'Cause That's What It Looks Like To The Rest of Us!
Rachel Maddow is right on top of it: Cheney now seems to be prepping for a defense. Shades of "Judgment at Nuremburg." The problem for Cheney is he can't use the excuse of the Nuremburg defendants - "I was just following orders"- simply because he was the one who probably GAVE the orders.
Three reasons why Dick Cheney is stupid:
1. He should have shut up and faded away like any good former vice-president.He hates President Obama and his only stance is "He's soft on terrorists."Stupid. Very stupid.
2. He very obviously defends the use of torture.
3. The papers he requested may prove to be irrelevent to the case, but the TIMES they were written are certainly no coincidence.Does his arrogance block out all the facts surrounding his case? Who knows? Has one of his minions managed to destroy key evidence?
Thanks to the New York Times, you can link up with 24 of the torture memos and read what all the fuss is about.Or, you can click on one of the links below to get the exact memo you want.Anyway, there's nothing like sitting beside your little child's bed and reading them a lovely torture memo!
MARCH A memorandum prepared by a Defense Department legal task force drew on the January and August memorandums to declare that President Bush was not bound by either an international treaty prohibiting torture or by a federal anti-torture law because he had the authority as commander in chief to approve any technique needed to protect the nation's security.
'Tis a coincidence: that the spiritual leader of the world's largest Christian Church could trace part of his ecclesiastical heritage back to Roman Catholicism's darkest sin: The Inquisition. And today, during a time of deep inner reflection upon the subject of torture, the Catholic Church is presided over by one Benedict XVI, for at the time of his election as Pope, Benedict had been Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The CDF is the child of the INQUISITION:
(From wikipedia)
A form of torture similar to waterboarding called toca, and more recently "Spanish water torture", to differentiate it from the better known Chinese water torture, along with garrucha (or strappado) and the most frequently used potro (or the rack), was used infrequently during the trial portion of the Spanish Inquisition process. "The toca, also called tortura del agua, consisted of introducing a cloth into the mouth of the victim, and forcing them to ingest water spilled from a jar so that they had the impression of drowning". Wlliam Schweiker claims that the use of water as a form of torture also had profound religious significance to the Inquisitors.
A strange man, Benedict XVI: forced to be Hitler Youth, then an infantry man during WWII, he palled around with the likes of Hans Kung, a liberal colleague and both closely associated with the ideals of Vatican II. But, as they say, "something changed," and he started listing to the right, concentrating on the "traditional" church and resisting any change.
wikipedia:
Like his predecessor, Benedict XVI maintains the traditional Catholic doctrines on artificial birth control, abortion and homosexuality.
In addition to his native German, Benedict XVI fluently speaks Italian, French, English, Latin, and also has a knowledge of Portuguese. He can read Ancient Greek and biblical Hebrew.
Strange: knowledge of "Ancient Greek and biblical Hebrew" has been the undoing of card-carrying Fundamentalist and Evangelical "scholars" because it is in reading the Bible in its nearest (and "purist") form of translation that a person realizes that what may actually have happened and what was written are two very different things: unless God purposely inspired errors and inconsistencies. Benedict would have noticed that "homosexuality" as we know it today, was NOT in the Bible's lexicon, and that the Greek word "arsenakatoi" (sometimes translated as "sodomite") was a fairly obscure Greek-Hebrew portmanteau slang word for "temple prostitutes."
But enough of the etymology of sodomy, let's focus on The Church and "torture." According to sources, the Catholic Church did not stop torture as a by-product of The Inquisition until the 19th century. So torture was recognized as a means of gaining information (or a recanting of beliefs) for over 700 years. Of course modern day popes decry torture and err on the side of the humane treatment of prisoners. BUT the gradual involvement of the Church in American politics casts doubt upon the depth and sincerity of this ideology.
Benedict XVI has caused consternation amidst the Muslim world with his rhetoric about Islam and Mohammed. If he were to decide the efficacy of torture against a Al Qaeda or Taliban terrorist, would he give thumbs up...or down?
Just a thought.
Now... (as Andrew Sullivan would put it) a mental health break:
(His fingerprints must have been all over the memos!)
For those who have lived in a cave for the past weeks, the subject yesterday, today and tomorrow has been, is and will be: waterboarding.
From wikipedia - Effects of Waterboarding:
The technique does not inevitably cause lasting physical damage. It can cause extreme pain, dry drowning, damage to lungs, brain damage from oxygen deprivation, other physical injuries including broken bones due to struggling against restraints, lasting psychological damage or, ultimately, death. Adverse physical consequences can start manifesting months after the event; psychological effects can last for years.
