Well, now, there's a surprise...

Or not.

The Associated Press reported on Sunday: "The Navy lawyer who led a successful Supreme Court challenge of the Bush administration's military tribunals for Guantanamo detainees has been passed over for promotion and will have to leave the military.

"Lt. Cmdr. Charles Swift, 44, will retire in March or April under the military's 'up or out' promotion system."

From a New York Times editorial this morning: "With his defense of Mr. Hamdan and his testimony before Congress starting in July 2003, Commander Swift did as much as any single individual to expose the awful wrongs of Guantánamo Bay and Mr. Bush's lawless military commissions. It was a valuable public service and a brave act of conscience, and his treatment is deeply troubling. . . .

"The law creating military tribunals for terror suspects, passed by Congress in a pre-election panic, leaves enormous room for the continued abuse of prisoners and for the continued detention of scores of men who committed no crime. If their military lawyers are afraid to represent them vigorously, their hopes for justice dim even further."