Durbin and Whitehouse will oppose Mukasey’s nomination.
By on Oct 31st, 2007 at 8:45 pm
Durbin and Whitehouse will oppose Mukasey’s nomination.
In an impassioned speech on the Senate floor today, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), a member of the Judiciary Committee, said he “will oppose” the nomination of Michael Mukasey to be Attorney General because of his refusal to explicitly say that waterboarding is torture. Watch it:
[flv http://video.thinkprogress.org/2007/10/WhitehouseMukaseyNo.320.240.flv]
Another member of the Judiciary Committee, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), also said today that he would oppose Mukasey’s nomination.
UPDATE: Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) sent Mukasey a letter today, co-signed by Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and John Warner (R-VA), indicating support for his nomination.
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ANYONE that Bush wants you need to reject, they are all criminals.
Buck Fush
October 31st, 2007 at 8:52 pmMcCain has only his honor and integrity to lose completely.
October 31st, 2007 at 8:59 pmHe has compromised himself on so many occasions in his sucking up to Bush, and now to learn that he will compromise his feelings on torture is the last straw. Of all people, he knows torture first hand, he knows what can and will happen to Americans at the hands of other unscrupulous enemies – and when that day comes, if he hasn’t already been declared, he will go insane, knowing we have no moral ground remaining.
The cancer growing out of the side of McCain’s face is his conscience trying to escape his body.
McCain once stood for removing money from politics. The Rockefeller elite and Israel have put him in his place – through threats and blackmail. He is a broken man who does not believe the words he speaks. He is a shill, and he knows it. Divide & Conquer – that’s ALL politics is about – just a game played by the elite to keep us baffled and divided.
The concerted effort that you see now in the media reveals the end of the slippery slope. Not a day after the most recent elections, the media were already hyping the next ones – 24/7. The effort by so many states to move up their Primaries means that the American People will be buried in political banter on a year-round basis. Politics. Not News. Politics – 24/7 – forever.
Rockefeller’s wet dream is coming true. He controls the media, he controls Congress, he controls the banks and he controls the oil.
Is there not a single patriot in Congress who will step forward and reveal the truth of the blackmail, bribes and intimidation in order to save our Republic?
Aaron Russo – The most important interview of our time:
http://tinyurl.com/29gyyb
You MUST watch this and share it with EVERYONE.
A shorter version is here:
http://tinyurl.com/392w7j
The Council On Foreign Relations DID 9/11
The Rockefellers DID 9/11.
The “War On Terror†does not exist.
“Bin Laden†does not exist.
If you don’t STOP – and take the time to watch this, you cannot ridicule those who risk their own personal security to tell the truth.
If you do watch it, and love America, you’ll never again ridicule a TRUTHTELLER.
STOP what you are doing.
WATCH THIS INTERVIEW.
Then share it with EVERYONE.
Google Video Search: Historic Interview With Aaron Russo
Here’s the Video that Google Video PULLED DOWN!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3U_GISl3aAA
October 31st, 2007 at 9:03 pmMC CAIN ADMITS GOP GUILT:
“Americans had elected us to change government, and they rejected us because they believed government had changed us,” the four-term senator said.
“We lost our principles and our majority. And there is no way to recover our majority without recovering our principles first.”
“Hypocrisy, my friends, is the most obvious of political sins. And the people will punish it,” McCain said, explaining that while Republicans were elected to reduce the size of government, they ended up increasing it “in the false hope that we could bribe the public into keeping us in office.”
THE REPUBLICAN PARTY IS IN BREACH OF CONTRACT WITH THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. MC CAIN ADMITS IT.
SUE THEM.
October 31st, 2007 at 9:05 pmWon’t matter. Mukasey will be confirmed, liberals will continue to squeal.
Brouhaha.
Comment by Newsflash
Noted for posterity, so when he’s denied, you can properly savor your loss.
Again, and again, and again.
Bon apetit.
October 31st, 2007 at 9:08 pmI’m sorry Marie, but McCain has sacrficed all for political gain. His former self would probably punch his current self in the face for this cowardly cowtow, if possible.
October 31st, 2007 at 9:11 pmYou suddenly think your “confidence†has any record of success?
November, 2006 showed how wrong you can be – and how wrong you are, again.
October 31st, 2007 at 9:13 pmFALSE FLAG ATTACK COMING ANY DAY…
BUSH:
President Bush gently admonished his father for saying he hates to think what life would be like for his son if the Democrats win control of Congress in the November 7 election.
“He shouldn’t be speculating like this, because — he should have called me ahead of time and I’d tell him they’re not going to (win),” a smiling Bush told ABC “This Week”
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=politicsNews&storyid=2006-10-22T193206Z_01_N22305445_RTRUKOC_0_US-BUSH-FATHER.xml&src=rss&rpc=22
WHY ALL THE CONFIDENCE, GEORGE?
GOT RIGGED ELECTIONS & MARTIAL LAW?
MC CAIN:
In an interview with Chris Matthews, John McCain was pressed to explain just where another 100,000 troops are supposed to come from for Iraq:
“I don’t think we need to think of the draft again because I don’t think it makes sense in a whole variety of ways. But I guarantee you, if these young people felt that this nation was in a crisis and we asked them to serve, virtually every one of them would stand up because I have the greatest confidence in the young people of America.”
(Transcript at: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15330717/)
CRISIS?
WHAT CRISES?
ARE WE IN A CRISIS, OR ARE YOU FORETELLING ONE?
See the connection? Both of these men are tipping their hand to a pending “CRISIS†that will solve both the recruitment problem and win (OR CANCEL) the elections.
