{"id":11728,"date":"2008-02-14T20:57:36","date_gmt":"2008-02-15T03:57:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/2008\/02\/14\/mccain-votes-against-torture-ban.html"},"modified":"2008-02-14T20:57:36","modified_gmt":"2008-02-15T03:57:36","slug":"mccain_votes_against_tort","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2008\/02\/14\/mccain_votes_against_tort.html","title":{"rendered":"McCain votes against torture ban"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sen. McCain has a long rep, since his days as a POW in Vietnam, as a staunch opponent of torture, though there’s been a large dollop of public relations covering some acts of political expediency. Some of the latter showed up today, as he voted “no” on a Senate bill that would ban use of waterboarding<\/a> and other harsh interrogation techniques by the CIA, “restricting” them to methods used in the no-doubt-namby-pamby Army Field Manual.<\/p>\n

The bill (the anti-torture clause part of a general intelligence authorization package, and apparently the only controversial part of it) passed, 51-45 (joining a House version that passed 222-199), with the GOP confident enough that Bush would veto it that they didn’t threaten a filibuster, and several simply declined to vote on it (not wanting to be seen as, well, condoning <\/em>torture, as it were). Indeed, five Republicans voted “yes,” just as two Democrats (or one Dem and one quasi-indepdentent) voted “no.”<\/p>\n

Mr. McCain, a former prisoner of war, has consistently voiced opposition to waterboarding and other methods that critics say is a form torture. But the Republicans, confident of a White House veto, did not mount the challenge. Mr. McCain voted \u201cno\u201d on Wednesday afternoon.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

It’s unclear whether he actually opposes the interrogation restrictions, if there’s some other aspect of the bill he disagrees with, or if he wanted to avoid breaking with the president (and, thus, his “core” supporters) over the matter. In either case, one would hope it’s a bit disappointing to at least a few McCain supporters, and hopefully it will be brought up by his opponent during the fall campaign.<\/p>\n

My favorite quote of the article:<\/p>\n

But the White House has long said Mr. Bush will veto the bill, saying it \u201cwould prevent the president from taking the lawful actions necessary to protect Americans from attack in wartime.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

Um, isn’t “lawful” defined as “what’s allowed by law”? If waterboarding been made (even more explicitly) illegal, it’s no longer a “lawful” action, by definition<\/em>. Though, of course, that doesn’t seem to matter much to this particular White House when it comes to waving the banner of “national security” and “the war on terror.”<\/p>\n

(via BD<\/a>)<\/small> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sen. McCain has a long rep, since his days as a POW in Vietnam, as a staunch opponent of torture, though there’s been a large dollop of public relations covering…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[54,17,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11728","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-elections-2008","category-homeland-security","category-politics-law"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":48846,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/12\/10\/mccain-on-the-torture-report.html","url_meta":{"origin":11728,"position":0},"title":"McCain on the Torture Report","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 10-Dec-14 12:55am","format":false,"excerpt":"I've been repeatedly, and gravely disappointed by John McCain several times over the past decade-plus. But he's spot on here, informed not by ideology but by his own experience as a tortured prisoner of war in Viet Nam.'The use of torture compromises that which most distinguishes us from our enemies,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13003,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2008\/08\/21\/was_mccain_tortured_in_vi.html","url_meta":{"origin":11728,"position":1},"title":"Was McCain tortured in Viet Nam?","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 21-Aug-08 10:41pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Well, of course he was. Looking at the litany of mistreatment as a POW in the hands of the North Vietnamese, how could we not call it torture? Um ......","rel":"","context":"In "Elections 2008"","block_context":{"text":"Elections 2008","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law\/elections-2008"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12605,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2008\/03\/12\/the_torture_president.html","url_meta":{"origin":11728,"position":2},"title":"The Torture President","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 12-Mar-08 3:34pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Great legacy to build, George. Maybe it will take historians' attention off all your other gaffes. House Democrats failed Tuesday to override President Bush's veto of a ban on waterboarding...","rel":"","context":"In "Homeland Security"","block_context":{"text":"Homeland Security","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law\/homeland-security"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":24002,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2011\/11\/23\/truth-justice-and-the-secret-annex-of-completely-legal-torture-methods-way.html","url_meta":{"origin":11728,"position":3},"title":"Truth, Justice, and the Secret Annex of Completely Legal Torture Methods Way","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 23-Nov-11 7:11am","format":false,"excerpt":"Because overturning a no-torture executive order and instead mandating a classified set of \"enhanced interrogation techniques\" in a Defense spending bill is what America is all about, right? Well, apparently it is for one GOP Senator. #ddtb Embedded Link Republican Senator Proposes Torture Amendment To Defense Bill","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":136351,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2018\/05\/09\/dark-things-cannot-stand-the-light.html","url_meta":{"origin":11728,"position":4},"title":"Dark Things Cannot Stand the Light","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 9-May-18 10:39am","format":false,"excerpt":"It would be a depressing discussion over beer as to which is worse, torture or covering up torture, because torture is a depressing subject regardless of how you approach it. But that aside, and regardless of \"just following orders\" or \"yeah, we checked with legal first\" excuses, the argument below\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/gina-haspel.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/gina-haspel.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/gina-haspel.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/gina-haspel.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/gina-haspel.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":21156,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2011\/06\/08\/unblogged-bits-wed-8-jun-11-1130.html","url_meta":{"origin":11728,"position":5},"title":"Unblogged Bits (Wed. 8-Jun-11 1130)","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 8-Jun-11 11:30am","format":false,"excerpt":"Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries .... Did The Health Reform Law Pressure Blue Shield Of California To Cap Its Profits? | ThinkProgress - Of course it does. Santorum Refuses To Apologize For Saying McCain Doesn\u2019t Understand How Torture Works |\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Potpourri"","block_context":{"text":"Potpourri","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/potpourri"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11728","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11728"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11728\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11728"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}