What would it have taken to stop the torture bill from passing the House? 16 more Democrats. That's it. No mass purges, no 40-seat swing.
"But wait!" you say. The Military Commisions bill passed by 85 votes ! How could 17 more Dems help us?
Simple. Thats' the WRONG VOTE.
That's the puff vote, the press release. It's not whipped, because it makes no difference.
Here's the REAL VOTE That was the vote to fix this piece of #$#% so that the accused would get fair trials and the innocent victims of Bush's torture fetish would go free. A 33 vote margin - plus one of the "yeas" was a procedural vote by Murtha so he could call for reconsideration. 16 more Dems - just 16 - would have saved the honor of the country.
And take a look at Pelosi's whip! Only 4 Dems voted for torture (remember, Murtha's was a procedural technicality). Do we have spineless Dems who don't care about basic morality and the Christian virtues they almost all profess? Yep, but spineless works both ways. They give in to the leadership when it counts, and the leadership is on the right side for this.
So there you have it. Want to stop torture? Get Democrats a majority. Get Pelosi in control of the House. There's no "nose holding" required. Some are selfish, poll-following wimps - but the wimps will follow the leadership, and their wimpiness won't matter - IF we control the House.
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