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WASHINGTON - For almost eight centuries the "great writ" of habeas corpus has been a bedrock principle of English and American law, from the Magna Carta to today's jails and courts. It's the means for a prisoner to contest his imprisonment before a judge.
That's one reason legal experts were stunned when the Senate, after an hour of debate, voted Thursday to overturn the Supreme Court's extension of habeas corpus protection to 500-plus detainees at the Guantanamo Bay naval base in Cuba.
Opponents vowed Friday to fight the measure, and negotiators on the issue said the Senate may reconsider it early next week. The White House, which previously has opposed oversight of Guantanamo by Congress and the courts, supports the Senate action, spokeswoman Jeanie Mamo said Friday.

Whole thing. They do a lot of dumb shit on Capitol Hill, but usually the Senate acts as a buffer against truly unwise blunders. Let's hope cooler heads prevail next week. And shame on five Democrats for voting for this abomination. White House support should be a red flag.

Atrios, we think, first theorized that there are a subgroup of Americans who were so enraged by 9/11 that they went totally batshit mad and have never recovered their senses. That sounds about right. This would be an example.