Torture and Denial Pt . 2: Why The Stall?

(From Think Progress, Dec. 12)

According to the Blog of Legal Times, the Justice Department is blocking President-elect Obama’s agency review team’s request “to review classified legal opinions related to secret CIA and National Security Agency programs.” Included in these documents are the “legal rationale of the NSA’s warrantless spying program and the CIA’s detention and interrogation policies, among other intelligence initiatives.” According to a senior Justice Department official, they are “reluctant to provide the opinions to Obama’s team without permission from the two intelligence agencies whose activities they address.” (HT: Daily Kos and Talk Left)

WTF? What are they trying to stall for? A matter of a lousy five weeks? Come on! Will it take that long to use the shredders? The extreme secrecy of the B**h administration has now gone too far. Obama WILL be PRESIDENT on January 20, 2009! Whether the transition team gets the documents now or then is pointless, unless...

Bush intends to tamper with the documents in some way and hasn't had the time (nor the intelligence) to do so. In addition, would these documents be related in any way to war crimes? Related to the legality of warrentless wiretapping?

Nixon looked positively angelic next to our present diplomatic dimwit: lying to the public about the cause of a war, allowing torture against the Geneva Conventions regulations, warrentless wiretapping, refusing to divulge documents requested by Congress.

We're counting not the weeks, the days, the hours, but the minutes.

Let's hope he never gets to Dallas.

Let's hope he flees to Paraguay.

And stays there.

Just a thought.

Torture: Once Again The B**h Adminstration Floats Down A River In Egypt!

Don't Worry, He's Still On Top Of It!

(from AP, Dec. 11, 2008)

WASHINGTON – The physical and mental abuse of detainees in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, was the direct result of Bush administration detention policies and should not be dismissed as the work of bad guards or interrogators, according to a bipartisan Senate report released Thursday.

The Senate Armed Services Committee report concludes that harsh interrogation techniques used by the CIA and the U.S. military were directly adapted from the training techniques used to prepare special forces personnel to resist interrogation by enemies that torture and abuse prisoners. The techniques included forced nudity, painful stress positions, sleep deprivation, and until 2003, waterboarding, a form of simulated drowning.

"The message from top officials was clear; it was acceptable to use degrading and abusive techniques against detainees."

Whenever B**h appears in the media, trying to vindicate himself for the past eight years, the kindest thing that can be said, I suppose, is that he created his own fantasy world and is still living in it. That fantasy realm is so ingrained in him that it could be mistaken for sheer lunacy.

But the implication of mental instability is a cop-out. Insanity is always a very risky plea: it depends upon the court or the jurors (in this case, historians and political analysts) and their definition of insanity.

B**h is not insane. He is incredibly stupid, but not insane. He was stupid enough to depend upon the title of "President" and that whatever he told the public, they would automatically believe. He was stupid enough to think that repeating the words Karl Rove told him to say - "Freedom", "Democracy", "God", "Terror," "Evil" - was enough to say to a country and a world about which HE...KNEW... NOTHING.

Eight years of fantasy. Eight years of denial.

And some people joined him in the imaginary world:

Lawrence Di Rita, a senior aide to former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld at the time the Abu Ghraib and other abuses took place, disputed the report.: ... "A relatively small number of people abused detainees, and they were brought to justice in criminal or civil proceedings."

Even Condoleeza Rice went along with the fantasy:

“And I still believe that the overthrow of Saddam Hussein is going to turn out to be a great strategic achievement.''

"A terrible disappointment."

Regarding Abu Ghraib, Bush now refers to it as "a terrible disappointment." Perhaps he was disappointed that the atrocities were discovered. There must be a special place in his little black book for 60 Minutes.

“I believe when people objectively analyze this administration, they'll say, `Well, I see now what he was trying to do,''' Bush said.

The "objective" analysis has already been done: what B**h has been trying to do was to be the President of HIS dreams, not the country's. That may not sound "objective," but I believe it to be possible. For why else was he performing duties against advisers, against a plebiscite, against common sense?

Just a thought.

