Sad choice for first veto

[struggle4progress]

A Register-Guard Editorial
Published: Saturday, October 8, 2005

In his five years in the White House, President Bush has yet to veto a single piece of legislation. Yet he's threatening what may be an unprecedented veto of a major military spending bill during wartime if it contains an amendment banning U.S. torture of military prisoners.

It's a sorry commentary on the state of this nation when such a threat doesn't provoke an angry and defiant response from Congress. Reflect for a moment: The president of the United States, the leader of the free world, may veto a measure that bans "cruel, inhuman or degrading" treatment of any prisoner in the hands of the U.S. government. Has this country really strayed that far from the liberties and the rule of law that it was founded to uphold?

Sen. John McCain, the Arizona Republican who sponsored the amendment, rightly notes that his proposal merely codifies what has been assumed to be the law for decades. In addition to prohibiting abuse of detainees, the amendment would require that all U.S. troops, as well as other federal agencies such as the CIA, adhere to interrogation and detention standards outlined in the Army Field Manual.

Forty-six Republicans, including Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., joined 43 Democrats and one independent to support adding anti-torture language to the bill. The provision is a response to revelations of torture by U.S. personnel of Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. It was endorsed by 29 retired senior military officers, including Colin Powell, a retired Army general and former secretary of state. <snip>

http://www.registerguard.com/news/2005/10/08/ed.edit.torture.phn.1008.p1.php?section=opinion

[TallahasseeGrannie]

1. Personally

I would not want this stain on my life.

[texpatriot2004]

2. Support the troops huh? My ass this regime supports the troops.

Chickenshit chickenhawks.

[rwheeler31]

4. He wont veto he really really needs the money.

nt

[serryjw]

3. Being

PRO-TORTURE is like being PRO-ABORTION ( please no flaming...I'm pro-choice, not pro-abortion)..How can America support this?

[marmar]

5. Sad choice...

from a sad sack...

:beer:

[indepat]

6. Only conclusion one can draw is W must like it and intends to continue it

[tom_paine]

7. Imperial Amerika is a barbarous, torturing nation

We, by extension, are torturers. Once torture became national policy, overt and quite shamelessly out in the open, we ALL became torturers.

[cassiepriam]

8. This will haunt the US for a long time. He is such a D*mn fool,

and morally bankrupt as well.

[drb]

9. This is about 35 feet below "stupid" for *, but what an amazing...

...campaign speech it will make:

"$35 million to build a bridge to nowhere - signed!"

"$6 million to study the sex lives of aardvarks (yeah, I'm making all this up) - signed!"

"A zillion more stupid bills - signed!"

"The one and only bill he ever vetoed was to prevent prisoners from being tortured!"

I really hope he freakin' vetoes the bill. What a God-send for us!!!

[MasonJar]

10. It seems that they clearly have the votes to override his stupid

veto. Am I missing something? Let him look like the evil one, which he clearly is.