On Congress's Capitulation

Well, the Republican mavericks didn't stray too far from the herd. They let Bush continue his torturing of the Geneva Conventions and the Constitution in order to continue torturing (mostly innocent) captives.

They say it's a compromise. If you believe that the White House gave up more than a token in its position, I have some mountain-top property in Kansas I'd like to sell you. Meanwhile, the Democrats sat back and let the Republicans frame the terms of the debate--AGAIN!

Tom Tomorrow (This Modern World) said it best in his blog:

"Digby’s not the only one ready to call this one a defeat for Democrats but it shouldn’t be too hard for them to regain control on this issue (provided that a couple of them grow a spine). A decent rebuttal would go something like this :

“Senators McCain and Graham may have sold out on this issue, but the Democratic party still believes that torture is torture, no matter what the President may choose to call it. We in the Democratic party aren’t willing to sacrifice our humanity in order to protect our way of life, because to do so would destroy the moral foundation upon which this great nation was founded. The inhuman treatment of suspects by this administration is deplorable and if Senator McCain is no longer opposed to torture, then we’ll have to continue this fight without him.”

Don’t let the conventional wisdom coalesce around the notion that rubber stamping the President’s bill is a compromise. The GOP “rebels” are cowards for buckling under the pressure of their President and their party. The only compromise was the one made when those Senators sold their souls."