JOHN MC CAIN – YOU’VE GOT FOREKNOWLEDGE OF A PENDING ATTACK. EXPOSE IT TO PREVENT IT – OR SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES.
Is THIS the pending CRISIS?
http://iraqwar.mirror-world.ru/article/104451
Here is the DRESS REHEARSAL for the sinking of the USS Enterprise:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-05-17-ship-reef_x.htm
McCain’s Dad covered up Israel’s attack on the USS Liberty – is history repeating?
http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig/margolis12.html
The stranglehold of AIPAC
THE ARCHITECTS OF TERROR ARE IN THE WHITE HOUSE.
WITHOUT TERROR – THEY HAVE NO POWER.
IT IS THEY WHO ARE ATTACKING US.
October 31st, 2007 at 9:13 pmBefore the mid-terms I copied and posted wingnut comments that were eerily similar to your latest , and lo, and behold, they don’t come around anymore (at least not without a fake beard and sunglasses).
You’ll be the same.
October 31st, 2007 at 9:16 pmSen. John McCain (R-AZ) sent Mukasey a letter today, co-signed by Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and John Warner (R-VA), indicating support for his nomination. 8:45 pm | Comment (14)
Good Lord John McCain . . .
How much torture do you need to undergo to understand the meaning of “torture.”?
You will never be president, but you will always be a human being who understands the nature of the beast.
Torture is a beast that America and the Constitution were designed specifically to beat.
Apparently, you are beaten. You torture all Americans by your lack of learning, by your swarmy, ass sucking to special interests (read: that great sucking sound that resonates with every plunk of a special interest dollar into your coffers).
I supported you . . . you have betrayed my trust. You have learned, yet you have learned nothing.
October 31st, 2007 at 9:33 pmListening to Stephen Hadley attempt to define the law defined by Common Article 3, it now becomes crystal clear why Rumsfeld disbanded Iraq’s Standing UNIFORMED Military at the time of our invasion.
They are attempting to redefine the Geneva Conventions to apply only to those captured “on the battlefield IN UNIFORM.”
Since the “battlefield” is undefined, it is literally EVERYWHERE, and since the enemy is conveniently undefined, it pertains to EVERYONE…including you and me.
The US and Israel are on a mission to overthrow the middle east – and in so doing, create a CIVILIAN UPRISING of non-uniformed “insurgent” fighters, whom this administration finds it convenient to brand as “Al Qaeda”
There is no “Al Qaeda Organization.”
“Al Qaeda In Iraq” is a Rovian Brand Strategy – just like “911″
People who find themselves occupied by a foreign invading force tend to fight back.
In other wars, our own government has branded them as “Freedom Fighters” when it serves the US Agenda.
The administration is attempting to create its own reality, based strictly on whether or not those who oppose our invading troops are wearing a uniform.
Sound anything like the Israeli occupation of Palestine, complete with check points and road blocks?
Who taught the US Troops torture techniques that would work specifically well on Arab detainees?
Coincidence?
Can US citizens traveling abroad on holiday become the victims of rendition? If Bush declares you an enemy, what are the limits? Can he declare that you are “Al Qaeda” and thereby subject you to the same interrogation practices and secret trials? Can he execute you?
Where does it stop?
October 31st, 2007 at 9:35 pmLast May Cheney appeared on Larry King. He stepped in it big time, but few people caught it. I alerted Rude Pundit and he wrote about it.
an excerpt:
Then Cheney made this statement: “In a sense, when you’re at war, you keep prisoners of war until the war is over with.†So, like, if, in a sense, the Gitmo campers are “prisoners of war,†then, in a sense, don’t they get Geneva Conventions protections?
Cheney and Gonzales have been playing a semantics game to justify torture, since “war†was never formally declared. It’s pretty obvious why they chose to embark upon the path of war without ever formally declaring it – so they could not be held accountable for the War Crimes they knew they’d be committing.
Bush tells us every day that we’re at war. Cheney and Gonzales tell us that we’re not REALLY at war.
Problem is, Cheney is on tape stating not only that we are at war, but that we are holding “prisoners of war.â€
The Geneva Conventions DO APPLY, and Cheney is guilty of war Crimes.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/ TRANSCRIPTS/ 0505/ 30/ lkl.01.html
KING: They specifically said, though, it was Guantanamo. They compared it to a gulag.
D. CHENEY: Not true. Guantanamo’s been operated, I think, in a very sane and sound fashion by the U.S. military. Remember who’s down there. These are people that were picked up off the battlefield in Afghanistan and other places in the global war on terror. These are individuals who have been actively involved as the enemy, if you will, trying to kill Americans. That we need to have a place where we can keep them. In a sense, when you’re at war, you keep prisoners of war until the war is over with.â€
So this is the war without end, and these prisoners will be held forever?
http://www.newyorker.com/ fact/ content/ articles/ 060227fa_fact
New Yorker
From the article:
Yoo believed that the President’s role as Commander-in-Chief gave him virtually unlimited authority to decide whether America should respond militarily to a terror attack, and, if so, what kind of force to use. “Those decisions, under our Constitution, are for the President alone to make,†he wrote in a law article.
A top Administration official told me that Yoo, Addington, and a few other lawyers had essentially “hijacked policy†after September 11th. “They thought, Now we can put our views into practice. We have the ability to write them into binding law. It was just shocking. These memos were presented as faits accomplis.â€
In Yoo’s opinion, he wrote that at Guantánamo cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment of detainees could be authorized, with few restrictions.
“The memo espoused an extreme and virtually unlimited theory of the extent of the President’s Commander-in-Chief authority,â€
So this same approach was used across the board. Addington effectively sought to obtain “legal opinions†which were in fact illegal, with the specific intent to provide Bush and Cheney with sufficient legal cover to behave as Dictators and Kings, as there were virtually no laws that applied to them, as determined by edict.
