End of American Democracy Day

I've reconciled to the fact that the United States will break 800 years of precedent today by stripping habeas corpus protections, that the United States will use election-year politics to codify torture into law and give the President - one person - the ability to decide what is and is not torture, that the United States will, from now on, be allowed to indefinitely hold anyone without explaining to them the charges against them.

That's where were at today. It's nothing less than the end of American democracy as we know it. Democracy has withstood challenges before, like with the Alien and Sedition Acts, the internment of Japanese-Americans, the suspension of habeas corpus during the Civil War. In all of those cases, the egregious assault on civil liberties and American values was overturned, and the nation eventually acknowledged the errors of their ways. But each time, America comes back a little less innocent, a little more stained, and a little less free. Such is our circumstance today, and living through such a stain on our history is a whole lot less fun than reading about it.

Harry Reid absolutely made a tactical mistake in giving up the filibuster on this legislation, but ultimately the fault must lie with those who crafted and executed this attack on the Constitution. This President has a lot of ammunition for historians to use in judgment, but today's legislation, which he will praise and sign in a big ceremony, will eventually be the unkindest cut. History will not look favorably on the man who stared into the eyes of a few terrorists and said, "You win, we'll change our democracy and give up our freedoms." Because terrorism beat the mighty United States today. And there's no other reason why other than cowardice.

Democrats gave some of the best speeches I've seen in a legislative debate today (well done, Sen. Obama). They were unequivocal and displayed the best of America. Unfortunately, they were tragically late to this party, and their failure to rouse public support earlier eventually doomed some of the amendments, if not the bill itself. Still, while every American stands guilty in the aftermath of this travesty, some deserve more scorn. And I will let conservative Andrew Sullivan give the postscript on where we go from here:

The only response is for the public to send a message this fall. In congressional races, your decision should always take into account the quality of the individual candidates. But this November, the stakes are higher. If this Republican party maintains control of all branches of government, the danger to individual liberty is extremely grave. Put aside all your concerns about the Democratic leadership. What matters now is that this juggernaut against individual liberty and constitutional rights be stopped. The court has failed to stop it; the legislature has failed to stop it; only the voters can stop it now. If they don't, they will at least have been warned.

We will get through this, we will continue to change America and to see that long arc of history slowly bend toward justice. But make no mistake, we are different today.