That is the basis of the Bush Administration position. Prisoners it has decided to lock up are whatever the White House says they are, whenever they say it. If being a POW today is of more value than being a criminal, then that is what they are.

The status of the prisoners in Guantanamo really is "People that George W. Bush decided to lock up".

As such they exist at his pleasure, live or die at his discretion and have exactly the rights and privledges he allows to them.

That is John Yoo's position, that is the White House position and, unfortunately, out of 100% loyalty to George W. Bush that is the position of every Republican in America.

Of course the impetus to torture came from the very top. Conservatives love to see people tortured. That is what they believe in. The more people who are tortured, the better.

If you want to join the Republican Party now, you have to declare your belief that prisoners must be tortured, severly and often. Even more so if they are actually guilty of something.

If you do not love torture, then get out of the Republican party.

The only way that Joe Lieberman could be the VP on the Republican ticket is if he did what George H. W. Bush did in 1980: Have an election-eve conversion from Pro-choice to Pro-Life. Otherwise he is not elligable for the slot.

Perhaps the Justice Department can appoint one of its US Attorneys to review and make a recommendation as to what the law allows.....

Sorry about that. I just thought it might be funny to see what the Loyal Bushies have to "independently" say.

I still have my doubts that Joe will ever be on the Republican ticket unless he has a George H. W. Bush-style conversion to Pro-Life.

Post election, in president McCain Administration, Mr. Lieberman would still be a liability with the Radcical right of the REpublican Party because of his Jewishness. The Radical Right might say it "loves the Jews", but it "loves the Jews" to be over in Israel, fighting and dying to bring Armegeddon closer to fruition, not here in the US making policy.

On the day after election 2008, Senatory Lieberman will be cast aside: By the Democrats assuming they no longer need his one vote to retain control of the Senate and by the Republicans because that is what Republicans do with people when their loyalty is used up.

At that point, it will be quite a show as Senator Lieberman's bitterness spreads from the Democratic Party to the Republican one as well. The bitterness that is the defining aspect of Joe Lieberman will finally be spread around more evenly.

We can expect the same treatment of Barak Obama's family as John McCain himself received in 2000: Slimhy attacks on the family by "independent" parties, with "above-the-fray" innocence on the part of the candidate himself.

Of course everyone knows that the campaign and the smears are linked, the coordination of comments made that clear.

John McCain was enraged when it was done to him. Apparently he has changed his mind on that, considering the samepeople from the Bush 2000 team are guiding his campaign now.

But then, slimy, personal smears are what it means to be a Republican. That is what they do and what they are. Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter are not aberations: They are the norm, the heart and soul of the party in fact.

If a wanted criminal said he had "something bad" to say about John McCain, would our media elites give him/her a worldwide forum to spew unsubstantiated accusations?

Of course not. That is why John McCain refers to the media as his base.

The fix is, obviously, in.

The real value, and obvious purpose, of doing this is so that FoxNews can run a lead story, "In a speech at the National Press Club today....." Getting all those stories "out there" so they can be debated by a panel of "neutral" observers, including Bill Kristol, Ann Coulter and Karl Rove. Bill O'Rielly will do a body language analysis of it and Sean Hannity will ask Dick Morris to expound on it for an hour or so.

Everyone knows that the Republican outlets will do this. Unfortunately so will John McCain's "base" the mainstream media: Not one of whom will take the effort to mention that it is a paid auditorium rental, of no more significance than if it had been at the Marriott or the Holiday Inn.

Of course 95% of America won't know this, but our Media Reporters will take no responsibility for this, seeing as how THEY knew it, so why shouldn't everybody?

This is how John McCain plans to ride "his base' into the White House.

NeoConservatives assume that war with Iran is a desireble option. If you are NeoConservative, the more wars the better, especially if it is one which you can "fight" from the safety of the American Enterprise Institute.

Re: "McCain knows that it will take a miracle to overpower Obama."

A miracle, or a compliant media that echo McCain talking points, unquestions, as Salon has done.

What is John McCain's position on financing..... this week?

He who first took out a campaign loan based on accepting public financing, then announced that he never really accepted public financinf, but now says he will.

But Obama is the one Salon says should be held to account.

I'm sure glad we elected a Democratic Congress. Otherwise we would be seeing rubberstamping of Bush Administraion all over the place.

Re: "We finally have a candidate who will do what is necessary to win the election."

Agreed!

And the Mainstream Media hates it. That is why John McCain is counting on them ("his Base") to examine every statement by every person who ever met Barak Obama, and give the usual Republican Free Pass to the Senator from the Keating five