This is where we stand today. There is not one single law that applies to Bush or Cheney. They have found lawyers who were willing to craft opinions stating that they were above the law, and in so doing, have subverted the Constitution of the United States.
This activity was intentional, willful and treasonous.
They were sworn to uphold the constitution.
Given this information, others in a position to do something about it (who also swore under oath to protect the Constitution against all enemies Foreign and DOMESTIC) now have an obligation to fulfill.
They must call for the impeachment of this administration. It is their legal obligation given the evidence before them.
Time to choose sides, folks.
KBR awarded Homeland Security contract worth up to $385M By Katherine Hunt Last Update: 12:19 PM ET Jan 24, 2006
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — KBR, the engineering and construction subsidiary of Halliburton Co., said Tuesday it has been awarded a contingency contract from the Department of Homeland Security to supports its Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities in the event of an emergency. The maximum total value of the contract is $385 million and consists of a 1-year base period with four 1-year options. KBR held the previous ICE contract from 2000 through 2005. The contract, which is effective immediately, provides for establishing temporary detention and processing capabilities to expand existing ICE Detention and Removal Operations Program facilities in the event of an emergency influx of immigrants into the U.S., or to support the rapid development of new programs, KBR said. The contract may also provide migrant detention support to other government organizations in the event of an immigration emergency, as well as the development of a plan to react to a national emergency, such as a natural disaster, the company said.
http://www.marketwatch.com/ News/ Story/ Story.aspx?guid=%7B62C8724D%2DAE8A %2D4B5C%2D94C7%2D70171315C0A0%7D&dateid=38741%2E5136277662%2D858254656&s iteID=mktw&scid=0&doctype=806
as well as the development of a plan to react to a national emergency
as well as the development of a plan to react to a national emergency
as well as the development of a plan to react to a national emergency
There’s your key phrase…hidden nicely right at the end of the release. detention Centers are being built for a National Emergency…under the guise of being built to hold illegal aliens.
Can we get the congress to agree that they will pass a law to ensure that they will NEVER be used to imprison political dissidents?
Dare to ask the question.
“There is much more to the story of the ongoing tragedy in Iraq, particularly the growing number of terrorist incidents, than you’ll learn from mainstream media coverage–or non-coverage–of that beleaguered Middle East nation, which did not become a bastion of terrorism until after the United States attacked it.
The arrest of two British agents disguised as Shiite “terrorists†with a car full of explosives in Basra suggests that British occupation forces may be involved in carrying out “false flag†terror bombings in Iraq in order to advance the Zionist strategy of balkanizing the Middle East.
Two British agents from the Special Air Service (SAS) or a branch organization of the special forces, disguised as members of the Mehdi Army of the Shiite rebel cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, were caught in a car loaded with explosives after shooting and killing Iraqi police and civilians in Basra on Sept. 19.
Unable to secure the release of the two disguised terrorists from the local police, British forces took extraordinary action and bulldozed the police compound and jail and freed them.
Across Iraq, a wave of unclaimed car bombings has resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Iraqis in the past month, while thousands of innocent civilians have perished in similar senseless bombings in the two-and-a-half years since the Anglo-American occupation of the country began.
These terror attacks benefit the Israelis as they create the appearance of widespread sectarian violence in order to facilitate the plan to break Iraq into three ethnic statelets.
CAR BOMBING MARKETS
One interesting note about these terror bombings is that they are not being carried out by suicide bombers, but involve cars loaded with explosives, like that being driven by the two arrested British soldiers. These car bombs are usually parked and detonated near crowded areas, such as markets, and kill many innocent civilians.
On Sept. 29, for example, three pickup trucks packed with explosives detonated in quick succession in Balad, 50 miles north of Baghdad. The first bomb went off in the open-air market. Ten minutes later, the second car bomb detonated across the street, just as emergency workers were arriving. The third bomb exploded 10 minutes later in a residential area reported to be predominantly Shiite.
Car bombs, over the next several days, took 110 Iraqi lives, primarily Shiites, in the last few days of September. What makes these attacks unusual is that they are not aimed at the foreign occupation forces or Iraqi police, but seem to be acts of senseless violence.
The strategy of terror bombings in Iraq appears to be designed to create rampant civil strife in Iraq in order to advance a well-planned strategy to break up the country, known as Balkanization.
This strategy is aimed at dividing Iraq into three ethnic statelets, as was done with the former Yugoslavia.
Responsibility for the so-called sectarian bombings in Iraq, however, is rarely claimed by any Iraqi guerrilla group. There is, however, evidence that these bombings are facilitated and even perpetrated by foreign military and intelligence agencies working closely with the occupation forces, such as British military intelligence and the Israeli Mossad.
British forces have employed “false flag†terror tactics as part of a divide-and-conquer strategy applied in other conflicts in the past.
The scheme to Balkanize the Middle East has its roots in proposals put forth by a number of prominent Israelis.
In 1982, Oded Yinon, a senior advisor at the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a journalist, articulated the Zionist plan to Balkanize the Middle East by breaking up the Arab states of Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States.â€
http://www.americanfreepress.net/html/balkanization.html
October 31st, 2007 at 9:36 pmFALSE FLAG TACTICS:
These “Terroristsâ€â€¦who are they…really?
The news media tells us that they are all Muslim Extremists – Al Qaeda. Are they?
How many of the purported terrorist attacks that have grabbed the headlines might actually have been “false Flag operations?â€
I never knew what a false flag attack was until the past three years or so, when I began to do my own research to learn the truth behind the lies we are fed by the infotainment networks who claim to provide “news.â€
A false flag attack is strategic. The strategy works.
