across the Republic like a shadow in the East, a nameless dread, as the two-and-a-half hour reign of Cheney the First draws near, I think the Dark Lord is more likely to sleep through it than to launch simultaneous invasions of Iran, Syria, and Canada…

…or so we must hope and pray.

When the boss of bosses speaks

If George Bush could order anyone to defy a Congressional subpeona, it would of course be Harriet Miers, whose unabashed idolatry of the president is well-established. Even given that, the defiance of Miers - who isn’t even on the Bush payroll anymore - is still quite remarkable. It’s one thing to plead privilege, but quite another to refuse to even show up. I always shake my head when I hear people use the term “Bush Crime Family,” but it certainly seems to apply here. I haven’t seen a better example of the code of omerta outside of a Scorsese gangster movie.

The committee is practically obligated to respond harshly. One hopes her attorney has uttered the phrase “contempt of Congress” to Miers once or twice.

Indeed, the response to Miers’ mouthpiece from Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers and Subcommittee Chairwoman Linda Sánchez:

A refusal to appear before the Subcommittee tomorrow could subject Ms. Miers to contempt proceedings, including but not limited to proceedings under 2 U.S.C. § 194 and under the inherent contempt authority of the House of Representatives.

We are prepared at the hearing tomorrow to consider and rule on any specific assertions of privilege in response to specific questions. We strongly urge you to reconsider, and to advise your client to appear before the Subcommittee tomorrow pursuant to her legal obligations. The Subcommittee will convene as scheduled and expects Ms. Miers to appear as required by her subpoena.

What Miers needs is a good mob lawyer.