Over at Brad DeLong’s “reality based” blog, DeLong is ragging on Tom Maguire for writing that the Hamdan decision may be a Pyrric victory for the Democratic Party.
Tom Maguire loses his identity. He forgets that he is an American patriot, and for a moment becomes a cynical Republican partisan:
JustOneMinute: GD Hamdan – Careful What You Wish For: The Supreme Court’s ruling in Hamdan may represent a Pyrrhic victory for the Democrats – since Bush is now likely to go to Congress for enabling legislation, Dems may be forced into a series of potentially awkward votes just a few months before the election…
Hamdan is not a “Pyrrhic victory” for Democrats. Hamdan is a full-fledged victory for freedom, America, and constitutional government. “Hamdan” says that the United States is not an elective dictatorship, but rather a republic in which there is a legislative branch which legislates and an executive branch that executes the laws–executes the laws, doesn’t do what it likes while ignoring Congress.
May Tom Maguire remember who he is soon.
I don’t read Maguire regularly, but I think his assessment is quite correct. All the Hamdan decision really says is that military tribunals either need to be conducted according to the same standards as courts martial, or Congress needs to pass legislation that says that military tribunals don’t need to be conducted according to those standards. So, Bush can now go to Congress and ask them to pass such legislation. Meanwhile, Hamdan and his ilk will remain detained at Gitmo indefinitely, since the court did not rule that Gitmo was illegal, or detaining those at Gitmo is illegal, or that they need to receive a speedy trial in civilian courts.
The Democrats will now be forced into voting yes to such legislation, and giving the Bush administration a huge victory that the far left-wing in control of their party will be strongly opposed to. Or, they can vote no, which the majority of the country will be opposed to. This is a disaster in the making for the Democrats, who have had enough trouble trying to take advantage of Bush’s problems, and now will again be able to be portrayed as weak on national security with mid-term elections coming up. So yes, it certainly does look like a Pyrrhic victory for the Democrats.
No matter what happens now, the Bush administration, and the GOP, can win. To paraphrase Hannibal, “One more victory like that and it will be the end of us.” Such looks likely to be true for the Democrats. And I think it’s laughable for anyone to claim that Maguire is a cynical Republican hack (even if just temporarily) for daring to say that he believes that Hamdan may turn out to be a political victory for his party. I mean, how dare he hold an opposing opinion to DeLong’s. By DeLong’s standards, anyone who disagrees with him is a hack, while he decides what is reality and what is not. How very convenient!
