One of Sen. John McCain’s strengths is his willingness to take principled stands on difficult issues such as torture. He has consistently opposed the use of waterboarding and other torture techniques.
So what are Americans to make of his stunning “no†vote this week on a Senate bill that would outlaw waterboarding?
It appears that McCain, faced with either holding to principle or winning over the conservative base of his party, simply caved.
Talk about a flip-flop. This vote will come back to haunt him.
It’s good that Kansas Health and Environment Secretary Rod Bremby (in photo) is undertaking a state carbon dioxide inventory as part of efforts to prepare Kansas for federal carbon regulation.
In a meeting Tuesday with the Senate Utilities Committee — a day after it approved a bill overturning his Holcomb coal plant decision — Bremby said that within a couple of months his agency should finish a survey of the state’s main sources of CO2 in areas such as transportation, energy and agriculture. That will give the state a clearer picture of its carbon footprint. And the agency will start a public process of discussing limits on carbon emissions at existing coal-fired plants.
Bremby made the point that his regulatory “stick†was a recognition that federal carbon regulation is coming. “There are bigger sticks that are out there,†he pointed out.
Not surprisingly, the committee was skeptical.
In a New York Times Magazine profile headlined “The Professional†that explored why Robert Gates has been so effective as defense secretary, the Wichita native said a lesson he learned in various posts in the presidencies of Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush helps in dealing with threats such as Iran: “If we do this, what will they do? Then what? Then what? Try to think two, three, four moves out.â€
On the subject of being the “anti-Rumsfeld,†Gates said: “My favorite cartoon from my (Senate) confirmation hearings shows me holding up my hand and saying, ‘I swear that I am not now, and have never been, Donald Rumsfeld.’â€
One of Sen. John McCain’s strengths is his willingness to take principled stands on difficult issues such as torture. He has consistently opposed the use of waterboarding and other torture techniques.