From the 2005 Bradbury memo:
The CIA used the waterboard "at least 83 times during August 2002" in the interrogation of Zubaydah. IG Report at 90, and 183 times during March 2003 in the interrogation of KSM, see id. at 91.
Releasing previously classified memos is always a situation fraught with dangerous consequences. In the case of the "Torture memos" (as they're sure to become known) concerning torture of Al Qaeda detainees/suspects, their release has broken America into two main factions facing each other and screaming: "We torture!" "We do not torture!" But as each day goes by, the "We torture" side has gotten louder, while the dissenters' has gotten weaker. The memos, the testimonies - EVIDENCE - has come to the fore and it's all damaging: to the Bush Administration, to Dick Cheney in particular (as the foremost champion of torture), but most of all, to the The United States of America.
We will be labeled hypocrits - and rightly so. We will be called sinister and evil. But - worst of all - the world will laugh at us for impeaching a President who lied about getting a "Lewinsky" from an intern and not impeaching a President who said "We do not torture, " when we did.The amount of humiliation we will receive may become so great we may never recover from it. President Obama will have to make an urgent request to the nation along these lines: "Every citizen of the United States MUST at all times be a roving ambassador' of good will. If you cannot convince the world that we were deceived as much as everyone, we will never have ANY stature in the world!"There are so many people who's frustration took hold with Abu Ghraib and ascended to the heights of anger with these memos:
What kind of fucking country do you live in where you have to debate whether torturing someone is a crime? What kind of country do you live in when you can spend 3 years prosecuting the President for a consensual sexual act but won’t prosecute a President for authorizing illegal wiretaps and torturing people? What kind of country do you live in where the supposed ’spiritual’ and ‘religious’ leaders think it’s OK to torture non-Christians?
In a previous post, I presented a picture of U.S. and Vietnamese troops waterboarding a Viet Cong soldier. Does it make waterboarding right? Let's look back a bit further in history.
From Crooks and Liars:
On November 29, 2007, Sen. McCain, while campaigning in St. Petersburg, Florida, said, "Following World War II war crime trials were convened. The Japanese were tried and convicted and hung for war crimes committed against American POWs. Among those charges for which they were convicted was waterboarding."
The problem we have now is: who do we hang?
Just a thought.
P.S.: Below is a little video clip of an interview with King Abdullah of Jordan (who might know a thing or two about torture)
A Thoroughly Horrible, Atrocious, Hidiously Rotten,No Good Day! ...For Right Winguts and Christofascists!
Ever had one of those days...? Well, April 23rd just didn't sit well with the Right Wingnuts (religious or otherwise). First, there was Rep. Boehner's slip of the lip: He used the dreaded T-word (gasp!):
From Crooks and Liars:
Regarding his use of the T-word, Boehner spokesman Michael Steel writes, "It is clear from the context that Boehner was simply using liberals' verbiage to describe these interrogation techniques. The United States does not torture."
Give this man a Rick Warren Cigar!
Then a movie called Outrage came out (pardon the pun) and has named names - Republican names - of closeted Republican gays.
From: Pam's House Blend:
LOLOLOLOLOLOL! Whoa, is anyone surprised at this? I haven't seen Outrage, but a lot of journalists took in a screening. The Florida governor and almost-ran wannabe McCain veep, who announced his engagement (to a woman) at a politically convenient time, would have to be at the top of any list to try to finally decloset him.
Other names: Former Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho), Rep. David Dreier (R-Calif.) and former Rep. Jim McCreary (R-La.) and Ken Mehlman, former chairman of the Republican Party. Fox anchor Shepard Smith is named, even though he is not a politician.
Today it was revealed that a Salvation Army youth pastor has been charged with child molestation:
(HT Dan Savage):
A Salvation Army youth pastor in Greenwood has been arrested on preliminary child-molestation charges involving three 15-year-old girls. Jonathan James Hartman, 29, Indianapolis, was arrested Tuesday... One of the girls told police that she is pregnant with Hartman's baby, the release stated.
I'll never look at another one of those bellringers at Christmastime in the same way again.
In the vein of "If the Bible says it's true, it is" comes a book which not only questions the dependable Masters & Johnson study, but intimates that fraud was involved:
(from 365gay.com)
The New York Times’ John Tierney reports on his blog today that a new book questions whether Masters & Johnson faked the conversion of gays and lesbians into happy heterosexuals. Ex-gay groups, like Exodous International, often use the Masters & Johnson study to say that the ability to turn gays into ex-gays has a scientific basis. Fail!
Then a double dose of torture angst came from Andrew Sullivan (the Atlantic):
Today the Dish learned that interrogators from both the FBI and CIA resisted torturing Zubaydah, and only did so because the White House sought to find an Iraq-Qaeda connection. Also, they used spiders. Churchill and even the Luftwaffe in wartime had higher moral standards than Cheney, whose incompetence eclipsed even his vanity.