The Last Post? I Apologize

Dear reader:

I apologize for the last post. I let my feelings get in the way of blogging on a very important subject. When I read about a child being murdered - yes, willfully killed - I lost it. I was practically incoherent! My research on the history of religion (esp. American religion) has made me callused about many things, I'll admit, but somehow it never shields me from events like these.

Again, I apologize.

Respectfully,
Dan Vojir

When Faith Kills - Guilty? Or NOT Guilty?

You may think that the above picture has nothing to do with this post, but it does. Whether it's belief that someone will be healed by prayers, or a suicide because a person feels like a pariah, "Faith" kills.

I won't go into the implications of Faith killing by means of war. That's for another time (and a lot of posts), but to willingly let someone die because you think your prayers will heal them is: arrogant and stupid. To disciminate against someone knowing full well that such discrimination can cause the ultimate harm is also arrogant and stupid.

Faith Healing Parents Assert Religious Rights They Want Charges Dropped in Faith Healing Death of Their Toddler Daughter

By DEAN SCHABNER Dec. 10, 2008

A Clackamas County, Ore., couple accused of letting their infant daughter die by relying on prayer, rather than medicine, today asked that the charges be dropped, arguing that they infringe on their freedom of religion and their right to raise their children in their own way. Carl Worthington, left, and Raylene Worthington of Clackamas County, Ore., were charged with second... Carl Worthington, left, and Raylene Worthington of Clackamas County, Ore., were charged with second degree manslaughter and criminal mistreatment charges March 28, 2008, after their 15-month-old daughter died from what the state medical examiner said were easily cured illnesses. (KATU.com)

This is going to be an Oregon cause celeb. These people are part of a church whose members have been similarly charged. Children as well as adults have died because of their "faith". Oregon passed a law against such treatment partly because of this "church." The Worthington's case is testing that law.

Did their daughter die simply to test the law? Only the Worthingtons (and possibly some church members) know for certain. If you were on a jury, how would you vote?

Just a thought.

The Ones Who Helped Bush Do The Damage: Where Are They Now?

And People Are Criticizing Obama's Choices!

So many people helped Gorge W. B**h head down the path of demoralization and destruction of the U.S., that it would be impossible to name them all in one post. So lets take some of the top cronies/professional politicians/oddballs B**h chose first (back when we had morale and an economy) and see where they are now. In the future, we can compare them with the Obama appointments. Won't that be fun?

(Obama appointments are, of course, in blue)

Chief of Staff - Rahm Emanuel
Bush Chief of Staff - Andrew Card. Card nows sits on the Board for the Union Pacific Railroad, since he knew all about railroading.

Deputy Chief of Staff - Jim Messina
Bush Deputy Chief of Staff - Karl Rove. Rove has stated that he has written a vengeful tell-all book. Signed with Simon & Schuster, the title is not yet revealed. My Thirty Years Defending A Dimwit has been discarded.

White House Counsel - Greg Craig
Bush White House Counsel - Alberto Gonzales. Poor Alberto has tried to get a job with a law firm with no luck at all. Ongoing investigations can do at to your resume. He speaks at universities that will accept him (not many).

Press Secretary - Robert Gibbs
Bush Press Secretary -Ari Fleischer. Fleischer has gone from passing the buck to passing a ball - as consultant to the NFL

Secretary of the Treasury - Timothy Geithner
Bush Secretary of the Treasury - Paul O'Neill. O'Neill was the first cabinet member to get sacked because he saw the war in Iraq coming and wasn't afraid to say it. As far as we know, he's still Chairman of the Board of RAND Corporation.

Secretary of Commerce - Bill Richardson
Bush Secretary of Commerce -Donald Evans. Evans heads up The Financial Services Forum. He also has the dubious task of heading the committee placing George W. B**h's Library in Dallas (too bad Dallas isn't on the Gulf Coast!)

Secretary of State - Hillary Rodham Clinton
Bush Secretary of State - Colin Powell. Powell's hand has been stirring so many pots, it's difficult to keep tabs on him. As far as we know, he's still involved in Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm.

Secretary of Homeland Security - Janet Napolitano
Bush Secretary of Homeland Security - Tom Ridge. Tom Ridge is up to his armpits in chocolate and housepaint - Serving on the Boards of Hersey Chocolate and Home Depot.

