A new release from the Supremes

Fortunately, Scalia gets only one vote. And you gotta be impressed, if not surprised, with how reliably obedient Alito has been.

The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that President Bush overstepped his authority in ordering military war crimes trials for Guantanamo Bay detainees, saying in a strong rebuke that the trials were illegal under U.S. and international law.

Bush said there might still be a way to work with Congress to sanction military tribunals for detainees and the American people should know the ruling "won't cause killers to be put out on the street."

The court declared 5-3 that the trials for 10 foreign terror suspects violate U.S. law and the Geneva conventions.

Translation: If the Supreme Court says my military tribunals are against U.S. law, I'll just change the law.

As for the Geneva Conventions, the administration never felt bound by them anyway.

And by "killers," Bush is referring to suspects who the government has detained for years, and still lacks sufficient evidence to even charge, let alone convict. But this administration has never been a big fan of proof, and never lets a lack of evidence prevent it from making allegations, taking punitive action or even invading another country.

The ruling raises major questions about the legal status of the approximately 450 men still being held at the U.S. military prison in Cuba and exactly how, when and where the administration might pursue the charges against them.

Major questions that the media and Congress are unlikely to ask.

It was a broad defeat for the government, which two years ago suffered a similar loss when the high court held the president lacked authority to seize and detain terrorism suspects and indefinitely deny them access to courts or lawyers.

And you see the dramatic effect that decision had, because the administration no longer ... uh ...

So this ruling probably will have no effect whatsoever on anything anywhere. First of all, this administration just does whatever it wants to do, without regard for what the legislative or judicial branches say.

Second, these prisoners have been held without charges for years. Does anyone really think that the crack U.S. Dept. of Justice is suddenly going to produce evidence against hundreds of prisoners after all this time? The administration never planned to try these people anyway, so ruling that the military tribunals are illegal doesn't really matter. The Court can rule any way it wants, but these people are going to stay right where they are, without charges, until well after George Bush is put out to his brush-covered pasture. The plan is to stay the course and never admit a mistake until, like Iraq, Afghanistan, North Korea, Iran, the Gaza Strip, Darfur, bin Laden, the deficit, Medicare Part D, the trade imbalance, the housing bubble, the environment, oil prices and New Orleans, they are someone else's problem.

UPDATE 1: This is how low our expectations of this administration are and how far our standards have fallen:

President George W. Bush on Thursday said he had not fully reviewed the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that found the current military tribunal system to try Guantanamo prisoners unlawful, but promised it would be taken seriously.

Really? Haven't "fully reviewed" the Supreme Court ruling? Shocking. But will take it seriously? Impressive.

UPDATE 2: Remember what I said above about how this ruling "probably will have no effect whatsoever on anything anywhere"? Well if you didn't believe me ...

A U.S. Supreme Court ruling on war crimes tribunals being held at Guantanamo navy base will have little effect on the detention camp that holds 450 foreign captives, the camp commander said.

"I don't think there's any direct outcome on our detention operation," Rear Adm. Harry Harris, the prison commander, said in an interview this week before the ruling.

Hey, at least he's honest.