All you need to know about John McCain

By Michael J.W. Stickings

From the NYT:

The Senate voted 51 to 45 on Wednesday afternoon to ban waterboarding and other harsh interrogation methods used by the Central Intelligence Agency against high-level terrorism suspects.

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The prohibition of harsh interrogation techniques is part of a wider intelligence authorization bill and would restrict all American interrogators to techniques allowed in the Army Field Manual, which bars the use of physical force.

The House has already approved the bill. Republicans, needless to say, oppose it, either voting against it or hoping for a Bush veto, which is surely coming. (Of course, Lieberman opposed it, too.)

But what about John McCain, presumptive GOP presidential nominee, who has argued passionately against the use of torture -- at least in theory -- not least because he himself was the victim of torture?

Like most in his party, he voted NO. Apparently, when it comes right down to it, he's fine with waterboarding.

Drum: "It's one thing to be against torture in a primary debate where you're trying to appeal to independents and crossover voters, but it's quite another thing to be against torture after you've won the nomination and need to appease a conservative base that's righteously pissed off and not afraid to let you know it... These are the voters McCain needs now, and these voters don't want a president who opposes state sanctioned torture of captive prisoners. So McCain doesn't oppose it anymore. Any questions?"

Nope. I think it's pretty clear what McCain is up to -- and just how much he's willing to sell out to the torture-happy goons that make up his party's base.