Think Progress

John Ashcroft: I’m Willing To Be Waterboarded

By Faiz on Nov 28th, 2007 at 10:24 am

John Ashcroft: I’m Willing To Be Waterboarded»

ashLast night, former Attorney General John Ashcroft delivered an address on national security at the University of Colorado. The event was marked by heated protests. About 20 student protesters wearing “shirts with ’shame’ written on the backs and wearing American flags over their faces, welcomed Ashcroft to the stage by standing up and turning their backs to him.”

During the speech, Ashcroft caused an uproar when he declared Guantanamo Bay was a “good place” for detainees. In addition, he defended the torture tactic of waterboarding:

Ashcroft also responded to questions from the audience. The first question came from a woman who asked if Ashcroft would be willing to be subjected to waterboarding.

“The things that I can survive, if it were necessary to do them to me, I would do,” he said.

Ashcroft apparently believes that torture should be allowed as long as it doesn’t kill him.

Reps. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and William Delahunt (D-MA) have introduced the “American Anti-Torture Act of 2007” to make clear no U.S. government agency feels it can apply the Ashcroft standard while interrogating detainees. They write:

Waterboarding is not “simulated drowning.” It is drowning. It involves restraining a detainee — usually by strapping him or her to a board — with the head placed lower than the feet. The face or mouth is often covered or stuffed with rags and water is poured over the face to force inhalation. The victim’s lungs fill with water until the procedure is stopped or the victim dies. Waterboarding has been considered torture — even by our own government — until recently. Indeed, we prosecuted Japanese officers for subjecting prisoners to waterboarding in World War II.

Jessica Evans, a student who protested during Ashcroft’s speech, “said the angry outbursts from the audience was evidence that the Bush administration did not give enough voice to the concerns of the public.” Indeed, as John Ashcroft and Alberto Gonzales go around the country defending torture, they are being forced to confront the public disapproval that they did not heed while in office.

UPDATE: FDL’s Blue Texan recalls that Instapundit’s Glenn Reynolds also recently said he’d be “happy” to be waterboarded and suggested Michael Mukasey do the same.

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189 Responses to “John Ashcroft: I’m Willing To Be Waterboarded”


  1. raynman Says:

    Where does the line start for waterboarding Ashcroft?? I want dibs!


  2. Peter C Says:

    So, when is the demonstration to take place? I want to hear what he thinks AFTER he’s been waterboarded. Let’s get the whole thing up on Youtube.


  3. Menehune Says:

    Let the Eagle Soak.


  4. Fritz Says:

    Yes indeed - I think he should be waterboarded. Bush, Cheney and Gonzales should be invited for this too…


  5. OneCrankyDem Says:

    I would love to be there when Ashcroft crys for mercy. The man has needed taken down a peg or 2 for the last 10 yrs. He had better pray Bush pardons him before he leaves office or he will end up paying for his crimes sooner or later.


  6. toasterhead Says:

    Has someone explained to Ashcroft that waterboarding doesn’t involve a beach and a styrofoam board and talking with a California accent? It’s possible that he’s a little confused.


  7. missmolly Says:

    I think the waterboarding of Ashcroft makes for a great pay-per-view opportunity. So who gets the broadcast rights?

    Seriously, I think it would be a good idea for these people who claim that waterboarding isn’t torture — that it’s just some kind of harmless water sport — to experience the procedure for themselves. Even under tightly controlled conditions, even though they are assured ahead of time they aren’t going to die, they should get enough of the experience to have some idea what it’s like.

    Failing that, they should at least talk to people who have been waterboarded.

    Without having done either of these things, there is no credibility.


  8. Tweedster Says:

    Big deal - the whole psychological aspect that would come along with a fear of actually drowning cannot be as acute if you are just doing a “demo.” That being said, let’s dunk this clown and all his buddies on the Hill who approve of this type of thing.


  9. Bush Cover Ups Says:

    GUILTY of aid and abetting a crime against humanity


  10. And Yet... Says:

    Gosh golly, I’d sure like to hear any comments from Jim Comey & Jack Goldsmith on the Ashcroft they described during the infamous hospital smackdown re: his desire to try out waterboarding. Real interesting, that might be…


  11. Peter C Says:

    Tweedster @ 9,

    Yes, but perhaps the psychological aspect could be re-introduced if the procedure were carried out by someone Ashcroft fears, say Gloria Steinem?


  12. bob84108 Says:

    It would be interesting to see what secrets about the Bush administration he would give up under torture.


  13. Leftside Annie Says:

    I’m all for it: let’s waterboard the bastard.

    Where do I sign up to assist…?


  14. Peter C Says:

    Excellent snark, Menehune! Well done!


  15. Peter C Says:

    I think O. Bigfoot should try both, just to be certain.


  16. Bush Cover Ups Says:

    Hold on If hes willing then I volunteer to waterboard him

    anybody got his address and phone number,


  17. toasterhead Says:

    So the real question is: if Ashcroft does agree to be waterboarded in a live television event, will Gonzo and Andy Card burst in when he’s incapacitated on the drowning table to get him to approve unconstitutional wiretaps?

