12 Monkeys Vote For Torture

It seems Republican Lincoln Chafee has more political courage than 12 Democrat Senators who voted to give President Bush the right to torture.

Carper (Del.), Johnson (S.D.), Landrieu (La.), Lautenberg (N.J.), Lieberman (Conn.), Menendez (N.J), Nelson (Fla.), Nelson (Neb.), Pryor (Ark.), Rockefeller (W. Va.), Salazar (Co.), Stabenow (Mich.).

Rockafeller was against the bill and voted for it anyway. Florida Senator Bill Nelson is running against Katherine Harris and is still afraid to take a stand. These wonderful Democrat listen to highly paid consultants who tell them the best thing to do is follow the footsteps of a President with a 35 percent approval rating. It worked so well for Lieberman in the Democratic primary. Nelson was considered the Senator most likely to lose his seat. Until Harris entered the race.

This is why Democrats lose elections. They took a stand with Social Security and hammered Bush. The torture bill could have been defeated if 43 Democratic Senators (I'm not holding out hope for Lieberman) held the line. Jim Jeffords and Lincoln Chafee make 45. Dems could have pulled McCain, Graham and Warner. Now we have 48 votes. It's possible to pull three more.

Democrats are afraid of giving the national security advantage to Bush. So they in turn give him the national security advantage. Do they actually think that Bush and Rove won't call them cut and runners - no matter how they vote? If they do then they are delussional. Bush's policies are failing in Iraq and Afghanistan. The President is losing support with the public on terrorism. And these clowns are still afraid to take on a man with the worst approval ratings since Nixon? Are they waiting for Bush to score a zero percent approval rating? These Senators may not be in office that long.

I'm embarrassed that Bill Nelson is my Senator. He had a 49 percent approval rating before the Harris meltdown. His waffling on Terri Schiavo did nothing to help him. Russ Feingold has repeatedly pointed out that Republicans are fearful when Democrats take a stand. Feingold won his Wisconsin Senate race by 12 percent in 2004. Bush won the state by 2 percent. Defying Bush actually helps candidates get re-elected. That's a lesson that 12 very sorry Senators will never understand.