McCain’s “fight” with President Bush over the use of torture by the military was a classic case of McCain’s fake maverick personality.  Sure, he pushed for the law.  But what happened at the law’s signing?

The significance of Judge Alito’s view of signing statements is clear in President Bush’s recent signing statement on a bill that contained Senator McCain’s ban on torture. In that statement, the President reserved the right to ignore the McCain requirements, and even asserted that in certain circumstances his actions are beyond the reach of the courts.

A true maverick would have hit the airwaves with at least as much vigor as before.  If he truly believed in the anti-toruture law, he would have protested loudly at Bush’s pronouncement that he did not consider it valid.  McCain’s bill means nothing, the extreme conservatives got just what they wanted, and he comes out of it looking like a swell guy.

We know the truth.