    You know, for old times sake…


  18. DieNowForPeace Says:

    I’d take a waterboarding over a beheading any day.

    Comment by O. Bigfoot

    On one hand, you get a lung full, the other, your IQ actually improves.


  19. PatrioticLiberalChristian Says:

    I’d take a waterboarding over a beheading any day.

    Comment by O. Bigfoot — November 28, 2007 @ 10:48 am

    I’d take a theft over a murder any day. THAT DOES NOT MAKE EITHER ONE ACCEPTABLE!!

    Can we please have some trolls with smaller feet and bigger brains?


  20. toasterhead Says:

    Good for Ashcroft. He stood up for the belief of most Americans: That waterboarding is not torture and is a necessary tactic utilized only a very few times on the enemy to gain information that saved American lives. Bravo!

    Comment by O. Bigfoot — November 28, 2007 @ 10:48 am

    Which American lives? I thought all this information was classified. How do most Americans know that waterboarding has saved American lives? Are you suggesting that most Americans have been leaked classified information from the CIA?


  21. racom Says:

    Outstanding, let’s turn him over to the taliban and see how it turns out. It wouldn’t be the same as under US control with mommy holding his hand.


  22. Tweedster Says:

    Bigfoot,

    How does our version of waterboarding differ from what the Japanese practiced? You know, the practice WE defined as torturous and as a war crime?

    Also, please enlighten us as to what crucial information waterboarding has produced that has saved American lives? Considered the debate over the practice, there should be many examples of its success for its supporters to point towards in the face of the opposition of torture (which does include waterboarding) by the MAJORITY of Americans.

    Thanks!


  23. Zimzone Says:

    This just in…

    At tonight’s Republican Youtube debate, each of them will be waterboarded prior to being allowed to speak.

    Q&A sessions following this event are expected to mainly address if their stand on torture has changed at all in the last few minutes…


  24. toasterhead Says:

    “Progressives” wish death upon our own people.

    I know who my enemies are.

    Comment by O. Bigfoot — November 28, 2007 @ 10:58 am

    Not true. We don’t wish death upon our own people. We just don’t consider fascists like yourself “our own people.”


  25. arcticredriver Says:

    If, heaven forbid, a demonstration of waterboarding, starring Ashcroft, was arranged — and he DIED — would that take some impetus from the sails of the torture advocates?

    Ashcroft was in intensive care just a few years ago. He might not only learn that waterboarding is orders of magnitude worse than he imagined, but he might learn that he over-estimated the capacity of his aging body to endure it.


  26. Kay Says:

    May I do it?


  27. The Republic of Stupidity Says:

    He stood up for the belief of most Americans:

    “Most Americans”???? Sorry… unprovable contention.

    That waterboarding is not torture and is a necessary tactic utilized only a very few times on the enemy to gain information that saved American lives. Bravo!

    Comment by O. Bigfoot — November 28, 2007 @ 10:48 am

    So you like keeping company w/ the Inquisition, the Nazis, the Imperial Japanese, and the Khmer Rouge. Not surprising.

    BTW, so nice of you to get all decked out fer the holidays, li’l Footie, wearing yer Jingle Ballsâ„¢ ‘n all. I see you saved up your can and bottle money and bought yerself a new codpiece too. From the size, I’d say you splurged and bought yerself The Limbaughâ„¢!


  28. racom Says:

    Seems to be way too many knuckledraggers posting here.


  29. Tweedster Says:

    I know who my enemies are.

    Comment by O. Bigfoot — November 28, 2007 @ 10:58 am

    No you don’t Bigfoot! You support those who mock our Constitution and thumb their noses at international law and the rules of war. You condone actions that appall U.S. citizens when carried out against our troops and effectively lower us to the savagery of military enemies. You emulate and adore the enemies of this country - external and internal alike.

    Begone troll!


  30. Peter C Says:

    Conservatives see enemies everywhere. Progressives merely wish to hear opinions which are based upon facts or personal experience.

    I do not particularly wish death upon fictional characters.


  31. VerbalKint Says:

    Well, well, well. Another big talkin’ Republican pussy.


  32. Zimzone Says:

    Mr. Ashcroft, are you going to sing about Craig & Lott?

    I hear Mr. Lott will soon be singing a new tune.

    Maybe you can waterboard Lott’s young male escort before he sings?

    You can find them both in the public RR around Noon today.


  33. The Republic of Stupidity Says:

    I do not particularly wish death upon fictional characters.

    Comment by Peter C — November 28, 2007 @ 11:05 am

    Remember the outrage from righties when Dumbledore turned out to be gay?


  34. Dumb_Fox Says:

    Outstanding, let’s turn him over to the taliban and see how it turns out. It wouldn’t be the same as under US control with mommy holding his hand.

    Comment by racom — November 28, 2007 @ 10:59 am

    Precisely.


  35. osage Says:

    I can’t believe how casually/hypocritically/dishonestly/destructively immoral American Republican and or Democratic politicians have become in endorsing the action of holding someone under water to terrify them into answering questions. Especially in light of the fact that so many studys have determined that torture produces unreliable answers. If Ashcroft is willing to be deprived of oxygen, perhaps he should also be deprived of food and water and sleep for 72 hours and let us know if he felt tortured.


