The President and Congress are not above the Constitution

The Supreme Court gave a stinging, if narrow, rebuke yesterday to President Bush and congress regarding detainees at Guantanamo. By declaring that detainees have the right to seek their release in our standard court system, the Supreme Court should have finally put an end to Bush's flaunting of the constitution in the name of the "war on terror." Amnesty hails the decision but calls it "a limited victory for human rights." Scotusblog looks at some of the scenarios that may play out in the White House, the Pentagon and the court system. There is, of course, a multitude of other coverage.

It seems to me, though, that the real tragedy of this is how long it has taken. Bush has essentially shown that the courts move so slowly on issues like this that a president can get away with more than 6 years of human rights and constitutional abuses. Worst of all, there are no repercussions for these actions. The President and the Congress are not above the Constitution, but for long periods of time, they can act as if they are.