A reader writes:
Just saw your post lashing out at Coakley as a "hack machine" politician. I understand your sentiment about one party rule and breaking that mold. But this Brown guy is not the moderate Bill Weld type Republicans who could serve this role. Here is what he said about "enhanced interrogation techniques":
[Brown] endorsed yesterday the use of enhanced interrogation techniques - including the practice of simulated drowning known as waterboarding - in questioning terror suspects. The point drew a quick rebuke from [the Coakley camp], which said she supports President Obama’s ban on waterboarding. ... Brown asserted that waterboarding does not constitute torture, but he did not specifically say Abdulmutallab should be subjected to waterboarding.This guy is particularly bad because he was a JAG for goodness sake. I hope he loses, and badly.
If this relatively moderate Republican from the Northeast is pro-torture, it reveals how torturing prisoners and abandonment of the Geneva Conventions is now a central pillar of the GOP platform. That's why I couldn't support him and the Dish will not endorse him. From his pathetic op-ed yesterday I also infer that his alleged moderation is a cover for the same old Republican refusal to tackle spending even as they refuse to raise taxes. I wish he were part of Frum's solution. I suspect he isn't in the slightest.