The New York Times on the torture bill:
Republican strategists think they can win this fall, not by passing a good law but by forcing Democrats to vote against a bad one so they could be made to look soft on terrorism.
It’s about time someone started to call the Bushoids on their sheer unpatriotic cynicism. Much of the Bush Administration’s “anti-terror” policy can’t be understood in any other terms. It’s not about winning the “war”; it’s about making an issue. Feh.
But aren’t Democrats in tough races actually voting for it? I’m thinking of Brown in OH and Ford in TN. Heck, my Democratic Congressman, in a marginal district but facing a severely underfunded opponent (I can’t even tell you his name–I haven’t seen it), voted for it.
I think it’s pretty clear that this isn’t a made-up issue. How to proceed is an open question, and there are clear differences in approach. What’s surprising is that Democrats don’t believe they can win on the issue. Heck, Democrats should have offered legislation increasing the penalty for the techniques they object to.
I view this bill as our generation’s version of the Fugitive Slave Act (1850). A grotequely amoral “compromise” which will lead to further disaster.