Senate Does the Right Thing and Has to Defend It

For those who don't know already, the amendment which would prohibit any form of torture of prisoners in US custody has been approved by a astronomical margin (source: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=1189701). It's starting to look like the partisan rift is shrinking.
But yet, the military spending bill containing this amendment has two obsticles to go. First, it has to get through the House. But considering that Delay had to step down due to the now multiple indictments, and the Senate vote, it probably isn't much of an obsticle.
The major one is that of Bush himself. He has stated that he would veto the bill if such an amendment was passed. Then again, he stated the same thing with the Highway bill and pork; that threat didn't come to fruitition. It would be a tough thing for Bush to decide, since he likes to keep his options open, no matter the option.

This is a rare instance where the Senate used it's abilities to manuever around the president't veto while using it for good. Usually such amendments are used for pork (see Highway bill). Seeing such an action done in a time where voting by party-lines is common is a very good sign that things can get better.

On a slightly different note, ABCNews has published a decent article on what the Democrats should do (here: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=1189267).