If you can make it appear that your enemy has attacked you (or your closest ally) in some grand and heinous way, it provides justification to strike your enemy (or those you wish to invade).
This is a TACTIC. If you don’t know how frequently this tactic has been used, and to what ends, you really need to begin studying how many time false flag operations have been employed, who was behind them, who was warned of the attack in advance, who actually carried out the attack, how they did it, what the media response to the attack was, and what the political and military responses to the false flag attack were.
Many of the “Terrorist Attacks†that you believe were committed by “Muslim Extremists†or Al Qaedaâ€, weren’t.
If that statement is true, doesn’t that cause you to at least do the research I am recommending here, so as to form your own educated opinion about this entire subject of “Terror†and how it is being used to manipulate the political and military landscape?
Nuclear war is going to break out very soon, and a false flag will be at the heart of it. Can we prevent nuclear war? Do you care enough?
“This campaign designed to prepare the American people to blame Iran for a possible upcoming nuclear terrorist attack fits the description of a Mossad false flag operation, especially because of Israel’s numerous, even flagrant recent violations of American nuclear security.
Israel’s long record of using terrorism and especially “false flag†terrorism – covert military operations designed to pin blame on an enemy – is extensive and well documented, beginning with the bombing of the Hotel King David by Menachem Begin’s Irgun fighters, through the Lavon Affair and recently includes the bust up of a phony al Qaeda cell that was in reality manufactured by the Mossad.
For those still under the illusion that Israel has always been a US ally, please note the USS Liberty Incident , wherein Israeli fighter planes and torpedo boats nearly sunk an unarmed US intelligence vessel in international waters, and also the US Army War College’s assessment of the Mossad: “Wildcard. Ruthless and cunning. Has capability to target US forces and make it look like a Palestinian/Arab act.†– Washington Times . Even the US army acknowledges that Israel can and does engineer “false flag†attacks.
Citizens can afford to waste no time informing the President, the Pentagon, Congress, State Officials, FBI Counter Intelligence and the press that we are aware of the intent of this propaganda campaign and are not fooled. Recent Israeli and US efforts to publicly distance themselves from war plans for Iran may be part of a campaign to appear peaceful, such that a terrorist attack falsely blamed on Iran with the full force of the international media will look all the more brutal and undeserved.â€
http://www.progressiveconvergence.com/nuclearfalseflagmail.htm
Opening your eyes to the coming war against IRAN is not anti-Semitic.
Unless you are eager for a front row seat to Armageddon, educate yourself, and let your voice be heard.
The Sunday Times December 11, 2005
Israel readies forces for strike on nuclear Iran
ISRAEL’S armed forces have been ordered by Ariel Sharon, the prime minister, to be ready by the end of March for possible strikes on secret uranium enrichment sites in Iran, military sources have revealed.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-1920074,00.html
This is NOT about politics and it is NOT about religion. This is not about bigotry or hate of any ethnic group. This is about saving our planet from the mad men who are hell bent on destroying it.
Get educated and get involved.
HUDSON INSTITUTE PRESSES FOR WAR WITH IRAN:
http://www.hudson.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=publication_details&id=3888
http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=61716
October 31st, 2007 at 9:38 pmHey “plunger”……
Aren’t you the same pain-in-the-ass whack job from Huffington Post ?
Knock it off with the goddamn 7,000 word posts ; I’ve read War and Peace already , and still own it.
I’ll open that up if I want to delve into a monumental word parade ; not a friggin’ post on a blog site……Knock that shit off.
October 31st, 2007 at 9:44 pmReport Plunger abuse. That’s what the “Report Abuse” tag is there for.
October 31st, 2007 at 9:48 pmPlunger abuse ?
Isn’t that what occurs at every GOP convention , led by Foley and Craig ?
October 31st, 2007 at 9:52 pmI think we already saw how firm McCain’s resolve is when it comes to stopping torture. He and Graham and Warner got the anti-torture provisions added to a bill and got Bush to sign it. And then, as Bush added his signing statement, essentially telling McCain to take his anti-torture bill and stick it, McCain replied “Yes sir. Where would you like me to stick it? I love you Mr. President.”
What a goddam pushover. And that goes for Graham and Warner, too.
October 31st, 2007 at 9:53 pmComment by MCMetal — October 31, 2007 @ 9:44 pm
I’ve said it before but ditto.
October 31st, 2007 at 9:59 pmBush, for all purposes, redefined the term “terrorists.” In fact, the people that he has dubbed “terrorists” are citizens of Iraq. They are not terrorists, they are citizens of Iraq who are not pleased that they are being occupied by an emperial power that places zero value on their people or institutions.
When dub’ya gets really rugged, he deems all anti-Americans “al Qaeda (sp?).
In fact, if an army of Muslims seized America . . . who wouldn’t fight? Would we all be terrorists? Would we all be agents of Al Qeada? No, we would be patriots. (granted, Bush, Cheney and company would be safe in hidey holes or in Paraguay).
We must get out of Iraq. The citizens don’t want us there. US diplomats consider service there a “death sentence,” and we are spending billions on a death trap. Bush’s design is to entrench America to such a degree that we can’t, no matter how hard we try, extricate ourselves from the Hell that is Iraq. What better way than to encourage Israel to strike Iraq, pre-emptively declare that if Iran strikes Israel, the US will strike back, encourage Israel to set into motion the presumably inevitable strike against Iran in support of Israel . . . go Cheney! Rove may not be in DC, but he is very much on the shady roll.
