the McCain Amendment

What does it say for a country who says it's spreading freedom and democracy around the world all the while its vice-president is doing everything in his power to allow torture and inhumane treatment against his country's captives? Frist and Lindsey Graham act like we have to make a 'deal' with the Bush and Cheney on this? The vote was 90-9 in the Senate. Pass the damn amendment and if Bush vetoes it, so what, there's a enough votes to override the veto. The world already knows how pathetic Bush and Cheney are but at least the rest of country will still be viewed as civilized.

Frist sees deal on bill to ban torture by US "The U.S. Congress will reach an agreement with the White House on a defense bill that would ban the torture and inhumane treatment of detainees, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said on Sunday. Degrading The amendment, pushed by Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain, had passed the Senate with a 90-9 majority, but the White House fiercely opposed it. Vice President Dick Cheney led an unsuccessful bid to exempt the CIA from the torture ban, saying it would hinder the war on terrorism". Frist said on Fox News Sunday that negotiators were discussing the issue of "degrading" suspects. "What does degrading mean"? asked Frist*. Sen. Lindsey Graham said the Bush administration and amendment supporters were still negotiating. "We're not close to a deal," he said on NBC's "Meet the Press." "There is a breakdown along how to best protect the troops. There is a philosophical difference here I don't want to divulge," the South Carolina Republican said, when asked if the White House was seeking immunity for possible past torture. "The vice president is not the vice president of torture," he said. "He is trying to create exemptions, in my opinion, to protect our people who go too far."

* The McCain Amendment spells out the guidelines to be used in determining what 'degrading' is, Mr. Frist. Try reading it. (d) CRUEL, INHUMAN, OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT DEFINED.--In this section, the term ''cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment'' means the cruel, unusual, and inhumane treatment or punishment prohibited by the Fifth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States, as defined in the United States Reservations, Declarations and Understandings to the United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Forms of Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment done at New York, December 10, 1984.