And BINGO!
David Broder reveals why - exactly - John McCain made his "highly principled" stand against the request from the White House for some clarification on how to treat terrorist thugs. You know, the "highly principled" stand he bragged about to a fundraiser in New Hampshire.
McCain is setting up to run independent.
American politics reached a critical turn last week. The revolt of several Republican senators against President Bush's insistence on a free hand in treating terrorist detainees signaled the emergence of an independent force in elections and government.
This movement is not new, but the moral scale of the issue — torture — and the implications for both constitutional and international law give it an epic dimension, even if it is ultimately settled by compromise.
The senators involved — John McCain, Lindsey Graham and John Warner — were also instrumental in forming the "Gang of 14," the bipartisan bloc that seized control of the Senate last year and wrote the compromise that prevented a drastic change in the filibuster rule that otherwise would have triggered a bitter partisan divide.
These are not ordinary men. McCain, from Arizona, is probably the leading candidate for the 2008 presidential nomination. Graham, from South Carolina, is the star among the younger Republican senators. Warner, from Virginia, embodies the essence of traditional Reagan conservatism: patriotism, support for the military, civility.
They were joined in their opposition to Bush's call for extraordinary interrogation techniques by Colin Powell, the former secretary of state and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who is still, despite the controversies over his role in Iraq policy, one of the most admired Americans.
Graham and Warner have both been promised the moon to back McCain here - one is likely the VP pick. But McCain is going for it on this basis.
He'll lose, but he will do a lot of damage to the country in the recess. Broder is the pipeline they chose to make their announcement.
By Dan, Thursday, 21 September , 2006 @ 10:16 am
“He’ll lose, but he will do a lot of damage to the country in the recess.”
Lines like this are the reason you look like a typical “you give aid and comfort to the enemy because you’re not a Republican” Republican.
He’ll do damage to the country? What sort of damage? Is he going to pass laws during his campaign? Is he going to deep six Bush’s economic policies (that’s a trick question)?
Or is it a statement meant to question the “patriotism” of man the Republican party is threatened by? I mean seriously…just how in the hell can he do damage to the country IF HE LOSES?
The best I can come up with is that you think he’ll split the Republican vote and Democrats will win, which according to your philosophy would be damaging to the country.
By Gaius, Thursday, 21 September , 2006 @ 10:22 am
He’s as likely to fracture the Democrat vote. The damage would be fracturing the sytem even further than it is and making it into a system where only one party is viable. That is not a good idea.
Dan, I am not sure why you are suddenly trying to put up exceedingly hostile comments, including language and ad hominems that are not going to be allowed to post. You might want to reconsider how you are going about this.
By Dan, Thursday, 21 September , 2006 @ 10:26 am
I will not reconsider. What’s good for the goose, and all that. You constantly demonize and villify the Democratic party as a whole, and individual Democrats as you see fit to. I’m simply using your practices…if the fact that I’m using them against you makes you uncomfortable, maybe a blog isn’t the right arena for you. You probably need to have thicker skin.
The system is already fractured. If it gets so fractured that it breaks entirely, maybe it’ll be fixed that much quicker.
By Dan, Thursday, 21 September , 2006 @ 10:31 am
Not for nothing, but do you think it’s possible that McCain is trying to organize against torture, because he’s against torture. Maybe being a POW gave him some insight into this subject that Bush couldn’t really get from Air National Guard duty? Just a thought.