October 31st, 2007 at 10:00 pmIn his written responses to questions from Senate Democrats regarding waterboarding and other issues, Attorney General nominee Michael Mukasey almost exactlty regurgitated Alberto Gonzales’ 2005 assertion to Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) that “what we’re really discussing is a hypothetical situation.”
For the details, see:
October 31st, 2007 at 10:05 pm“Mukasey Now and Gonzales Then: Discussions of Torture ‘Hypothetical.’”
Being as the justice dept. has been somewhat, or more, politicised, and the thread below about Mukaseys involvement with Giuliani and thereby Mukaseys son with Kerik, does anyone else smell conflict of interest here?
October 31st, 2007 at 10:17 pmCNN host John King asked White House counselor Ed Gillespie directly, “Is waterboarding legal?”
“The fact is that those who have been briefed on the program in the US Senate, those on the Intelligence Committee, and others who are familiar with the program have said that it is legal,” Gillespie said. “And those are the ones who have a basis to know. But the fact is the government doesn’t confirm techniques regardless of whether they’re used or not used.”
=====================================
The Counselor to the President is the highest-ranking assistant to the President of the United States for communications, and a member of the Executive Office of the President of the United States. In the administration of George W. Bush, the Counselor oversees the Communications, Media Affairs, Speechwriting, and Press Offices.
———————————————-
This administration is mind-bogglingly out of control and utterly and completely full of shit……………..
October 31st, 2007 at 10:20 pmBeing as the justice dept. has been somewhat, or more, politicised, and the thread below about Mukaseys involvement with Giuliani and thereby Mukaseys son with Kerik, does anyone else smell conflict of interest here?
Comment by Xisithrus — October 31, 2007 @ 10:17 pm
There’s more than the stench of “conflict of interest” emanating from that hole ……..
October 31st, 2007 at 10:21 pmHistory of an Interrogation Technique: Water Boarding
The water board technique dates back to the 1500s during the Italian Inquisition. A prisoner, who is bound and gagged, has water poured over him to make him think he is about to drown.
Current and former CIA officers tell ABC News that they were trained to handcuff the prisoner and cover his face with cellophane to enhance the distress. According to Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., himself a torture victim during the Vietnam War, the water board technique is a “very exquisite torture” that should be outlawed.
“Torture is defined under the federal criminal code as the intentional infliction of severe mental pain or suffering,” said John Sifton, an attorney and researcher with the organization Human Rights Watch. “That would include water boarding.”
…
Water boarding was designated as illegal by U.S. generals in Vietnam 40 years ago. A photograph that appeared in The Washington Post of a U.S. soldier involved in water boarding a North Vietnamese prisoner in 1968 led to that soldier’s severe punishment.
“The soldier who participated in water torture in January 1968 was court-martialed within one month after the photos appeared in The Washington Post, and he was drummed out of the Army,” recounted Darius Rejali, a political science professor at Reed College.
Earlier in 1901, the United States had taken a similar stand against water boarding during the Spanish-American War when an Army major was sentenced to 10 years of hard labor for water boarding an insurgent in the Philippines.
“Even when you’re fighting against belligerents who don’t respect the laws of war, we are obliged to hold the laws of war,” said Rejali. “And water torture is torture.”
October 31st, 2007 at 10:30 pmThank you, Sen. Whitehouse. We need to stop Mukasey from getting out of the Judiciary Committee. Call all Dems and tell them to vote NO.
October 31st, 2007 at 10:31 pmNice low hanging fruit there-
Anyone voting for this clown is pro torture by default.
October 31st, 2007 at 10:42 pmAs long as Mukasey believes Bush is above the law, what does his opinion of waterboarding matter?
October 31st, 2007 at 10:47 pmMukasey’s judgment of waterboarding is worth noting, but a distraction, in my opinion.
The Judiciary Committee has taken its eye off the ball, here.
‘Hypothetical situation” my God!
To call the drowning of human beings “hypothetical” is loonacy. . . .It is a means of distancing . . . If you are so cerebrial that you can distance yourself from murder, you are a sociopath.
Today marks one year from the date that I witnessed a drunk being tsared for shouting that “waterboarding is death.”
What kind of country do we live in that a clearly harmless annoyance is stun gunned, hacked down and taken off to jail (when he had a perfectly good home two blocks away) . . . somehow, “by the people, of the people . . . ” has no place in a culture designed by a Texas flunkie who has no idea of what it means to take care of American citizens.
Dub’ya has 3+ DUIs, Cheney has more than that, Laura killed her ex in a car wreck . . . none on the record.
Deferrments run amok . . .
These folks wouldn’t last a day in Baghdad . . . or maybe they would . . . watch out Baghdad . . . killers commin’
Won’t happen. The only water boarding the Bush family will ever experience will be at the Princess Hotel in Paraguay. . . . Boogie board! Bring it on!
October 31st, 2007 at 10:53 pmThe Judiciary Committee has taken its eye off the ball, here.
Comment by Chuck U. Farley — October 31, 2007 @ 10:47 pm
Indeed, until the CIC terms over I would expect no changes. I am more concerned with Mukaseys following of the Hatch act and his NOT politicising the DOJ as his predecessor did.
October 31st, 2007 at 10:57 pmBuckie sums of the libs position well. They would oppose Mukasey no matter what answer he gave to the question.
Comment by TCDon
No, TCDon, he may sum up some peoples position making this projection of yours false. Read my position and concerns again.
What does ‘Justice is blind’ mean to you TCD?
October 31st, 2007 at 11:02 pmANYONE that Bush wants you need to reject, they are all criminals.
Buck Fush
Comment by Buckie Boy — October 31, 2007 @ 8:52 pm
_______________________________
Buckie sums of the libs position well. They would oppose Mukasey no matter what answer he gave to the question.