So there you have it:
A Republican has to do damage control on his gaff about torture.
Two agencies of the federal government refused to torture but were commanded by the White House to do so.
A long-time "reliable source" of the ex-gay movement is given the axe.
A Salvation Army youth pastor is arrested for child molestation of two girls, one of whom may be pregnant with his child!
And a documentary "outing" Republicans creates a firestorm too formidable to be doused in the foreseeable future!
Will this "bad karma" day continue? As you're reading this, do you hear careers and ideologies crumbling? We can only hope. Now for a bit of a diversion, I found this YouTube piece about the state of today's Republican Party to be almost "inerrant." Enjoy!
A...MILLION...MAN...MILITIA...MARCH. So much for debunking "bitter people who cling to their guns and religion."
From Historian Marc Pitcavage (courtesy, Wikipedia)
The militia movement is a right-wing movement that arose following controversial standoffs in the 1990s. It inherited paramilitary traditions of earlier groups, especially the conspiratorial, antigovernment Posse Comitatus. The militia movement claims that militia groups are sanctioned by law but uncontrolled by government; in fact, they are designed to oppose a tyrannical government. Adherents believe that behind the "tyranny" is a left-wing, globalist conspiracy known as the New World Order. The movement's ideology has led some adherents to commit criminal acts, including stockpiling illegal weapons and explosives and plotting to destroy buildings or assassinate public officials, as well as lesser confrontations.
As an outgrowth of the (unsuccessful) tea parties, people (all anonymous) are talking about a march on Washington composed of all those disgruntled people who see Barack Obama as the anti-Christ, talk about the coming terrors of The New World Order, think Hannity, Limbaugh and (possibly) O'Reilly are the only believable media people left, and feel Sarah Palin has a God-given right to shoot wolves from planes.
From Crooks and Liars:
"...the latest idea from the militiamen who are starting to see their paranoid ranks rising:
A peaceful demonstration of at least a million — hey, if we can 10 million, even better — but at least one million armed militia men marching on Washington. A peaceful demonstration. No shooting, no one gets hurt. Just a demonstration. The only difference from any typical demonstration is we will all be armed.
Throw in Christian Identity, the Ku Klux Klan, Neo-Nazis, Pastor Rod Parsley (for religious respectability), people who make pilgrimages to Ruby Ridge and Waco, and brother, you've got a kickass party!
Try getting a permit for this shindig! "No shooting, no one gets hurt." WTF? One million men (no women?) and one million guns loaded with about 8-10 million rounds of ammunition and no one gets hurt?
"Peaceful"Impossible. If one "wrong" tattoo shows up (perhaps Jonathan and David kissing) there will be way too much bloodshed.
And pointless. Except to Fox News, the sponsor of the event.
When Barack Obama took the political stage, a great many people cheered. Now some people are jeering: loudly.
When Susan Boyle took the London stage for "Britain's Got Talent", a great many people jeered at her. Now the entire world is cheering: loudly.
It's all about expectations: what we expect to see come out of people we truly do not know. With respect to President Obama, we needed change so much that when he told us he would make that change, well, we expected too much from one man. But the change is there. How do we know? You don't have to look any further than the people who were predisposed to hate him from the beginning. Any success agitated them. They hate him even more now. From Fox News to Rush Limbaugh, to Ann Coulter(geist), their media pick at errors as if a frantic dance. Some of them even collide. There is no choreographer. The dance is chaotic. They each want to dance the way they feel and there is no cohesiveness: can you see them sitting around a table to agree on policies? Palin. Gingrich. Jendal. Steele.The odds that they would produce anything would be worse than the odds of a hundred chimpanzees typing out all the works of Shakespeare.
American society is a very, very dichotomous: we expect legislators, judges and administrators to carry the weight of the world on their shoulders, but we are suspicious of intelligence. We put up with eight years of ineptitude and buffoonery, with world class stupidity even, but we are frightened of an administration that is perhaps the most intelligent diplomatic force we have seen in over half a century.
Obama's first 100 days is drawing to a close and people are drawing imaginary battle lines. But what he has had to face and the way he has faced it is extraordinary, especially for one man. Those who jeer him, however, will never be satisfied no matter how many times he reaches across the aisle to them. They hate him, because need to hate him. They have foolishly set up "tea parties" to oppose a stimulus package that was badly needed. Even economists say that the stimulus package is not just a bandaid, but an honest attempt at helping America's economic mess. George Bush deregulated everything he could, then in his last 100 days, deregulated everything that was placed on his desk (he may have, for all we know, deregulated the desk itself) He certainly didn't know WHAT he was deregulating, only that he was deregulating something, and that was enough.
