Reply #34: The maverick has pretty much returned to the stable at this point.

[DLnyc]

For example, his cave-in on the torture bill:
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McCain, whose six years of captivity and torture in Vietnam made him a national celebrity, negotiated (in September 2006) a compromise in the Senate for the Military Commissions Act of 2006, suspending habeas corpus provisions for anyone deemed by the Executive Branch an "unlawful combatant" and barring them from challenging their detentions in court. Coming on the heels of a Supreme Court decision adverse to the White House, McCain's compromise gave a retroactive, nine-year immunity to U.S. officials who authorized, ordered, or committed acts of torture and abuse, and permitted the use of statements obtained through torture to be used in military tribunals so long as the abuse took place by December 30, 2005.<23> McCain's compromise permitted the President to establish permissible interrogation techniques and to "interpret the meaning and application" of international Geneva Convention standards, so long as the coercion fell short of "serious" bodily or psychological injury.<24> Widely dubbed McCain's "torture compromise", the bill was signed into law by George W. Bush on October 17, 2006, shortly before the 2006 midterm elections.
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From Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_positions_of_John_McCain

Your points are correct, I think, but outdated a bit. Mr McCain has, in recent years, apparently traded most of his principles and self-respect for some kind of unknown favor from the BushCo operatives. IMHO.