John McCain 'Very Disappointed' By GOP Candidates' Endorsement Of Waterboarding

[kpete]

Source: Huffington Post

John McCain 'Very Disappointed' By GOP Candidates' Endorsement Of Waterboarding

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On Sunday evening, President Barack Obama chastised the candidates for that stance, noting the damage waterboarding has done for America's reputation and its standing in the world.

"It's contrary to America's traditions," he said. "It's contrary to our ideals. That's not who we are. That's not how we operate. We don't need it in order to prosecute the war on terrorism. And we did the right thing by ending that practice."

The Republican senator who is best known for criticizing the practice, and the man who challenged Obama in 2008, expressed his disappointment Monday morning as well.

"Very disappointed by statements at SC GOP debate supporting waterboarding," Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) tweeted. "Waterboarding is torture."

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/14/john-mccain-waterboarding-gop-2012-candidates_n_1092539.html

[truthisfreedom]

1. There are no grown-ups running for prez on the GOP side.

Just a bunch of nuts.

[hlthe2b]

2. Every once in a while, McCain shows glimmers of rationality & honor....

I give him credit for this one.

[chavi]

4. I agree nt

[Demonaut]

6. really, If he'd stick to one position...he's been on both sides

[Wait Wut]

7. Yep.

He can also give me a serious case of whiplash.

[russspeakeasy]

9. I disagree...He hates America, he tried to shove palin down our

throats. He deserves no credit for anything. He rates with bush.

[hlthe2b]

11. That's the 99.999999999% of the time...

Rarely, he surprises me.

[teddy51]

3. I really wish all those running on the right would submit to a water boarding

test of themselves to see if they still feel that it's not torture.

But reality is, that ain't going to happen.

[russspeakeasy]

5. If johnny said it, I don't believe it.

I'm still not convinced he was a POW.

[Muskypundit]

8. Oh give me a break

Disagree with him all you want, but john mccain is a veteran and he was a POW who was tortured extensivly for many years. Don't be ignorant.

And I would take Mccain over any of the nut cases we have running now. There are no einsenhowers on that side anymore, just randian dipshits. And its scary. Mccain makes me roll my eyes from time to time; these other terrorists make me truly afraid.

[russspeakeasy]

10. "mccain makes you roll your eyes from time to time" ?

did you stomp your foot when he invited palin on board ?
as far as mccain is concerned; veteran yes, there is a record; a POW ..?

[AtheistCrusader]

14. Of course there is a record.

Militiary, and living memory. Just ask all his war buddies that hate him for cracking under torture, and talking.

[Muskypundit]

16. That talk sickens me.

As an officer they tortured him ten fold over his enlisted compatriots. Of course you fold; after years of that shit. Get off your high horse and stop pretending like you would do any better.

As for him inviting palin on board..... Let's not forget einsenhower had Nixon. And einsenhower is probably more left than Obama is today.

[AtheistCrusader]

17. To you I will apologize.

I used insensitive language. I was more upset that the upthread poster seems to have a 'moon landing' like dismissal of McCain being a POW at all.

From the accounts I have read, some soldiers were indeed upset with him over it, fairly or otherwise. (Obviously, I was not there)

[Muskypundit]

19. All is good

And thank you :)

[jakeXT]

12. At least we still have Guantanamo and drones to be proud of

"It's contrary to America's traditions," he said. "It's contrary to our ideals. That's not who we are. That's not how we operate. We don't need it in order to prosecute the war on terrorism. And we did the right thing by ending that practice."

[yellowcanine]

13. Romney painted himself into a corner on this one in 2008. He was trying to find an issue which

would separate himself from McCain and he thought that the "waterboarding may not be torture" position would be more popular with Republican primary voters. Now he can't back off without being accused of yet another flip flop - even though it is hard to imagine that he really feels that way.

[CBHagman]

15. I'm glad he's speaking publicly about it.

I recall from glimpsing the transcript from Saturday's debate that both Ron Paul and Jon Huntsman came out against waterboarding and called it torture.

Getting back to McCain, he's one of the few American politicians who actually has been subject to imprisonment and torture himself.

[tclambert]

18. Will McCain go as far as to say we should turn Bush and Cheney over to a war crimes tribunal?

While we're at it, will Obama go that far?

[karynnj]

20. McCain himself led the Republicans to vote down Kenendy's

amendment to the "torture" bill in 2006. Kenendy's bill explicitly labeled waterboarding and 9 other practices as torture to be banned by ALL American agencies. The bill was sponsored by McCain, Hagel and Graham.

Here is Kennedy's speech:

http://www.c-spanvideo.org/appearance/595638891
If you think McCain still has credibility on torture, because he was tortured remember that Bush et al led him to fight this amendment. Kennedy is absolutely awesome here. If you have forgotten how strong Kennedy was, watch this!

And because it is Kerry at his best, here is Kerry saying this bill condones torture. ( http://www.c-spanvideo.org/appearance/595638833 - interesting that on the CSPAN timeline, he is labeled as "unknown clerk", but at least the clip is there - which it wasn't at one time.)
Consider that the amendment failed - and that is on McCain's record as the leader who fought this rather than adding it to the bill. It is good that he is now back again on the good side, but he was not there when it was important.