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Torture Amendment Compromise Near

By Jeralyn, Section Legislation
Posted on Tue Dec 06, 2005 at 11:25:56 PM EST
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The New York Times reports that the White House and Sen. John Mcain are nearing a compromise on the torture amendment.

The White House is said to be ready to yield to McCain on his insistence that the CIA not be exempted from the Amendment. But, McCain is willing to consider the inclusion of a standard that limits liability of CIA officers:

Mr. McCain is balking at agreeing to any kind of exemption for intelligence officials, members of his staff say. Instead, he has offered to include some language, modeled after military standards, under which soldiers can provide a defense if a "reasonable" person could have concluded that he or she was following a lawful order about how to treat prisoners.

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    Torture Amendment Compromise Near | 9 comments (9 topical)
    Re: Torture Amendment Compromise Near (none / 0) (#2)
    by kipling on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:43 PM EST
    But after 9-11, Bush SAID! He said, "Just following orders will not be an acceptable excuse."

    Re: Torture Amendment Compromise Near (none / 0) (#3)
    by Wes on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:43 PM EST
    Sort it out at The Hague...

    Re: Torture Amendment Compromise Near (none / 0) (#4)
    by Punchy on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:43 PM EST
    Uh oh. I feared this. Can't wait to see these "concessions". Once they start "conceding" on the language, there'll be enough loopholes to make the whole thing pointless. Way to go, McCain. Now you LOOK like a good guy, but you've effectively changed NADA. This will be pure smoke and mirrors...

    Re: Torture Amendment Compromise Near (none / 0) (#6)
    by Edger on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:43 PM EST
    Looks like BushCo is eating McCain's reputation for breakfast today. 3 days ago (Sunday) McCain said:
    he will refuse to yield on his demands that the White House agree with his proposed ban on the use of torture to extract information from suspected terrorists. “I won’t,” he said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” when asked whether he would compromise with the Bush administration.
    Re: Torture Amendment Compromise Near (none / 0) (#7)
    by Dadler on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:43 PM EST
    McCain compromises on torture. This, in short, is why John McCain is still a terribly dysfunctional man. When push comes to shove, McCain cannot EVER bring himself to genuinely stand up for something that comes with political risk. Has he forgotten that he's lucky to be alive? Vietnamese guys bombing the US sure wouldn't be. Come on, senator McCain, you SURVIVED torture (and probably didn't deserve to since you were engaged in wanton murder and destruction), and this is the best you can do? Disgraceful. A company man and lackey to the core.

    Re: Torture Amendment Compromise Near (none / 0) (#8)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:43 PM EST
    Hopefully they will agree on what exactly constitutes 'torture'! Barking dogs... taking naked pictures.... sleep deprivation.... No Koran to read ..... listening to rap music (although that's close).... etc..etc.... is not torture!

    Re: Torture Amendment Compromise Near (none / 0) (#9)
    by Edger on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:43 PM EST
    It depends on what the meaning of "torture" is... or It depends on what the meaning of "compromise" is... or It depends on what the meaning of "reputation" is... or It depends on what the meaning of "integrity" is... What was this meetin' about agin?

    Re: Torture Amendment Compromise Near (none / 0) (#10)
    by Bill Arnett on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:44 PM EST
    I have believed for some time now that McCain sold his soul to the Rethuglican Party – cheap. He has been so indoctrinated in the "party line" that he is now trashing fellow veterans, albeit not as severely as swiftboaters. McCain passed on his one TRUE chance of serving this country when he passed up the opportunity to be Kerry's running mate in 2004. I will always believe that THAT would have been a far, far better ticket than the pathetic excuses for human beings we currently have for prez/vice prez. He is a sellout, will always be a sellout, and he is actively participating in the looting and rape of America.

    Re: Torture Amendment Compromise Near (none / 0) (#11)
    by Edger on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:46 PM EST
    It may be that McCain's hubris enables him to think that he actually has enough of a reputation as an honest man and enough personal integrity to be able to pull off rescuing the GOP AND his country from the debacle of the Bush years, by positioning himself to be the heir apparent to Bush as GOP candidate for 2008, but has utterly missed the realization that once he sells his soul to them there is no recovering it:
    "To its own detriment, and inadvertently in the interest of the people, the Bush administration has even compromised Old Testament religion and crony capitalism. It has even compromised itself by providing itself with no heir apparent for 2008 to carry on the Bush administration's agenda (at least no heir apparent that could win an election). For lack of love and reason, the Bush administration will pursue its pathetic agenda to the death of religious capitalism and itself. For that same lack of love and reason, the Bush administration is both unwilling and unable to propagate itself beyond Bush. There are no other functional illiterates in a position to take his place. In the biological world, that is an untenable position because it is a terminal position. So it is also in the cultural world." Extraordinary, Ordinary and Stupid By Dr. Gerry Lower

    Torture Amendment Compromise Near | 9 comments (9 topical)