Attention conservation notice: if you already know that the Graham amendment is vile and just want to get to the part where we'll pay, go here.

Further to this post, it appears that there's a compromise amendment on the table aimed at undercutting the Bingaman amendment:

A bipartisan group of senators reached a compromise Monday that would allow detainees at Guantanamo Bay to appeal the rulings of military tribunals to the federal courts.

Under the agreement, detainees who receive a punishment of 10 years in prison to death would receive an automatic appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Lesser sentences would not receive automatic review, but detainees still could petition the court to hear their cases.

In addition, the 500 or so detainees at the U.S. naval base in Cuba would be allowed to challenge in federal court the procedure under which they were labeled "enemy combatants."

This is bullshit. Quite apart from anything else, "only" ten years? Oy. But more to the point, habeas corpus is a Good Thing™ and there is no reason to suspend it for "enemy combatants" or anyone else. Digby's right, it's the "very foundation of our system of government and the single most important element of liberty". We do not want to (continue to?) be a country where people disappear. More from that WaPo article:

Graham said he opposed Bingaman's proposal because it did not correct "lawsuit abuse" by prisoners at Guantanamo, and, he said, it would continue to treat terrorism suspects as criminals by affording them the right to file habeas corpus petitions to fight their detentions in a U.S. court.

The Supreme Court gave that right to the 500 or so prisoners held at Guantanamo in 2004. Many of the prisoners were captured in Afghanistan and have been held at Guantanamo for several years without being charged.

Is this asshole trying to claim we can't afford to have 500 petitions heard in three years? Tell it to Adel, motherfucker.

The Center for Constitutional Rights has a debunking of seventeen myths and distortions about the Graham amendment; read it all, but here's a short version:

Myth: Everyone in Guantánamo Is a Terrorist
Fact: According to Military Officials, Most of the Prisoners in Guantánamo Are Innocent and Should Not Be Detained

Myth: Everyone in Guantánamo Was Captured on the Battlefield
Fact: The Prisoners in Guantánamo Include Many Civilians Who Were Seized All Over The World - Not Just From Afghanistan

Myth: The Rasul Decision Gives Terrorists the Right to Sue U.S. Soldiers in Federal Court
Fact: The Rasul Decision Simply Reaffirmed the Historical Right to Challenge Indefinite Detention

Myth: The Rasul Decision Gives Terrorists in Guantánamo More Rights than Those Held by U.S. Soldiers Captured By Our Enemies
Fact: U.S. Soldiers Imprisoned By Other Countries Cannot Be Detained Indefinitely and Must Be Given a Fair Hearing

Myth: U.S. Soldiers in U.S. Military Custody Do Not Have the Right to Habeas Review
Fact: U.S. Soldiers Have the Right to Habeas Review of Their Detention by the U.S. Military

Myth: The Habeas Petitions by Guantánamo Detainees Are Clogging Our Federal Court System Across The Country
Fact: The Habeas Petitions Are Coordinated in a Single Federal Court and Proceeding in an Orderly Fashion

Myth: Habeas Review Interferes with the Military's Intelligence Gathering
Fact: the Military is Not Receiving Any Meaningful Intelligence from the Men Imprisoned in Guantánamo

Myth: The Graham Amendment Preserves Meaningful Post-Conviction Review of Military Commission Prosecutions
Fact: The Graham Amendment Eliminates Post-Conviction Habeas Review for Military Commission Defendants, Even Those Sentenced to Death

Myth: CSRTs Provide Robust Due Process
Fact: The CSRTs Are Sham Proceedings That Fail to Provide Minimal Due Process Protections

Myth: CSRTs Are "Geneva Conventions on Steroids"
Fact: The CSRTs Are Kangaroo Courts That Denigrate Our Military Justice System

Myth: Court of Appeals Review of a CSRT Conclusion Provides Meaningful Due Process
Fact: Any Review of A Sham Proceeding Is Meaningless - The Underlying Hearing Must Provide Adequate Process

Myth: Terrorists in Guantánamo Are Being Held in Humane Conditions
Fact: Innocent Men Are Imprisoned Under Inhumane Conditions at Guantánamo

Myth: Meaningful Monitoring of Guantánamo Will Continue Without Habeas Review by Federal Courts
Fact: Without Judicial Review, Guantánamo Slips Back Into A Legal Black Hole And We Will Never Know Who The Prisoners Are and What Has Happened to Them

Myth: Eliminating Habeas Corpus Review Is Consistent With Our Legal Traditions and Values
Fact: The Graham Amendment Is a Radical Rejection of Our Anglo-American Legal Traditions Dating Back to the Magna Carta

Myth: Any Problems That May Have Occurred In the Past Will Be Solved By Future Annual Review Boards (ARBs)
Fact: The ARBs Serve a Different Purpose and Fail to Correct the Flaws in the Initial CSRT Record

Myth: The Graham Amendment Will Improve the CSRT Procedures
Fact: Congress Will Not Be Able to "Fix" The CSRTs Because the CSRTs Are Completed for Every Individual in Guantánamo

Myth: The Habeas Petitions Raise Frivolous Issues
Fact: The Habeas Petitions Raise Limited and Fundamental Challenges to Imprisonment

Speaking of short versions of things that should be tattooed onto Lindsey Graham's body, Hilzoy and Katherine have wrapped up their argument against the Graham amendment, and Norbizness has posted the Cliff's Notes.

I hope you're convinced, now, that this is important enough to warrant 60 seconds of your time. That's all it will take, because the spousal unit and I will pay for your call to your senators. Here's what you do:

1. find your senators' phone numbers: look here or here
2. call 1-800-323-6263 (for English) or 1-800-323-6269 (for Spanish)
3. the voice will ask for your PIN; dial 2785446232
4. the voice will ask you to dial the destination number; dial your senator and let him/her know you're watching, and you expect him/her to do the decent thing and support the Bingaman amendment.

There's enough on that card to pay for nearly 500 1-minute phone calls.

Please. Call now.

P.S. if you're worried about calling from work, you could use the method above on your break: use a cellphone, or duck out to a payphone, and remove all workplace/politics conflict. Just, whatever you do, call.