Eclipsing his rollover at the 2004 RNC, John McCain voted for torture last night. One would think he'd have a vested interest in banning U.S. use of torture...but no.
Quoting Glenn Greenwald, who watched the debate intently:
During the debate on his amendment, Arlen Specter said that the bill sends us back 900 years because it denies habeas corpus rights and allows the President to detain people indefinitely. He also said the bill violates core Constitutional protections. Then he voted for it.
And I'm disappointed in Jay Rockefeller, too. Greenwald again:
Jay Rockefeller (who voted for this bill) is the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee. When he was defending the amendment he introduced to compel the CIA to disclose to the Senate and House Intelligence Committees information about their interrogation activities, he complained that the White House has concealed all information about the interrogation program and that the Intelligence Committee members (including him) therefore know nothing about it. His amendment to compel reports to Congress was defeated with all Republicans (except Chafee) voting against it. He proceeded to vote for the underlying bill anyway, thereby legalizing a program he admits he knows nothing about (and will continue to know nothing about).
And, of course, morally bankrupt moralist Joe Lieberman voted for torture, too, but that's no surprise.
Comments