I wrote an email message to my senators today. It's perhaps not the sweetest letter I've ever written, but hopefully it will make my points better than I can articulate them over the phone:
You must NOT cave in and vote to support passage of the Military Commissions Act of 2006. You must vote against it.
It's time for Democrats to stop cowering in fear over national security issues and vote to uphold our constitution, our values, and our principles. The compromises that have been made these past five years have seriously undermined our reputation, and foreign powers have every right and a great many reasons to criticize the hypocritical conduct of the U.S.
More on the flip:
We, as Democrats, cannot allow the extremists in this administration to bully us into abandoning our principles (the Constitution) and the rule of law that have made this country great for over 230 years. We must face head-on this attempted coup against concepts as basic as habeas corpus, as set forth in the Magna Carta of 1215, and say enough, stop right there.
Do not allow leadership in the Senate to cut short the debate on this issue through dubious procedural tactics. A matter of such grave importance should warrant unlimited debate, period.
Use all means necessary to defeat this legislation as it is currently drafted. It is rift with ambiguities and loopholes that the administration will not fail to exploit to its maximum advantage and to the nation's undying shame. Do not allow this bill to be voted on until all terms are thoroughly defined. Do not allow "enemy combatant" to become a catch-all term to be invoked at the whim of the administration; it must be defined narrowly, very narrowly.
As presently drafted this bill is at odds with the opinions rendered by the U.S. Supreme Court in the detainee/terrorism cases it has heard since 2003. The USSC is explicit in its charge that the U.S. is obligated to comply with its obligations under the Geneva Conventions, and this bill falls far short. Do not vote on this bill until it conforms to the letter and the spirit of those conventions; they protect our troops now and in the distant future.
Do not allow this legislation to come up for a vote until provisions are written that each detainee is allowed access to the courts (U.S. or military) and is allowed to review the evidence against him/her when the case is heard. Do not allow this vote until any possibility that any detaineee could face indefinite detention without charge in the future is deleted.
It is abundantly clear that this administration is extremely concerned that its egregious conduct has exposed it to future criminal prosecution, and it is seeking to abort any such attempts by rushing this flawed legislation through congress during the heat of an election cycle -- essentially using extortion and threats to use "no" votes against Democrats. Consider that even if you vote yes, the GOP will still brand you as being soft, unpatriotic, treasonous, etc. Are you going to fall for the same, tired ploy another time?
Above all, DO NOT allow the bill to be voted on until all provisions protecting any guilty parties from prosecution (for illegal conduct prior to enactment) under the War Crimes Act or other federal or international statutes and laws are stripped from the bill. We cannot give the perpetrators of these crimes a free pass. How ludicrous it is to think they would give you a free pass if the roles were reversed.
As you can easily read, I find this bill and its House counterpart to be an further abuse of power by the administration and the Republican leadership in the House and Senate. Please pledge that you will do everything in your power to either amend the bill until it strictly adheres to our laws and fundamental principles or to toss it into the round file of bad ideas. [end of message]
So my question to DK readers is, how could I have made my letter better?