Free Republic

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Waterboarding and other harsh interrogation techniques were not a factor in tracking down Osama bin Laden, a leading Republican senator insisted Thursday. Sen. John McCain, who spent 5 1/2 years as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam, also rejected the argument that any form of torture is critical to U.S. success in the fight against terrorism.

The U.S. Senate today overcame a Republican filibuster and approved a former Planned Parenthood abortion business director, John McConnell, as a federal judge in Rhode Island. Senators voted 63-33 to surpass the 60-vote threshold necessary to stop the filibuster and approve the nomination of McConnell’s nomination to the District Court for the District of Rhode Island. his nomination previously cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee recently on a party-line 11-7 vote. Senate Republicans joining all Democrats to end debate included Scott Brown of Massachusetts, Susan Collins of Maine, Lyndsey Graham of South Carolina, Johnny Isakson of Georgia, Mark Kirk of Illinois,...

John McCain has the second-lowest approval rating among U.S. senators, according to a new poll. About one-third of Arizona's registered voters approve of McCain's job performance - 34 percent compared with 53 percent who disapprove of the job he's doing - according to a new poll by Public Policy Polling. That's a drop from 40 percent approval in January. Only Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) scored lower among sitting senators, 29 percent to 58 percent.

Link only, per FR copyright and excerpt rules

(snip) "I think you could say that it is a short-term improvement in the economy. And I'll be glad to give him credit for that. But the question that I think we should be asking are the long term consequences of this unprecedented debts and deficits — are they beneficial to the country? And I think the answer is no." (snip)