John Nichols writes: Petri stands up for the rule of law



"Petri is the closest member that Wisconsin now has to the moderate Republicans this state used to send to Washington, and we are always pleased to highlight the issues on which he displays his integrity and common sense rather than the blind partisanship of so many of his Republican colleagues." Congressman Tom Petri of Wisconsin served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Somalia in the 1960's.

John Nichols writes: Petri stands up for the rule of law

ohn Nichols: Petri stands up for the rule of law

By John Nichols, July 18, 2006

This newspaper has frequently endorsed the re-election campaigns of U.S. Rep. Tom Petri, R-Fond du Lac, whose 6th Congressional District is located northeast of Madison.

We don't agree with Petri on every issue, but we respect his independence in a state Republican caucus made up of Bush administration yes-men such as Mark Green and Paul Ryan and Jim Sensenbrenner, who actually thinks the president is too liberal on issues such as immigration.

Petri is the closest member that Wisconsin now has to the moderate Republicans this state used to send to Washington, and we are always pleased to highlight the issues on which he displays his integrity and common sense rather than the blind partisanship of so many of his Republican colleagues.

One such instance came last week, when Petri was asked about the legal limbo into which the Bush administration threw detainees at the Guantanamo Bay prison before the U.S. Supreme Court intervened and effectively ordered that they be given basic legal protections in accordance with the Geneva Conventions.

The veteran congressman's response was wiser and more humane than that of most Democrats in Washington, let alone most Republicans.

While there was much grumbling about the Supreme Court's decision to accord legal protections to Guantanamo detainees, against the wishes of the Bush administration which, even now, has only grudgingly agreed to respect the Geneva Conventions Petri embraced the court's decision.

Saying that there needs to be "a framework for processing people and giving them their day in court" as opposed to the military tribunal system favored by the president and his aides Petri explained, "Yes, this is a different kind of threat, and these people are not technically, maybe, under the Geneva Conventions and so on. That's an agreement between countries having to deal with uniformed servicemen. These people weren't wearing uniforms, but they are people and they are entitled to have some kind of opportunity to face their accusers and clear themselves."

Petri's no radical, as his language makes clear. But in these days of Bush administration excess, and the frequent failure of congressional oversight, the Fond du Lac Republican's clear recognition that the Guantanamo detainees are entitled to equal protection under the law, and that some of them might even be in a position to clear themselves if they got that protection, is an important statement coming from a member of the president's own party.

It should be welcomed by progressives.

No doubt, reasonable Wisconsinites will soon find reason to disagree with Tom Petri on some issue.

But it is refreshing to be able to celebrate his views regarding the supremacy of the rule of law, and the need to apply justice equally.

Of course, it would be even more refreshing if other members of Congress were as thoughtful, as independent and as right as Tom Petri is on this basic question of how fundamental American values are best respected and applied.

John Nichols is associate editor of The Capital Times.
Published: July 18, 2006

When this story was posted in July 2006, this was on the front page of PCOL:




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