Over the past few months, legislation has worked its way through both houses of congress that would explicitly ban the use of waterboarding and other “enhanced interrogation techniques” by the U.S. intelligence community. The CIA and other black ops agencies would be required to adhere to the rules of the Geneva Convention and the military field manual on detainee interrogation. The bill now awaits George Bush’s veto pen, as he’s vowed to deep-six any attempt to reign in the illegal and immoral use of any interrogation methods short of those which cause organ failure or death:

President Bush is poised to veto legislation that would bar the CIA from using waterboarding — a technique that simulates drowning — and other harsh interrogation methods on terror suspects.

…Bush has said the bill would harm the government’s ability to prevent future attacks. Supporters of the legislation argue that it preserves the United States’ right to collect critical intelligence while boosting the country’s moral standing abroad…

I’m not sure why it’s necessary for the Associated Press to report both sides of the argument. It’s been well established that the Bush regime is an outlaw player in the field of torture. Hell, Dick Cheney probably stays up at night sketching out new and improved techniques for extracting teeth and toenails. Doing this kind of thing is like sex to these guys. They sleep well afterwards.

Where does the presumptive GOP presidential nominee (and former torture recipient) John “Hanoi Hilton” McCain stand on the issue? Well, he was against it before he was for it. Even though he’s said in the past that he opposes the use of torture to extract information from U.S. detainees suspected of nefarious plots and actions, when push came to shove on the current bill, he blinked and voted against passage. Of course, that’s before he received Bush’s Good Torturer Seal of Approval™ earlier this week.

One would hope that there might be enough votes in both the House and Senate to override Mr. 19%’s veto. One would hope that morality might, for once, trump GOP fealty to failed policies that have sullied America’s already stained reputation around the world.

But don’t count on it.

Oh, and in case you missed it this earlier in the week during the heat of the candidate wars: Canadian courts will not allow information extracted by torture to be introduced in trials against terrorism suspects. There’s much to unpack in that decision, but the key thing is that Canada doesn’t feel the need to hide behind secret military tribunals, and the government of Canada actually insists on following the rule of law and generally accepted international norms. What a concept.