Bush blasts RINO McCain

John McCain-Feingold-Kennedy, the left's favorite dhimmi republican senator, has once again organized a posse of RINO's to join with democrats in blocking conservative legislation. This time it's about clarifying the Geneva convention's statute on torture, which would seem to be the least controversial measure imaginable, and exactly what Bush wants so we specifically understand how to apply the rules for enemy combatant interrogation. President Bush, to his great credit, is having none of McCain-Feingold-Kennedy's leftwing crapola this time around, and is fighting back with his fists flying.

WASHINGTON -- In a sharp escalation of the clash between President Bush and one of the nation's top Republicans, Bush used a White House press conference to blast Senator John McCain's proposals for military tribunals and detainee treatment, asserting that they would shut down the CIA's interrogation program for terrorism suspects.

Bush challenged lawmakers to reject the measure the Senate Armed Services Committee approved Thursday, a bill McCain, of Arizona, crafted with two other influential Republican senators. The president wants Congress to create a legal foundation for CIA agents to use coercive interrogation tactics on suspected terrorists, but McCain -- who endured torture as a Vietnam prisoner of war -- has rebuked Bush's efforts on the grounds that they would violate the Geneva Conventions against prisoner abuse.

"Congress has got a decision to make: You want the program to go forward, or not?" Bush told reporters in the Rose Garden session. "We can debate this issue all we want. But the practical matter is, if our professionals don't have clear standards in the law, the program is not going to go forward."

Bush served notice that he won't back down from McCain. Bush and McCain have had a long, complex relationship; the president defeated McCain in the 2000 GOP primaries, a bitter campaign that left both men scarred politically, but McCain is a high-profile senator with considerable influence.

Despite the fact that clarifying the vagaries of Geneva's language is necessary if we are to effectively fight this war against the islamic vermin, McCain opposes it because he is concerned about "world opinion"? He would rather let the vermin kill and terrorize us than upset the French?

The good news is, this will end McCain's bid for presidency in '08. No way will the GOP base let this RINO get the nomination now, and that is a big relief to those of us who have watched McCain spend more time on the left of the aisle kissing ass than just about any other Republican in Washington.

-MZ