Comment by TCDon — October 31, 2007 @ 10:50 pm
Is it any wonder , TooCluelessDon ?
There isn’t anyone that Chimpy has appointed that’s even average , much less above that ; they’ve all been unqualified clowns/cronies …….
October 31st, 2007 at 11:03 pmAnd, TCDon, I recall that many conservatives also oppose Mukasey because of a case concerning deporting a non American citizen.
October 31st, 2007 at 11:04 pmBuckie sums of the libs position well. They would oppose Mukasey no matter what answer he gave to the question.
Comment by TCDon — October 31, 2007 @ 10:50
Funny but isn’t Bush your guy and doesn’t he veto or add a signing statement to every bill the dems pass now. You guys started the polarization of this country and you thought it was fun while your side was doing all the obstructing. Well you reap what you sow. Live with it.
October 31st, 2007 at 11:12 pmTCDon – Mukasey has no place at the DoJ because waterboarding is a means of murder. Americans don’t murder. Any fool (sociopath) who can’t recognize murder in its most inhumane form is far too blind to be entrusted with the virtue that is “justice.”
Justice is blind. Americans are not.
Bush can hide and hide and hide. . . . too bad for him . . . Americans can see. We truly value the virtue and dream of America. Don’t shit on our essence.
Hey dub’ya! That stench IS your legacy.
October 31st, 2007 at 11:14 pmDon’t get me wrong X. There are reasons to oppose Mukasey, but BF sums up the position of many libs that would simply oppose any nominee of Bush for any reason, or no reason.
Comment by TCDon — October 31, 2007 @ 11:24 pm
And you don’t see any reason why anybody should be suspicious of Mukasey right. It’s all a liberal issue. Do you people ever take any responsibility for anything?
October 31st, 2007 at 11:29 pmAnd, TCDon, I recall that many conservatives also oppose Mukasey because of a case concerning deporting a non American citizen.
Comment by Xisithrus — October 31, 2007 @ 11:04 pm
___________________________
Don’t get me wrong X. There are reasons to oppose Mukasey, but BF sums up the position of many libs that would simply oppose any nominee of Bush for any reason, or no reason.
Comment by TCDon — October 31, 2007 @ 11:24 pm
Hey Clueless Wonder , have you been paying attention these last 7 years ; or been locked away in a coma ????????????
AN ABYSMAL RECORD THESE LAST 7 YEARS/LIFELONG RECORD OF FAILURE IS THE ONLY REASON ANYONE NEEDS TO GIVE YOUR STUPID , STUBBORN AND WILLFULLY IGNORANT RETARDED ASS ………
October 31st, 2007 at 11:29 pmOne would think that a practicing attorney would be able to stick to the point of an argument. Just sayen’.
October 31st, 2007 at 11:31 pmAs a prosecutor,
Where does Mukasay as AG put me?
I am charged with prosecuting murder . . . if my boss is a murderer and sanctions murder, how do I prosecute murderers?
October 31st, 2007 at 11:34 pmOh yeah. If it’s politically expedient, I prosecute, otherwise, say in the case of Blackwater, immunity would be in order.
October 31st, 2007 at 11:38 pmOr say, Laura Bush as opposed to Wentworth Miller, just let it slide.
October 31st, 2007 at 11:39 pmOne would also think a practicing attorney, an ethical one, would place the Constitution and “the Law of the Land” above personal, or party, loyalty. Just sayen’.
October 31st, 2007 at 11:40 pmBuckie sums of the libs position well. They would oppose Mukasey no matter what answer he gave to the question.
Comment by TCDon — October 31, 2007 @ 10:50 pm
Very funny. You have seen with your own eyes the results of Bush’s decisions: if his shill isn;t confirmed, he’ll do a recess appointment. If the law he doesn’t like is passed, he’ll do a signing statement. this isn’t a president, this is a petty tyrant, utilizing all the loopholes his bought-and-paid for traitors can engineer through a treasonous, antiAmerican rightwing congress, destroying the Constitution, rule of law, and America’s moral position throughout the world. of course everything he does will be opposede by liberals; everything he does is designed to piss any clearthinking patriot off. That’s whe he’s a 24% and falling. Don’t try to change the direction of the fault here; Bush actively looks for the most divisive, least qualified hacks he can find, and forces them through. I don’t understand for a minute why he has the support of even the 24%, but there you go.
October 31st, 2007 at 11:40 pmPete, you were probably “just sayin’” not “just sayen’” – just sayin’.
October 31st, 2007 at 11:45 pmBush actively looks for the most divisive, least qualified hacks he can find, and forces them through. I don’t understand for a minute why he has the support of even the 24%, but there you go.
Comment by Lefty Patriot — October 31, 2007 @ 11:40 pm
You left out that Shrub’s hacks are loyal to him and his administration and their ‘visions’ alone , or they are not kept around or given a job ………
October 31st, 2007 at 11:45 pmAw crud. RR sprung my trap. Just tryen’ to see how easily distracted our “honorable” troll is. Truthfully, I aint done mispelld no wurds, accident like, sence I was a litter feller.
October 31st, 2007 at 11:54 pm#52 Bush is intellectually challenged . . . but he’s also a very gifted thug. People are not so much loyal to him as they are afraid of the damage that he will gleefully inflict upon them if they defect. He’s surrounded himself by hit men.
Ask John McCain . . . his experiences in South Carolina are illustrative:
Random phone call:
“if you knew that John McCain was the father of an illegitimate black child, would you still vote for him?”
Go Dub’ya!
McCain has an adopted son who is dark skinned. Not illegitimate, adopted.