So what, if at all, is the similarity between Barack Obama and Susan Boyle? Again, it's all about expectations. Both were prepared to be mocked. Susan Boyle experienced low expectations. Barack Obama experienced high expectations. Both had to OVERCOME those expectations. Both had to admit they could make mistakes.
A big difference between Boyle and Obama: Boyle won her contest, but Obama's contest is just beginning, with people "hoping he fails" all along the way.
Who's happier?
Just thought.
Postscript:
Susan Boyle reminds me of Britain's late Queen Mother: not a conventional beauty by any means, but at the end of her 101 turbulent and eventful years was one of the most beloved women in the world. If Susan continues to beguile people with her unique voice and quirkiness, she too can join the ranks of Queen Mum.
"Chuck Norris's tears cure cancer. Too bad he never cries. Ever."
And For Vice President...Pat Robertson!
Today we've got TWO super-duper right wingnnut stories to chew on (of course there's more, but these are the most ridiculous, so we couldn't resist!): Tea partying is old news, but the new stuff about what RESULTED from the parties is still on top; and now that the Obama administration has released DHS memos about what everyone already knew - that we stand as much chance being attacked by right wing extremists as from outside terrorists - every right wingnut is crawling out of the wood work to say "How DARE he!" That, of course, includes Pat Robertson (see video below!).
The first story shows just how desperate Republicans are getting these days. Granted, some Texans (especially the ones with roots in Crawford, Midland and even Dallas) are indelibly stupid. It may be something in the water. In the past (before Alaska) all Americans outside of Texas knew about the state was that it had bragging rights brought on by its size and its oil. Since then, it's been eclipsed by Alaska in size and by Saudi Arabia in oil production. So what does it have to brag about now? Education? (nah, it's 26th in the nation with lower than average reading scores - figures!*). The fact that Texans consume the most energy in the nation per capita? How about the fact that Texas leads the nation in executions (400 for the last 27 years)? Or possibly the most interesting fact: that Texas emits the most greenhouse gases in the US?Now Texas, it seems, is considering secession:
Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX) was one of the dozens of Republican lawmakers who are addressing the anti-Obama tea parties today. He told the crowd he didn’t believe they were all “right-wing extremists,” as others had sought to portray them. “But if you are, I’m with you!” he shouted. After, he told reporters that Texas might have to secede from the union: Perry told reporters following his speech that Texans might get so frustrated with the government they would want to secede from the union.
And a pronouncement from "the poor man's Arnold Schwarzeneger" Chuck Norris:
On Glenn Beck's radio show last week, I quipped in response to our wayward federal government, "I may run for president of Texas."
That need may be a reality sooner than we think. If not me, someone someday may again be running for president of the Lone Star state, if the state of the union continues to turn into the enemy of the state.
Story #2 involves the DHS memos released stating what we already knew: radical right-wing terrorists are a threat to the country just as much as Al Qaeda.
This, from U.S. News & World Report in Bush's 2005:
By Danielle Knight
Posted 7/12/05
In the 10 years since the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing killed 168 people, roughly 60 right-wing terrorist plots have been uncovered in the United States, according to an upcoming report by the Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Project. The plots, all foiled by law enforcement, reportedly included violent plans by antigovernment militia groups, racist skinhead organizations, and Ku Klux Klan members to use various types of chemical bombs and other weapons.
Interestingly enough, Texas has a very high per capita hate group ranking. Washington D.C., has the highest: must be all the Republican lobbyists.
There are over 965 hate groups in the country. One of them is Pat Robertson.
From Crooks and Liars:
For the past few days, the right wing has been going after a new Department of Homeland Security (DHS) report warning that “rightwing extremists…may be gaining new recruits” because of Barack Obama’s election and the “economic downtown.”
ROBERTSON: It shows somebody down in the bowels of that organization is either a convinced left winger or somebody whose sexual orientation is somewhat in question.
But it’s that kind of thing, somebody who doesn’t think that we should have abortion on demand, is labeled a terrorist! It’s outrageous!
Crooks and Liars also points out that Robertson urged his viewers to “jam up” the homeland security phone lines by calling in to complain.
Telling people to purposely obstruct the operations of DHS might be considered treason, right?
Just a thought.
Texas ranked 26 in the American Legislative Exchange Council's Report Card on American Education. Texas students ranked higher than average in mathematics, but lower in reading. Between 2005–2006, Texas spent $7,584 per pupil ranking it below the national average of $9,295. The pupil/teacher ratio was 15.0, slightly below average. Texas paid instructors $38,130, below the national average. The state provided 89.22% of the funding for education, the federal government 10.8%.
Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured.
Mark Twain
American, Author Quotes
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Three reasons why Dick Cheney is stupid:
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