John McCain is Bush's Biggest Tool.

Updated: There's some interesting discussion below about how McCain's amendment is actually all but useless, I don't know enough about it to comment on.

I just love reading Andrew Sullilvan swoon over Republicans like John McCain:

THE EVIL EMPIRE: Now, Cheney and Rumsfeld have to dismiss Vladimir Bukovsky on the central matter of what torture does to a country. Thank God for McCain.

And while I group McCain as one of the two Republican Senators whose every word I don't assume to be a lie (Chuck Hagel being the other), his support of George Bush has been a big part of the reason Bush is still President and gotten away with his deceitful campaign tactics for so long (similar to Tony Blair being responsible for the veneer of international legitimacy when invading Iraq).  And while the McCain-Feingold act is no doubt the reason for sites like Daily Kos's success, and the pending Democratic takeover of the Congress in 2006, its hard on reflection to not believe any genuine commitment to common sense progressive politics was probably insisted on by Feingold, or only to serve McCain's own political aims: after all he doesn't have Bush's name and therefore his blind corporate support.

In the 2000 primaries, who's campaign spread visciously racist rumors that McCain had a gasp black child?

Standing next to Bush on the stage was a veteran who went right at McCain, questioning his Vietnam service while Bush remained silent. A whisper campaign told voters that McCain had a black child.

And while he was honorable enough to counter similar slander about John Kerry in 2004, he had no problem campaigning for Bush and therefore be apart of Rove's campaign.  That John McCain, what a guy: he only supports, but doesn't voice slander!

Earlier in 2004 he bravely questioned why BushCo and their pig-speaker Hastert would push for tax cuts in a time of war, but this year, just in time for Christmas, voted for screwing students and the sick, just as Jesus Christ would have I'm sure.

And where was Bush when Katrina struck?  Why with McCain celebrating his birthday, because you know as a powerful US Senator McCain couldn't have known that a class 4-5 hurricane was about to hit New Orleans...no doubt preparing for his 2008 campaign by shoring up Bush's political base was more important.

•  pretty much.

  n/t

  by winkler on Wed Dec 28, 2005 at 10:27:46 AM PDT

•  tip jar dec. 28th

  by therightlies on Wed Dec 28, 2005 at 10:28:46 AM PDT

•  McCain: Opportunistic Hack

  n/t

  by InquisitiveRaven on Wed Dec 28, 2005 at 10:33:20 AM PDT

•  Very Conservative

  I think most people don't really know what McCain's political views are.  He is very conservative, and buys all the repug's "starve the beast" crap.  He was being very consistent when he voted to screw students and the sick.

  Also, he caved to Bush on the torture issue.  Bush agreed to back his new anti-torture bill because the bill says he will have to abide by the Army Field manual.  Bush just had the field manual rewritten to allow torture, and classified it so no one knows about it.  I can't remember where I read this, but I believe it is true.

  by karpinsky on Wed Dec 28, 2005 at 10:47:56 AM PDT

  •  The field manual

    That has been bothering me since the compromise happened - was that only last week?  Seems like ages ago.

    The whole issue of changing the field manual seems to be yet another dirty trick, and it was largely glossed over.

    My understanding is that the manual is classified, and we'll never know what changes were actually made.  Maybe those changes were not devious, but I have a hard time assuming anything otherwise.  We should at least be assured that the changes were consistent with the spirit of anti-torture legislation put forward by McCain.  This is the one issue I did trust him with.  Now I even question that.  If McCain has compromised on the torture issue, he loses all credibility on everything, in my book.  I'm afraid that he has.  I'd like to be assured otherwise.

    by joanneleon on Wed Dec 28, 2005 at 12:39:25 PM PDT

    •  interesting...

      McCain really is a tool.

      by therightlies on Fri Dec 30, 2005 at 06:51:03 PM PDT

•  Mccain is very much like bush..

  Mccain goes with the wind...He is mostly on bushs side until he can stand it no longer for just a little bit...No Mccain is very much like bush....

  by bayside on Wed Dec 28, 2005 at 12:09:55 PM PDT

  •  yet why do so many "liberals"

    swoon for him, much like John Stewart?  They give McCain so much credit for not being a complete bastard.

    by therightlies on Wed Dec 28, 2005 at 12:12:23 PM PDT

•  McCain is a wolf in sheep's clothing

  I believe that McCain is particularly dangerous to this country right now because people still trust him, on both sides of the aisle.  Until we get an updated view of McCain out to the public, he will be a wolf in sheep's clothing.

  I used to be one of the people who trusted him, as much as I can trust a Republican.  

  Your message is important and I hope we see more exposure of the real McCain.

  by joanneleon on Wed Dec 28, 2005 at 12:32:32 PM PDT