Week after week, Joshua Frederickson writes impassioned columns bashing any thought that is on this side of far-left. I enjoy political discourse, but only when it is informed. I do not have room here to detail his numerous errors and misguided assertions, so I will focus on his attack against McCain over waterboarding. He claims that McCain's anti-torture "convictions" disappeared when he voted against the Senate's ban.
Had Mr. Frederickson taken a brief moment to look for McCain's rationale, he would have found this:
"It is unfortunate that the reluctance of officials to stand by this straightforward conclusion has produced in the Congress such frustration that we are today debating whether to apply a military field manual to non-military intelligence activities.
It would be far better, I believe, for the Administration to state forthrightly what is clear in current law - that anyone who engages in waterboarding, on behalf of any U.S. government agency, puts himself at risk of criminal prosecution and civil liability."
Congress was attempting to apply the army handbook regarding prisoners to the CIA. McCain points out that waterboarding is already illegal under current law.
Instead of spending time applying new rules on top of the old, McCain sought to change the root of the problem: the Bush administration's stance. The administration is already ignoring current laws, passing another was pointless. Instead of partaking in a media-pleasing spectacle he applied reasoning and common sense.
Imagine that.
