From
Reuters:
"It appears the House is willing to accept the McCain amendment with no changes," a congressional aide said of the measure pushed by the Arizona Republican that cleared the Senate on a 90-9 vote despite a White House veto threat.
For a while now Cheney and the White House have been against McCain's bill. Go torture! So what happened?
McCain put on his lapdog outfit and went on Meet the Press. Here is
Arianna's take on the appearance:
The marquee guest was John McCain. Or, should I say, "John McCain." The guy who showed up on Meet the Press this morning looked like McCain, but didn't sound like McCain.
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You got the feeling that McCain knew the stuff coming out of his mouth -- "the president has done a good job" -- was absurd, but both he and Russert lacked the energy either to make it believable or to address its absurdity. I kept waiting for Russert to ask: "But wait a minute, aren't you John McCain? What's happened to you?"
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Here's what McCain's Straight Talk Express sounded like today: "Look, progress has been made in many parts of the country. In the north, it's relatively peaceful. Most of the areas in the south, there's significant progress... I believe that you can see continued progress... I do believe we've made progress."
So John McCain went on national television and gave Bush's "Plan for Victory" speech. Now, put two and two together and you get McCain telling the White House: "I'll back you on Iraq, and you back my anti-torture bill." It looks like McCain twisted an arm or two. Bush definitely needed some credible support on Iraq. I mean how many times can you throw Cheney out there without making people a bit nauseous? So McCain gave Bush some political cover, and the White house gave him his anti-torture bill. It's a good move by McCain. He has kissed ass before,and surely will again leading up to 2008, but there has got to be a better way than jumping in bed with Bush.
Read more Huff.
Stay Tuned: Next ass kissing payoff, Joe Lieberman gets Rumsfeld's job.