More brief thoughts on the Secret Prisons revelation

First, Obviously, this is all being done pre-election so that a vote will be rushed, but I would argue that only part of that has to do with affecting the elections themselves. Another part has to do with getting it done while the Bush admin still has some leverage.

Would a lame duck Congress without the election hype be as accomodating? Or a Democratic House after January? (Again, see the immunity post yesterday.)

Second, Is this the October Surprise? Is this all they've got? The Bush administration, unable to round up any significant terror figures, brings out a few that they've been keeping on ice for years.

Shouldn't the question be, "you haven't captured a major Al Qaeda figure since Khalid Sheikh Muhammed in March 2003?"

Third, On the immunity issue, "the draft Administration bill would (i) retroactively legalize all the unlawful acts that were approved and performed from 2001 to the present day (see section 9, page 86); (ii) would cut off all judicial review of U.S. compliance with the Geneva Conventions (section 6(b), page 79)"

Last, All of this acted as convenient cover as the Senate Republicans killed the Rumsfeld "no confidence" vote which would've been the headline today. Articles asking the question about Rumsfeld. Articles revisiting all the mistakes of the war. CNN/MSNBC would've carried polls. It would've been the topic of debate. But not now.