There's been a lot of angst here over the Dems silence over the Bush Waterboard Bill. You don't give your party enough credit.
Now is not the time to act. Now is the time to sit back and watch. The bill needs to be defeated no matter the content. The Geneva Convention is fine as is. It needs no clarification, therefore the Dems position is that there should be no bill. The content is immaterial. Let the GOP and White House work out the details - they don't matter. There's no point having Reid and Pelosi arguing over it, and there's no point in us arguing over it.
This will be opposed. It may be filibustered. They may walk out of the vote - after all, it's such a horrific thing that it boggles the imagination that a Senator or Congressman should even be asked their opinion of it. It's as absurd as Colbert asking the Pope his views on stomping baby kittens.
So, why not at least get some words in here from Dems - just to say "Hey, ya'll are batshit crazy for even considering this"? Because this is all potential campaign material. Let's get some Republicans running for re-election in Nov. to declare their positions on torture. Let's see if Allen or Santorum or Burns feels compelled to toss their two cents in. If not, let the GOP shape their very most favorite bill unfettered from those radical leftists. Let them propose legalizing thumbscrews, secret trials, and barbaric forms of execution. Give them all comfy pens and snacks so their imagination can flow freely.
Once it's in writing, on the record, ready for everyone to read with no resistance from the Dems, then you hit them. Then you filibuster and you hit them with the tv ads. You thought supporting the war in Iraq was bad for your re-election prospects? Wait until someone runs an ad showing a person being waterboarded and suggest that this is what the GOP wants to do - and what's to stop them from treating our troops the same way.
No, it's just too early to act. Let them dig their grave. No need for us to slow them down.