Now That's How You Get McCain

Wes Clark, against a clueless Mika Brzezenski who can't fathom that John McCain doesn't know what he talks about on national security.

He's changed his position on torture. At one point he said he was against it, now he's in favor of it. He's even come out against the Supreme Court decision that was yesterday on the prisoners at Guantanamo. So what does John McCain really believe, who is he? Is he the Straight Talk Express maverick that people thought he was in the late 90s, or is he just a guy who wants to be President, and he'll say what's necessary to get the job.

That's a really good line of attack. The media is too far gone to get this, but I'm sure anyone else can easily figure this out.

George Will took a whack yesterday, too.

The purpose of a writ of habeas corpus is to cause a government to release a prisoner or show through due process why the prisoner should be held. Of Guantanamo's approximately 270 detainees, many certainly are dangerous "enemy combatants." Some probably are not. None will be released by the court's decision, which does not even guarantee a right to a hearing. Rather, it guarantees only a right to request a hearing. Courts retain considerable discretion regarding such requests.

As such, the Supreme Court's ruling only begins marking a boundary against government's otherwise boundless power to detain people indefinitely, treating Guantanamo as (in Barack Obama's characterization) "a legal black hole." And public habeas hearings might benefit the Bush administration by reminding Americans how bad its worst enemies are [...]

McCain, co-author of the McCain-Feingold law that abridges the right of free political speech, has referred disparagingly to, as he puts it, "quote 'First Amendment rights.' " Now he dismissively speaks of "so-called, quote 'habeas corpus suits.' " He who wants to reassure constitutionalist conservatives that he understands the importance of limited government should be reminded why the habeas right has long been known as "the great writ of liberty."

I'll tell you, the consensus that McCain doesn't have core beliefs on plenty of issues and just follows the conservative track is picking up a lot of steam. And there's a parallel narrative of masking his deficiencies, hiding behind his resume. When his own website's decription of his record on Iraq doesn't start until August 2003, you know he's hiding his cheerleading for the war and the initial vote.

"Duplicitous" is the word that springs to mind.

...by the way, if you want to see someone with a truly terrible legal argument about Guantanamo, look no further than John Yoo.