Michelle Tucker is a political junkie, in a world full of them. She moved to Milwaukee from the south, and is still often surprised that it's OK to be a Democrat here; she's also quite in love with Russ Feingold (and Al Harris). Besides her political addiction, Michelle is a full-time student pursuing her Masters in Political Science, and is currently researching the influence of religion on American politics.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
McCain gives a thumbs up to torture
There’s so much juicy political stuff going on right now (like Obama kicking some serious primary tail, like the upcoming Wisconsin primary, like how disappointed I am to not be able to attend any of this week’s Milwaukee big-wig appearances) that it’s hard to narrow the field down and pick just the right topic. Or, it was until I saw this article from Think Progress: http://thinkprogress.org/2008/02/13/mccain-waterboarding-fail/.
The most important thing to note is that the ban on waterboarding included in this provision is meant to put some kind of restriction on torture-happy government. I’m all for this. In fact, I’m pretty disappointed that it’s taken this long for such a measure to get this far. Rumors that Bush will veto make it all the more important for our legislators to stand up for what’s right and just instead of cowtowing to the President and his cronies. (why do so many vote against this? anyone have a good answer for this?)
What I found disturbing about the piece, though, is the indication that McCain has completely gone over to the darkside. We’ve had other indicators, of course, like that whole it’s okay to be in Iraq for a thousand years or the disturbing picture of his hugging President Bush, but I think this one pretty much takes the cake. A former POW, aka former torture victim, who had previously spoken against waterboarding and spoken for implementing set standards for the treatment of POW’s and foreign suspects, has now decided that waterboarding is okay with him.
The good news, I guess, is that if McCain wins we know what to expect: four more just like that last eight. Why doesn’t that scare more people?
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