I put Middle Earth Journal in hiatus in May of 2008 and moved to Newshoggers.
I temporarily reopened Middle Earth Journal when Newshoggers shut it's doors but I was invited to Participate at The Moderate Voice so Middle Earth Journal is once again in hiatus.

Thursday, September 21, 2006

Did McCain sell out - AGAIN?

John McCain has found it very easy to sacrifice principal for political ambitions the last few years and there is no reason to believe this is any different.
Bush, McCain reach agreement on tribunal laws
President Bush and Republican negotiators led by Sen. John McCain have reached an agreement on legislation covering tribunals for enemy combatant suspects, NBC News has learned.

Details on the deal were not immediately available, but Rep. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said it represented “very positive steps forward. Once everyone looks at it, we hope to come to an agreement.” He was meeting with McCain and Sens. Bill Frist and John Warner, according to NBC.

President Bush’s call for legislation has been deadlocked in an intraparty dispute, with Republican Sens. McCain, Graham and John Warner seeking a provision to make it clear that torture of suspects is barred.

Also at issue was whether suspects and their lawyers would be permitted to see any classified evidence in the cases against them.
Now since Bush does not compromise and McCain has a recent history of giving in it is probably safe to assume that Bush got most of what he wants. It may be that people are beginning to see through McCain; the New York Times/CBS poll today indicated that Hillary Clinton now has a higher approval rating than John McCain - 32% to 28%.

Update
Marty Lederman reports that McCain & Co did indeed cave.
Here's the language. It's not subtle at all, and it only takes 30 seconds or so to see that the Senators have capitualted entirely, that the U.S. will hereafter violate the Geneva Conventions by engaging in Cold Cell, Long Time Standing, etc., and that there will be very little pretense about it. In addition to the elimination of habeas rights in section 6, the bill would delegate to the President the authority to interpret "the meaning and application of the Geneva Conventions" "for the United States," except that the bill itself would define certain "grave breaches" of Common Article 3 to be war crimes.
Oh the shame!

Update II
I agree with Digby;
The winners: Bush and McCain
The Losers: The Democrats who foolishly sat out the fight thinking McCain & Co was doing the fighting for them.

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