As the presidential race heats up and as we look forward to getting past the primaries and into the general election, it's good to know, that no matter who wins in November, the US will stop the practice of waterboarding and other coercive techniques considered to be torture.
Ah, oops. Sorry. Scratch that.
The darling of the independents, John "maverick" McCain, has voted against banning torture by the US government.
Say what?
But wasn't that dude tortured himself in the Vietnam war? And hasn't he spoken out against torture, and even specifically against waterboarding, many times?
Ah, but now, in order to take his place as the presumptive nominee of ALL of his party, McCain must silence the extremely vocal and unhinged right wing, and is now embracing the use of torture as a necessary weapon in the fight against terrorism.
McCain voted against a recent intelligence bill, which would have required the CIA to abide by the Army Field Manual, which prohibits not only waterboarding, but also beatings, electric shock, and the use of dogs, forced nudity, and any technique that simulates execution. The bill passed both houses, but of course the Numnuts-in-chief has promised a veto.
Regarding his vote on the bill, McCain stated that although he is against torture, he "always supported allowing the CIA to use extra measures."
Extra measures.
Such is the nature of the "maverick," I guess. One minute he's against torture, the next he's saying he would allow it as long as the people doing it are good at keeping secrets and won't let photos of their antics leak to the press. One minute Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell are "agents of intolerance," and the next, he's playing footsie with those same religious extremists, and promising to back a federal ban on gay marriage.
I dunno, there must be something about being the presumptive Republican nominee that dulls your brain and makes you forget what words mean. Because when I look up the word "maverick," I get this: "One that refuses to abide by the dictates of or resists adherence to a group; a dissenter."
And not this: "a sudden or unexpected reversal, as of direction, belief, attitude, or policy."
I found that last definition in the dictionary under "flip flop." I guess now they'll have to take John Kerry's face off of that page and put McCain's there instead.
So I would just like to say to all those so-called "independents" out there, and all those Democrats who claim that Hillary is so awful that if Obama doesn't win, they will be FORCED to vote for McCain, I would just hope that they remember that this man that they believe in, who was starved and beaten for five and a half years as a POW, just referred to the practice of torture as "extra measures."
Let me ask all you McCain fans something. Do you think, when John McCain was being tortured in the Hanoi Hilton, that it made a difference to him whether it was the North Vietnamese army kicking him in the gut, or the North Vietnamese version of the CIA? And if it would've made no difference to him then, then what kind of man would he have to be to differentiate it now?
13 comments:
It reminds me a little of the 1980 Republican primaries, when George H.W. Bush rightly referred to Reagan's idiotic "trickle-down economics" as "Voodoo Economics." When it was time for Reagan to select a running mate, suddenly trickle-down economics was okay.
I am enjoying watching the Rabid Right attack McCain, and watch him try to twist his old positions to placate them. Apparently, unlike most people over the age of five, the far right hasn't figured out that most of the time you only get some of what you want in life.
I knew the right wing nutjobs would eventually come in handy. Now they're making Grandpa McCain say things that he will never be able to justify in the general election.
Seriously, though, John McCain is a man of the world. He knows as well as you and I that torture is morally wrong, always, anywhere and for any reason. This makes his current position utterly repugnant.
"McCain voted against a recent intelligence bill"
wouldn't most republicans vote against intelligence?
The man was hung by his arms until the fucking shoulders came out of their sockets! And he stillis willing to talk out of the other side of his mouth now about torture?
What manner of brainwashing power does the Republican party have over it's members?
McCain is making himself more vulerable in the general election. But I think the big question will be how the press and the talking heads will treat McCain after the nomination. He has always gotten notice in the past for the same reason he is running away from his more reasoned and out spoken positions. Pandering for the right wingnut vote seems to be ingrained in the Republicans. I think he would do better if he choose the middle ground so he could court the more "independant" voter.
But the American people love torture - we signed up for eight years of it.
The more I see him, the more I think McCain is just s straight-up dick. He has the condescension of a Rumsfeld combined with a Cheney-esque charisma.
there are seriously people out there who will vote for McCain if Hillary is nominated? Are these the same people who put W. in for 8 years? what kind of fucked up logic do these people have?
SJ: I can't tell you how many people have declared to me that if Obama doesn't get the nomination, they will vote for McCain. They hate Hillary just that much.
When I explain to them that McCain wants to keep our troops in Iraq, and that he is anti-gay and anti-choice, it seems to not deter them much at all. They either keep mumbling the word "maverick," and staring at their shoes, or else they go off on a rant about their hatred of Hillary and all things Clinton.
Jesus, God! We do not need another Maverick in office.
Not unless James Garner decides to run, of course...
Great post by the way...
It just goes to show you that if you're a politician, you're doomed to embrace and often champion ideas and concepts that would normally make you cringe.
I'm not sure why anyone chooses politics as a vocation - I suppose absolute power is truly a foul temptress.
Flan: I LOVE me some James Garner. I told Spooney the other day that I don't care how old he is, and how many Rockford Files tv movies he continues to make, I'd still do him.
Lets face it folks. We get the government we deserve. How many people know how many Justices are on the Supreme Court? How close are we to having Roe v Wade overthrown? How many people believe in creationism and are willing to ignore science? How many people really understand what the war in Iraq is costing us in so many ways? The ignorance of the American voter never ceases to amaze me. We all have to smarten up.
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