John McCain has now been quoted saying that Pres. Bush should veto the bill that restricts interrogation techniques. McCain is not saying that he has changed his position on waterboarding (a techinque that I can’t find a reason to call “torture”.) He does say that Bush should not allow Congress to restrict methods to those outlined in the army field manual.
Perhaps the most noteworthy piece of this article is:
“If a president disagrees with legislation, he should veto it, McCain said. He said he disapproves that Bush sometimes signs legislation he dislikes, then issues critical “signing statements” outlining his objections.”
If you take this at face value, McCain will actual fight the fight and make it obvious for the American People. Today, Pres. Bush signs many bills and than adds “signing statements” which will attempt to withhold legal authority on some items. This falls short in that it doesn’t always “hold water” as a rule of law. Plus, it doesn’t raise the issue so that the American people can weigh in by hitting up their Representatives and Senators.
This is one instance where John McCain’s straight forward approach may benefit conservative voters by giving them an opportunity to call their representatives to accountability.