These phone calls were orchestrated by the Bush campaign in SC and went out to thousands.
October 31st, 2007 at 11:56 pmThese phone calls were orchestrated by the Bush campaign in SC and went out to thousands.
Comment by rockyroad — October 31, 2007 @ 11:56 pm
and shows how weak and useless McCain, and by reflection Republicans, are; how thoroughly immoral and how deeply flawed rightwingers are. they are almost human, but still way behind on the evolutionary scale.
November 1st, 2007 at 12:00 amPete,
u musta bean the cutest little feller in yo litter.
November 1st, 2007 at 12:01 amComment by rockyroad — November 1, 2007 @ 12:01 am
Nope. I was the clever one.
November 1st, 2007 at 12:05 amReport Plunger abuse. That’s what the “Report Abuse†tag is there for.
Comment by rockyroad — October 31, 2007 @ 9:48 pm
Nope!
Plunger interjects his own thoughts in between some important copy and pastes.
Let’s not be a Bill Maher or Noam Chomsky….Left gatekeepers
Personally, I have no allegiance to the left or the right.
Plunger is on our side.
November 1st, 2007 at 12:05 am#57 – Evolution – No, not part of their agenda.
Bush will not evolve.
His apes for ancestors have denied their heritage.
Bush is a byproduct of a poisoned apple a couple thousand years ago.
Troglodyte? Looks like one, thinks like one, but . . . yeah, butt.
November 1st, 2007 at 12:09 amAwe fellas,
I’m getting it from all sides.
Here Pete, I complement you. little fella,
then I try to take the advice of my Think Progress friends and turn in the “Plunger” . . . maybe I was wrong, but Pete, you’ll always be my “lil fella.”
November 1st, 2007 at 12:18 amPlunger,
Let’s talk waterboarding. As a plumber, you no doubt have a little water experience. Do you ever just submerge your head in the bowl for grins? How’s that working out for you?
Pete,
Don’t even know what to ask. . . .Clever as you are, you probably have words of wisdom in connection with water sports. Please share!
November 1st, 2007 at 12:22 amPlunger,
Whether your nom de plum is a veiled reference to Watergate or just something that you came up with because you have some connection with plumbing, speak up.
In your book, is waterboarding good clean fun . . . or does it violate the Geneva Convention?
November 1st, 2007 at 12:33 amAlmost bedtime so I’ll keep this short and simple. “Waterboarding” has been declared torture in many courts. Period. If any military, or government, official orders, participates in, or condones such an act; the are guilty under U.S. and international law. Any persons complicate in such a vile act should be tried, convicted, and sentenced to the limit of humane punishment. I put it on a par with pedophilia.
November 1st, 2007 at 12:42 amComplicit . . . not complicate . . .
little fella
But I completely agree. Well said.
November 1st, 2007 at 12:46 amI wonder how I might feel if someone suggested waterbooarding a pedophile
November 1st, 2007 at 12:47 amThat won wus the spellcheckers fault. Plus my pills are kicking in. G’night humans. And you too trolls.
November 1st, 2007 at 12:51 amYeah, blame it on the spellcheckers. . . I don’t read, I juss N-too-it.
. . . ‘nite
dreams of the Lincoln bed-broom. . . Pete’s gonna run fur Prez . . .if dub’ya can doo itl any9ne can!
Happy all sts day!
Boo
November 1st, 2007 at 1:01 am.
Q U E S T I O N :
When is torture EVER an American Principle?
.
November 1st, 2007 at 1:25 am.
The Vietnam “tortured” Vet supports torture?
And he seeks to become the Commander in Cheif… why?
So he can “give it to ‘em” and freely torture? or not?
McCain supports torture? Or does he?
.
November 1st, 2007 at 1:30 amHapppy All Saints Day -
For all of you down on the Gulf Coast . . .
Bless your lucky souls . . . Lake Ponchatrain may have drowned your families . . . Bush was a no show . . . but at the very (that would be VERY least) . . .
he just abandoned you for being poor black people . . .
He didn’t waterboard you.
Really kind of seems the same . . . as you scramble to your attic and the water’s rising . . . .but you had no leverage . . . couldn’t even offer up a lie to save your soul.
I sincerely hope that you all have hope and are rebuilding. Please let us know how we can help. We want to, just don’t know how.
November 1st, 2007 at 1:49 amPoor blacks were not the only victims of Katrina . . . lots of poor whites also met their maker.
Bush didn’t see this as a humanitarian disaster . . . he and Karl Rove saw it as an opportuntiy. . . . an opportunity to turn a blue state into a red state . . . that
is the reason that Bush’s plane didn’t touch down . . .
Rape, assault, devestation going on in the Super Dome, and a calculated decision not to touch down. Better a drowning state of Democrats than a lost opportunity to turn a blue state red.
Heck of a job dub’ya.
November 1st, 2007 at 1:55 amEthnic cleansing seems to be the Bush adm MO. We ignore it because denial is a safer place than acceptance.
November 1st, 2007 at 2:12 amBush allowed poor white and black people to drown on the Gulf Coast . . . the reason that death numbers are down in Iraq is not because we’re “winning the war”, it’s due to ethnic cleansing. Without the presense of Sunnni, there’s noone present to fight . . . the fact that the Sunni were citizens who inhabited these territories for centuries without distress with their Shia neighbors until the US showed up to save the day is irrelevant. They’re dead and gone.
Rockyroad:
Apparently you’ve complained about my postings, without actually reading them. Did you really ask if I condone waterboarding as anything less than torture?
http://plungerspeaks.blogspot.com
November 1st, 2007 at 2:59 amPlunger,
I read your postings. Yes, I really asked whether or not you condone waterboarding as anything less than torture.
