Matt Stoller comments on a possible Democratic push to restore habeas rights for foreign detainees: "[I]t seems to be an entirely political problem: the votes are there... but leadership is worried about taking heat from Republicans."
Not sure why they're so worried. As the Washington Post points out, the Dems' best chance to restore habeas is to add an amendment to the defense authorization bill and hope that Bush won't veto it. (He might try to weasel out of it with a signing statement, but that's another matter.) But Ike Skelton seems to be leaning toward introducing the habeas provision as a standalone bill, which would almost certainly get smacked down. Why? What's he afraid of? The excuses floated in the Post piece sound too flimsy to be believed.
--Bradford Plumer