National Security Advisor -James L. Jones
Bush National Security Advisor - Condaleeza Rice. We all know what Rice has been doing, but speculation as to what she WILL do after January 20th is very sketchy. If she becomes the concert pianist she was meant to be, she'll be playing a much different tune than the one she played for B**h.

Ambassador to the United Nations - Susan Rice.
Bush Ambassador to the United Nations - John Negroponte. After being Ambassador to the U.N., Negroponte was awarded the ambassadorship of Iraq. He's now Deputy Secretary of State and no telling what he'll be awarded next: maybe Ambassador to Swaziland, if he's lucky.

Attorney General - Eric Holder
Bush. Attorney General - John Ashcroft. When Ashcroft was governor of Missouri, it is said that he annointed himself with Crisco vegetable oil because holy oil was not available. As a lobbyist, he continues to annoint himself as the "anti-Abramoff" lobbyist. Whatever that is.

Secretary of Defense - Robert Gates
Bush Secretary of Defense - Donald Rumsfeld. Rummy couldn't get it right - even the second time around. He now serves as a fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford, University. Which Hoover, J. Edgar or Herbert, has not been determined.

Mistake? What Mistake? Rove Sends B**h Back To Neverland

It's an episode in American History that's a wry take on Peter Pan: The Little President Who Refused to Grow Up and Admit He Was Wrong!

B**h has been called an idiot, a fool, a jerk, a liar, a contemptuous cretin. This latest refusal to acknowledge reality now adds to all the negativity: spoiled and impetuous brat. A memo has gone from the Office of Neverland: in effect, it tells the entire B**H cabinet to stick with certain talking points.

(From Think Progress):

Titled “Speech Topper on the Bush Record,” the talking points state that Bush “kept the American people safe” after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, lifted the economy after 2001 through tax cuts, curbed AIDS in Africa and maintained “the honor and the dignity of his office.” The document presents the Bush record as an unalloyed success.

Gone are Abu Graib, FEMA and Katrina, Mission Accomplished, Gitmo, Valerie Plame, the housing market crash, weapons of "mass distraction" or the legitimacy of his first four years.

The Washington Post’s Dan Froomkin writes, “The public has rejected him. The nation is in crisis — and eager for the massive course corrections promised by an Obama presidency. But none of this appears to have penetrated President Bush’s well-defended brainpan.”

In other words, B**h still doesn't have a clue.

Where's Captain Hook when we need him?

Just a thought.

HOW TRUE!

Senator Nanny? Imagine THAT VOICE In A Filibuster??

"Her voice alone would spur me to action with the hopes that she'd shut up."

Overheard on the floor of the Senate:
"Hey! Ev'rybody in dis room shuddup! I wanna tawk!"

Yes, dear reader, Fran Dresser wants to take Hillary's vacant seat in the U.S. Senate. And rumor has it that she's prepping herself for a run later if she doesn't get it now. Wouldn't it be wonderful if, somehow, she ran for election (of anything) against Sarah Palin? Now THAT'S entertainment!

Intelligencer
Senator Nanny? Fran Wants It!
Appoint her, or she’ll run.
* By Diana Scholl * Published Dec 7, 2008

Fran Drescher wants to replace Hillary Clinton in the Senate. She says she’s qualified. “I’ve just been given the appointment of U.S. diplomat,” she said at a party for HBO's Le Cirque: A Table in Heaven at that restaurant on December 3. “My title is public diplomacy envoy for women’s health issues, and I just got back from a four-country European tour of duty. I believe next I’ll be sent to the Middle East.” Also an anti-cancer activist, Drescher has been considering a run for office. “I’ve been very successful in getting a bill passed in Washington,” she said. “I was thinking I’d take the next four years to lay some groundwork, but I’m throwing my hat in the ring.” What else makes her a good candidate? “I’m an authentic and honest person,” she said. “And I think Capitol Hill needs more of that.”

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OMG The Nanny? Are you kidding? You damn skippy I'd vote for her.

And I'd take her over Sarah Palin any day.