I may be wrong . . . nonetheless, by asking the question, you certainly don’t answer it.
What’s your position? Up or down? Torture or not?
November 1st, 2007 at 3:32 amPlunger
Being that I am not a fan, there’s no way that I’m going to hit on your blog. If you’re looking to up the number of hits on your site and thereby entice advertisers . . . dream on.
You just ain’t got anything I want . . . namely, integrity. Boss is the man who knows his mind and speaks it without pause. Boss is the man that snatches the rat and puts it out in the back yard to scamper as rats do. Doesn’t kill the rat . . . but puts on his tux knowing that that silly rat will be back to play another day. We don’t kill the rat . . . just toy with it. . . . Gotta love the Boss.
Plunger. you are my rat.
November 1st, 2007 at 3:48 amOf course I do not condone torture. This country helped to create the Geneva Conventions – and had formerly held a position of moral authority with respect to the rules of warfare.
The reason the “uniformed” army was disbanded upon our occupation of Iraq was to ensure that the Geneva conventions would not need to be adhered to, and so that average citizens could be proclaimed to be “enemy combatants” – subject to TORTURE.
The term “battlefield” became synonymous with “anywhere on planet earth that we opt to render you from in order to torture you” in this phonyass “War On Terror.”
All Terror is POLITICAL according to our own State Department. False Flag Terror, committed by Israel, Great Britain or the United States is largely responsible for ALL of the present issues we face.
There is no “Al Qaeda” but for that non-organization which our shadow government has created – in the minds of people – via the media. “Al Qaeda In Iraq” is a BRAND NAME invented by Karl Rove. It does not exist.
Read my submissions on the new thread, and see if you still question my opinions with respect to torture.
November 1st, 2007 at 3:48 amFYI:
The “blog” I provided you with the link to was not created by me, nor is it “my blog.”
It was created by an apparent fan of my research and postings – a blogger named “WinterPatriot” – whose research and writing I respect. He created it without my knowledge, only informing me of it after the fact – and I have no ability to post anything there. It is an archive of “Plunger’s Best” – from his perspective.
If you opt not to believe me, feel free to ask him:
http://winterpatriot.blogspot.com/2007/10/investigators-offered-immunity-to.html
November 1st, 2007 at 3:54 amPlunger,
Clearly, I was wrong. Sorry.I agree with your position and will go to the website created on your behalf.
You have got to be an attorney. No one else speaks in terms of “but for.”
I do have strong opinions but am always interested in becoming better informed. . . if “Plunger’s Best” has that to offer, I will go there.
Thank you for reising the level of discourse.
November 1st, 2007 at 4:05 amraising, not reising.
November 1st, 2007 at 4:06 amMust say though Plunger . . .
You do seem a bit defensive.
What’s that all about?
November 1st, 2007 at 4:16 amAre you a law geek?
Hate that.
November 1st, 2007 at 4:17 amAlso, you never answered the Watergate vs. wannabe /water question re “Plumber”?
November 1st, 2007 at 4:20 amPlunger,
I am not sold. You are my rat.
November 1st, 2007 at 4:28 amEew my little rat, I think I know you, or at least who you are.
Scamper in the yard . . .
November 1st, 2007 at 4:39 amHow hard is it to do the right thing?
Not that hard.
Tomorrow, I’m going to climb a 14er. How hard is that? Well, it’s snowing. The altitude is high enough that you have to worry about High Mountain Altitude Sickness, pulmonary edema could be problematic.
What isn’t problematic is: should we be talking war against Iran? Should oil companies be able to blow the tops off of these mountains? Should I be the last of my generation to watdh an eagle soar on the winds in the canyons? or to see Big Horn Sheep graze carelessly without fear of being wiped out by a Hummer zipping along at 90 MPH or a water supply polluted with toxic waste from a mine on BLM land?
At sea level in Houston, the street lights come on mid-day due to the refineries, even at 10,000 feet you can’t drink the water, at sea level, you could get shot in the face by Cheney, the Aspen are dying . . . in a sense, we are all dying. We elected (OR NOT), a moron. We’re all dying. At 14,000 feet, we’re safe . . . for now.
Yeah, it’s hard. We must say “Get Lost.”
Lost is where we’ve been for the past seven years . . . let’s find the courage to impeach and re-claim our destiny. . . . America for the people, by the people and of the people . . . truly, we’ve been given the gift of the mountains, of hope and of the prospect of bountiful prosperity, there is no mountain high enough . . . We’ve been lost and now we’re found.
Impeach the waterboarding fluke.
November 1st, 2007 at 5:38 amPulmonary edema, climbing a fourteener in Colorado? A bit dramatic perhaps?
Rocky, that’s a stretch. Mild altitude sickness and headache near the summit, yes, but c’mon…it’s not that high or that hard. Bring along plenty to eat, a carbonated beverage and some aspirin.
Which Peak? Pyramid, Capital, Maroon Bells, La Plada? Done ‘em.
November 1st, 2007 at 7:32 amThis is the same Senate, you should recall, that recently confirmed Leslie Southwick.
Comment by Newsflash — November 1, 2007 @ 7:26 am
Yes, a bunch of lockstep Republican Nazi robots and a handful of Blue Dog Dem idiots, who wil also be gone. Nice of you to be so proud of your party’s destruction of American justice and law, traitor.
November 1st, 2007 at 7:42 amMcCain is just a sad sad excuse for a person. I just can’t stand the sight of him anymore. It’s one thing when a person is just an opportunist pure and simple, but he has just gone down hill so much within the last 7-8 years.
November 1st, 2007 at 1:38 pm