The Senate bans waterboarding by a vote of 51-45 and, surprisingly enough, straight-talker John McCain votes against the bill. “McCain sided with the Bush administration yesterday on the waterboarding ban passed by the Senate, saying in a statement that the measure goes too far by applying military standards to intelligence agencies. He also said current laws already forbid waterboarding, and he urged the administration to declare it illegal.” God forbid we take too strong a stance against torture, eh, Senator? For shame.
2 thoughts on “Senate: No More Water Torture. McCain: Well…”
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I don’t know… given that this bill was more about political grandstanding on both sides than getting results, I can take McCain’s point on this. Rather than making illegal again things that are already illegal, immoral and worst of all, generally ineffective, why don’t we enforce the laws we have? If these measures were warranted, surely their use will stand up in court. We need to allow due process to proceed (which, granted, the administration is blocking), not simply make more laws. Making illegal something which is already illegal (even if the previous illegality stems from a broader definition) just weakens law in general, and opens up loopholes for other things intended to be covered in the broader definition.
Normally, I’d agree with you, Eric. But, given that this is about *torture* — which is an issue I feel can’t be argued against strongly enough — and that the administration has shown every indication they’re not abiding the laws as already written (or, as you said, allowing for due process), perhaps some clarification is in order.
Besides, McCain’s been all for political grandstanding in the past. This is just him tacking to the right to shore up his base. That he’s doing so on the question of TORTURE suggests there’s few, if any, principles that won’t go the way of political expediency this election year. Which is a sad revelation.