In the Senate, a Chorus of Three (Warner, McCain, Graham) Defies the Line

[DeepModem Mom]

NYT: In the Senate, a Chorus of Three Defies the Line
By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG
Published: November 21, 2005


WASHINGTON, Nov. 20 - On a July evening in the Capitol, Vice President Dick Cheney summoned three Republican senators to his ornate office just off the Senate chamber. The Republicans - John W. Warner of Virginia, John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina - were making trouble for the Bush administration, and Mr. Cheney let them know it.

The three were pushing for regulations on the treatment of American military prisoners, including a contentious ban on "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment." The vice president wanted the provision pulled from a huge military spending bill. The senators would not budge.

"We agreed to disagree," Mr. Graham said in an interview last week.

That private session was an early hint of a Republican feud that spilled into the open last week, as Senate Republicans openly challenged President Bush on American military policy in Iraq and the war on terrorism. In the center of the fray, pushing Congress to reassert itself, were those same three Republicans.

Though their views on the war differ, they have much in common: each is a member of the influential Senate Armed Services Committee, each has a strong maverick streak and each has personal ties to the military - and to one another, mostly through Mr. McCain....(T) he three are firm in their conviction that Congress, having ceded authority on military matters to the executive branch, must flex its muscles. In addition to sticking together on the so-called torture ban - despite a White House veto threat - they joined last week in backing a bipartisan compromise, sponsored by Senator Graham, giving "enemy combatants" in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, limited rights of appeal in federal court....


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/21/politics/21trio.html?hp&ex=1132549200&en=2d90c3608ccf7c8c&ei=5094&partner=homepage

[Samantha]

1. Thanks for posting this

It's good to think that some Republicans might turn their backs on Bush* in the name of simple decency. It's a start.

[mb7588a]

2. well... ya see...

by being in a room with dick, they understand what torture is really like!

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

7. I think McCain knows what torture is like from North Viet Nam

I doubt there is anything a pissant like Cheney could do to make him squirm.

[rodeodance]

3. "little triumvirate," as Mr. Graham calls it

Their relationships with Mr. Bush are respectful, though not especially close, and each has a different political agenda. Mr. Warner, 78, aspires mostly to maintain his status as an elder statesman in the Senate. Mr. McCain, 69, covets the White House. And Mr. Graham, 50, is still a rising star.

But their "little triumvirate," as Mr. Graham calls it, has become a powerful political force at a time when President Bush's popularity is sinking and all of Washington is consumed with debate over the direction of the war in Iraq.

On that score, the three are not in lockstep. Last week, Mr. Warner prodded the Senate to require the Bush administration to provide Congress with quarterly progress reports on the war, spawning a raucous House debate over whether troops should withdraw and setting the stage for Iraq to dominate the 2006 midterm elections. But Senators McCain and Graham, who have steadfastly called for more troops, not fewer, voted against Mr. Warner's plan, saying it smacked of a timetable for withdrawal.

Yet the three are firm in their conviction that Congress, having ceded authority on military matters to the executive branch, must flex its muscles. In addition to sticking together on the so-called torture ban - despite a White House veto threat - they joined last week in backing a bipartisan compromise, sponsored by Senator Graham, giving "enemy combatants" in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, limited rights of appeal in federal court.......

[rodeodance]

4. Biden calls them a 'gift'------and I agree.

For Democrats, who have spent months trying to put the public spotlight on the issues of detainee treatment and the war in Iraq, the three Republicans are like some kind of gift from the political gods. After the Senate overwhelmingly adopted Mr. Warner's measure on the war, Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., Democrat of Delaware, stood slack-jawed.

"It's gigantic," Mr. Biden said.

Perhaps that is because Mr. Warner, who characterizes his own military service as "very modest," has such strong defense bona fides: He has been associated with the armed services, in one form or another, for 60 years. But Mr. Biden said military ties are not the main reason Senators Warner, McCain and Graham have such strong credibility.

"I think their credibility," Mr. Biden said, "is mainly, they're Republicans."

[0007]

5. This old stamp sez it all - Three fighting horses

Troika

[Roy]

6. The senators would not budge.

Damn, where is Tom Delay when you need him....

Oh.... now I remember....