Greenwald on yesterday's Supreme Court decision

Read the whole thing. In among all the important points he makes is a key difference between the Crazy Train and Barack Obama:

The Military Commissions Act of 2006 was -- and remains -- one of the great stains on our national political character. It was passed by a substantial majority in the Senate (65-34) with the support of every single Senate Republican (except Chafee) and 12 Senate Democrats. No filibuster was even attempted. It passed by a similar margin in the House, where 34 Democrats joined 219 Republicans to enact it. One of the most extraordinary quotes of the post-9/11 era came from GOP Sen. Arlen Specter, who said at the time that that the Military Commissions Act -- because it explicitly barred federal courts from hearing habeas corpus petitions brought by Guantanamo detainees -- "sets back basic rights by some 900 years" and was "patently unconstitutional on its face" -- and Specter then proceeded to vote for it.

The greatest victim of the 9/11 attack has been our core, defining constitutional liberties. Of all the powers seized by this administration in the name of keeping us Safe, the power to imprison people indefinitely with no charges and no real process is the most pernicious.

Passage of the Military Commissions Act was spearheaded by John McCain, who was anointed by cowardly Senate Democrats to speak for them and negotiate with the White House. Once McCain blessed the Military Commissions Act, its passage was assured. Barack Obama voted against it, and once its passage appeared certain, Obama offered an amendment to limit it to five years. That amendment failed, rendering the MCA the law of the land without any time limits.

It never ceases to amaze me that these so-called "small government" conservatives only wag their fingers at "big government" when it tries to help poor people. When it comes to taking away the rights and power of individuals, on the other hand, no encroachment on popular sovereignty or the rule of law, no lurch toward authoritarianism, is too far for the modern Right. Their objections to government power are purely capitalistic, without a shred of concern for democratic principles. In fact, where such democratic principles are concerned, the Right opposes them.

Thus, the true moniker for the American successors of Strauss and Buckley: police state conservatives.