Saturday February 9, 2008, 9:07 pm
Pledge NO TORTURE, or forget about my vote.

Sunday February 10, 2008, 4:02 am
Last week, the Administration was finally cornered by their torture videos - forced to admit to waterboarding prisoners. Now, their only way out of criminal charges is to try to make torture NOT ILLEGAL. That's why last Thursday (Feb 7th) Cheney publicly admitted to, and defended, torture. He stood in front of an Ultra-Right audience (CPAC) and, in-effect, dared the country to arrest him: "Would I do it again? You're damned right I would."

This places McCain in the ultimate no-win political bind. Torture is John McCain's signature issue. The best-known fact about McCain is that he was tortured. He lead the fight in the Senate to ban torture - and won the issue, over stiff White House resistance, 90 to 9! Right now he's in a fight with the Ultra-Right for his political life. Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, et. al., are attacking him relentlessly and refusing to support the Republican ticket. He went before that same CPAC audience, just before Cheney, to beg for conservative support. He can't win the general election without it. So he can't cross the Ultra Right right now. But Cheney is defiant about breaking McCain's torture ban. And what has McCain done about that? NOTHING.

If McCain is going to give us "straight talk", he'll have to accuse the President and Vice President of war crimes. That would finish his campaign. If he fails to stand up for his principals and call them to account, he will brand himself as history's preeminent flip-flopping, pandering, wimp. It would destroy the McCain brand. If we demand that he answer the question, any answer he gives is his doom.

So our task is simple: for the next 5 days we hold John McCain's feet to the fire over torture. Our demand for his answer should be lead by both of our Democratic candidates.

And the price of failing to do so? To wake up tomorrow in an America in which torture is forever legal.

Sunday February 10, 2008, 9:00 pm
I wish more Americans were demanding action on this issue. When it comes to the use of torture..., our government, can't be trusted with a small door, of "get Congress's approval first".., we all know "how that game is played"...act now, get the paperwork, later, and follow-up with damage control to explain the pre-emptive action on our part.
In my opinion, our CIA and Special Agents will do what they feel they need to do, no matter what our laws are, and they have been doing it anyways..., just like this wonderful news updates us. Slowly we are finding out many Truths. It seems with that small door open, these agents think they can take things further or start to be irresponsible with the Power of it. Strict laws on No Torture would make them less anxious to be power mongers with trying to extract intelligence information, and not use it, at a whim, on any situation.
Great post, thank you, Noted.