Well, despite all the hints and trial balloons, the White House has decided not to pursue the strategy of overt fascist resistance to the Hamdan decision. Instead, the Bushies announced yesterday that the President will rescind the Executive Order declaring that alleged terrorists in military custody have no protections under the Geneva convention.
I think this supports the "Hamdan is a big deal" school of thought. Once the Executive Order is rescinded, military interrogators will have no defence if they commit war crimes. Obviously, that no more guarantees that torture will stop then the Eighth Amendment prevents prisoner abuse domestically. There is absolutely no reason to give this White House the benefit of any doubt. But, still, it is a major victory for the rule of law.
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It certainly is a happy revelation that they are not, after all, fascists (though I am not sure the final word is in on that just yet).
But this probably just means they are very confident that Congress will pass legislation to give them additional authority, or, more importantly, that the mere act calling on Congress to do so will help them retain control of that institution.
Oh, you're so depressing...
Seriously, though, I don't see Congress explicitly overriding the Geneva Conventions without a right-authoritarian political campaign against them. The international cost is just too great. No doubt they will try to cut corners, but this is still a big deal. The Bush revolt against globalization has been largely quashed by impersonal historic forces.
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