McSame The Flip-Flopper, Or Just Old And Tired? By: Mark W Adams

Some human rights observers say McCain's latest position is best explained as a symptom of exhaustion at fighting an Administration that has continuously resisted efforts to clearly outlaw practices like waterboarding.

Time's Michael Scherer bends over backwards to put a pleasant spin on the, shall we say, evolving positions Johnny "Ace" McCain has promoted on the United States' policy on torturing prisoners.

McBush

Insisting that "the record shows that McCain has neither changed his position on torture nor taken sides with President Bush on the substance of the issue," only a "partisan" would claim that he's changed his position on an issue he can rightfully claim superior moral authority than most people alive. The problem is now he's against a Democratic Party anti-torture bill that is remarkably similar to a bill he drafted then stuffed in a drawer in 2005.

McCain is indeed on the same side as the President (and CIA Director Mike Hayden) in opposing further restrictions on the CIA and other agencies use of techniques banned by the Army Field Manual and International Law -- despite the fact that Bush, Cheney and their henchmen at the highest levels met right there in the White House to approve in minute detail what despicably sadistic methods they could get away with on which specific prisoners while trying to figure out how to avoid answering before a war crimes tribunal.

Scherer blogs about it at Swampland, explaining what happened.

One interesting thing I turned up: A 2005 proposal from McCain’s staff that took the same position on applying the Army Field Manual to the CIA that he now opposes in the Senate.

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The early proposal was never made public. Just a few months later, McCain did go public with legislation that limited just the military (and not the CIA) to the field manual techniques, while making it clear that the CIA still had to abide by international law prohibiting cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. Since then, McCain has been consistent in his position, even though the Bush Administration officially continues to reject his (not to mention most independent experts') interpretation about what constitutes cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.

Never mind the fact just one glance at the sadistic record Bush and Company have on their unique ways of interpreting the law, and that with McCain's support the Military Commissions Act eliminated redress by the prisoners themselves by doing away with habeas corpus review -- but are we really granting the CIA more leeway in this matter because they are our torture experts?

Rank and file soldiers can't be expected to learn to interrogate prisoners with the same effectiveness as trained interrogators; it doesn't make sense to limit specialists in interrogation to general techniques that every soldier is required to assimilate.

Grok that for a second. Let it sink in.

Your tax dollars have been spend teaching people to be experts, specialist even, in the fine art breaking down a human being through threats, fear, intimidation, degradation and assorted approved acts of physical and mental violence go gain a confession or information that is most likely false. And where does one learn these important skills? More importantly, where do these "experts" get the idea that torture works? Watching Fox's 24, of course.

Stay tuned for more exciting Flip-Floppery by Johnny InSane, like his dual positions on fixing the economy, his two competing campaign styles, the different hats his campaign consultants/lobbyists wear while working both sides of the street in international conflicts, violating the very campaign finance law that bears his name, changing his tune on how long we should stay in Iraq .... and on taxes, and on MLK Day, and on .... and on ... and on.