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shorter Club for Growth

Senator McCain kicked our asses in the primaries because the far right Republican base rejected our candidates in droves, but he'll have to dive into the tank for us to win in the general election.

Well, can't argue with that. Identifying himself with the currently-ascendant pack of movement conservatives should be a multiplier for his winning strategy of portraying himself as a twinkly-eyed independent maverick who stands up to the currently-ascendant pack of movement conservatives.

Also he should point out as often as possible that his stance on the hot-button issue of torture is much more nuanced than he's given credit for. After all, without Senator McCain's intervention, if the United States violated the Geneva Convention and practiced torture on the president's sayso there was a clear and present danger that somebody might get into trouble over it

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), a prisoner during the Vietnam War who led the Senate rebellion against the administration's proposals, said, "The agreement that we've entered into gives the president the tools that he needs to continue to fight the war on terror and bring these evil people to justice." But he added: "There is no doubt that the integrity and letter and spirit of the Geneva Conventions have been preserved."

On the key issue of detainee treatment that had caused the impasse between the White House and the dissident Republicans, the two sides agreed on a list of specified crimes that could provoke prosecution of CIA interrogators and others. They also agreed that past violations of the Geneva Conventions, an international treaty barring degrading and humiliating treatment of detainees, would not result in criminal or civil legal action.

The White House, for its part, yielded in its demand to adopt, with congressional approval, a restricted definition of its obligations under Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions. That article requires humane treatment of detainees and bars "violence to life and person," such as death and mutilation, as well as cruel treatment and "outrages upon personal dignity."

The compromise language gives the president a dominant -- but not exclusive -- role in deciding which interrogation methods are permitted by that provision of the treaty. It also prohibits detainees from using the Geneva Conventions to challenge their imprisonment or seek civil damages for mistreatment, as the administration sought.

As the talking dog points out, the McCain/Warner/Graham "compromise" with the White House means that the US reaffirms its commitment to the Geneva Conventions while doing away with the possibility that anyone can be prosecuted for violating them (more from Digby and Legal Fiction).

In the Only Nixon can go to China sense, only a man who has experienced torture at the hands of a lawless and conscienceless enemy could have been the "moderate" face of this particular compromise. I think Senator McCain should insist on being given far more credit by the Jack Bauer crowd as the man who removed a roadblock to their chosen form of amusement international relations.

He should hug Bush more too.

picture from Trailer Park Feminist