Torture

"We don't do torture." But we would like to reserve the right to change that policy in the future.

And there's this:

Personnel changes in President Bush's second term have added to the isolation of Cheney, who previously had been able to prevail in part because other key parties to the debate -- including Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales and White House counsel Harriet Miers -- continued to sit on the fence.

(snip)

Cheney's camp is a "shrinking island," said one State Department official who, like other administration officials quoted in this article, asked not to be identified because public dissent is strongly discouraged by the White House.

It seems that, as the White House attempts to get out of the tailspin it's in, it will be more willing to revisit controversial policies such as this one. Certainly the torture question hasn't gone away because of Bush's unwillingness to accept a policy that makes it illegal outright. And a change in that policy would certainly help put to rest a large number of complaints.

So will he do it? It's hard to judge anything that Bush does at this point. Sometimes, as with Alito, he's still in election mode, pandering to his base. Then, with Davis-Bacon, he realizes the problems that arise and does the right thing to move him back to the center. But with McCain promising to put anti-torture regulations in every bill that passes the Senate, it doesn't look good for Bush's pro-torture base.