Goldang it anyway! ...Bush does it again..

Just when you think he's coming back to his senses, Bush goes soft and pulls another boneheaded about face. I was listening to Hot Talk (Without the "Ox") this morning; Steven Gottwalt, guest host, praised GWB's turnaround on his threat to veto the defense bill with the embedded McCain language, saying (paraphrasing), "He did the right thing. Even though there may be lives at stake, that shouldn't be a reason for America to resort to torture."

That, my dear readers, got my blood boiling. You see, the McCain amendment doesn't merely stop at torture (which is already against the law). The McCain amendment contains the following language:

(a) IN GENERAL.--No individual in the custody or under the physical control of the United States Government, regardless of nationality or physical location, shall be subject to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment.

What's with this degrading treatment? When I pledged my college fraternity many moons ago, I underwent "degrading treatment" during "hell week". Some of these activities included having to wear our clothes inside-out while in public, having to carry a brick and paddle with you everywhere you went (even to classes), and stripping down to your underwear while folks poured water over you (not in public) and you had to do a jigue. Should my fraternity brothers have been brought to the Hague and held on charges? (BTW, after we were initiated we took our pledge educator, stripped him down to his underwear, and handcuffed him to a traffic light)

Now fast forward to a situation twenty-some odd years later, where we have a group of people who would just as soon lop off someone's head as talk with them. They have information that will no doubt save the lives of soldiers, and potentially countless lives with regard to preventing further attacks. And we're supposed to worry about their sensibilities and not engage in degrading treatment??? Even though it may result in getting the information we need to save lives??? Yet the proponents of this would have you think that everything covered in the McCain amendment has to do with torture. It simply doesn't. Simple "degrading treatment" does not torture make.

The mistake of Vietnam was that politicians in effect made the military engage the enemy with one hand tied behind their back and tied their shoelaces together for good measure. Politicians ran the war with the thought of what would be politically popular vs. what would end the conflict with victory. And here we are again, repeating the same insidious mistakes, with what amounts to a bill of rights for terrorists!

And don't give me that cock-and-bull about McCain being tortured while at the Hanoi Hilton, so we need to listen to him and to him only. Doesn't Sam Johnson, who was also tortured, get a say?

The Campaign Finance Reform laws authored by McCain were a disaster that resulted in even more money being brought into campaigns, while at the same time served to limit rights otherwise guaranteed under the First Amendment. Now ol' John McCain serves up another amendment that would actually add rights to those who would see us destroyed. And like with Campaign Finance Reform, all the other bleating sheep went right along with him for fear of the political ramifications of going against a war hero. Good going John. That took brains, didn't it? Actually, it didn't take brains. It took an amazing amount of Chutzpah, arrogance, and lack of foresight.

And what makes it worse? The Commander in Chief of our armed forces, who are giving their all in Iraq and elsewhere, has now given up the fight. He has taken away yet more tools at their disposal that could have otherwise allowed far fewer of them coming home in body bags. Or even worse, he has taken away valuable tools at their disposal that could have one day prevented another 9/11 or worse.

Now, besides trying to dodge bullets and IEDs, our soldiers will have to worry about being hauled off to court to face charges in front of some liberal judge on the possibility that he/she hurt the feelings of a poor, oppressed terrorist (the terrorist no doubt represented by an ACLU lawyer).

Good going McCain. Good going, the rest of you bastard sheep who voted for it. Good going, George W. Bush. I hope you all sleep well at night, in your comfortable beds, feeling better that you did a "feel-good" thing, while again unnecessarily tying the hands of those who are trying their damnedest to keep you safe.

If nothing else, know that you have earned the gratitude of whackos like these, not to mention the thanks of Islamo-fascist terrorists around the world, who may even stop to say "thank you" to their next victim, if they think of it.

Before they saw his head off.

Idiots.



(Filed under Religion of Peace?, RINOS, The Fifth Column)