America doesn't torture, and doesn't run any secret overseas torture prisons. Which is why McCain's no-torture amendment was insufferable, and why The Exalted was so angry when we found out about the nonexistent torture prisons. OK, I'm good with all that.
So, McCain's amendment was approved by lopsided Congressional majorities, and the junta decided it was OK to sign after all. But then, as The Exalted signs the thing, he also issues a "signing statement" (Boston Globe, via The Poor Man) in which he says, well, you understand, I am commander-in-chief, and so I'm going to torture prisoners any time I think it might be necessary for Keeping You Safe ... and I, of course, will be the one-and-only judge of necessity.
This is very much in character, in view of Wiretapgate. From 'way back in the first term of The Exalted, he spied and tortured in secret. But now, with the Great 2004 Accountability Moment behind us, he begins to hear a little static ... and it's out-front, in-your-face time. Yes, I've been wiretapping, and it's legal because I say it is. I'm going to go right on wiretapping. Yes, the Congress can pass all the little anti-torture amendments they want (aren't they cute?). And I'll give the Congress all the attention and respect it deserves, however little that might be.
It fits in pretty well, I think, with my rape-is-more-fun-than-sex theory. It isn't enough, any more, for Prexy to just do whatever he wants. Now, he wants to be sure we know he's doing it ... and that we know just how powerless we are to stop him. The victim's awareness, degradation, and humiliation aren't mere byproducts, or unfortunate consequences, of the perpetrator's pleasure; they're integral, necessary parts of that pleasure.
The upcoming years may get a little more than interesting, if I'm correct. No more Mr. Nice Bush.
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