  36. mary Says:

    Conservatives are so sweet aren’t they? Defending torture now. So compassionate!


  37. PatrioticLiberalChristian Says:

    Ashcroft sez: “The things that I can survive, if it were necessary to do them to me, I would do.”

    This is precisely thje type of thought process of a person being tortured and, consequently, out of their mouths spew any words they think will help them end the torture, regardless of the veracity. Torturing, including waterboarding, is wothless as well as immoral.


  38. SpeakupNation Says:

    I say we take him up on it in order to disprove the efficacy of water-boarding. The bet is that we can get him to denounce God, Country and Family within 2 minutes….


  39. arcticredriver Says:

    To give the man his due, standing up to Gonzales, when he was in intensive care, was an admirable moment.

    Similarly, Colonel Morris Davis, the former chief Prosecutor at the Guantanamo show trials really surprised me. I thought he was a man totally without principles, because he seemed prepared to lie about Khadr.

    But he stood up to Brigadier General Thomas Hartmann, someone he thought was ordering him to take actions he considered unprincipled. So, I guess he had some principles, after all.

    (Colonel Davis’s public criticism of Hartmann was that (1) he was meddling in the conduct of the prosecution, when, as “legal advisor”, to the “convening authority”, he was only authorized to play an oversight role. And he was supposed to be impartial, provide this impartial oversight to both the Prosecution and the Defense. (2) Davis wanted to preserve some shreds of legitimacy for the USA by having the first trials not rely on evidence elicited under torture, and not rely on evidence that was classified, and thus withheld from the captives, and the public. Hartmann, apparently, was in a rush to get convictions before Bush’s term expires, and thus was pushing for the prosecutions of captives who would face more serious charges, even though those trials would have to be held in secret, and rely on confessions induced by torture.

    Cheers!


  40. osage Says:

    On second thought, this is a GREAT IDEA! Every Representative and or Senator must first personally experience waterboarding in order to vote for allowing it. If after being waterboarded, he or she still wants to vote for it, at least they’ll know what they voted to do to others. How many would vote for waterboarding if they had to be waterboarded first in order to do so?


  41. thecowboydictator Says:

    people who believe that waterboarding under any circumstances is OK make me sick.


  42. gummitch Says:

    Good for Ashcroft. He stood up for the belief of most Americans: That waterboarding is not torture and is a necessary tactic utilized only a very few times on the enemy to gain information that saved American lives. Bravo!

    Comment by O. Bigfoot — November 28, 2007 @ 10:48 am

    I’ve been waiting for Bigfoot to prove his contention that “most Americans” do not believe that waterboarding is torture. Or any evidence at all that it isn’t, for that matter, given the historical record.

    But that would be far too much to expect: data, facts, anything but bloviating.


  43. PatrioticLiberalChristian Says:

    I say we take him up on it in order to disprove the efficacy of water-boarding. The bet is that we can get him to denounce God, Country and Family within 2 minutes….

    Comment by SpeakupNation — November 28, 2007 @ 11:13 am

    Actually, this gives me an idea. FOX is planning this new “reality” show in which people are privately asked personal questions with a polygraph operating and then are reasked the questions publically for points. How about we hook up Ashcroft to a polygraph and ask him a bunch of questions then reask those questions while he’s being waterboarded.


  44. Democrat Soldier Says:

    #16 - “That waterboarding is not torture and is a necessary tactic utilized only a very few times on the enemy to gain information that saved American lives.” Comment by O. Bigfoot — November 28, 2007 @ 10:48 am

    Interesting that you have no proof of this.

    Much like there was no proof of WMD’s, but that hasn’t stopped one single neo-con lemming from yelling their support of the war for oil.

    Proof is only asked for when libs smash the lies of neo-cons. Wonder why that is?


  45. gummitch Says:

    Proof abounds. That you choose to ignore it is your problem, not mine.

    Comment by O. Bigfoot — November 28, 2007 @ 11:23 am

    Put up or shut up.


  46. jb Says:

    He’s willing to be waterboarded, but can’t bear to see a bare breasted statue. Another looney who deserves to be ignored.


  47. jb Says:

    I bet if we water board him enough, we can get him to admit that he likes looking at statues of bare breasted women.


  48. racom Says:

    To Mary, just thank God that they are bible believing, Godly Christian conservative minded folk. Other wise they could be real nasty, you know, using torture, immoral war mongers, toe tapping perverts and the like.


  49. PatrioticLiberalChristian Says:

    jb

    Excellent!

    Maybe if Ashcroft was waterboarded he would admit to having had sex with that statue. ‘Course, that might have been true.


  50. jb Says:

    Or maybe of men in public restrooms.


  51. jb Says:

    “waterboarding works”.

    Comment by O. Bigfoot — November 28, 2007 @ 11:32 am

    Just ask Tojo.


  52. missmolly Says:

    Comment by O. Bigfoot — November 28, 2007 @ 10:48 am

    “Good for Ashcroft. He stood up for the belief of most Americans: That waterboarding is not torture…”
    – You are wrong if you believe that most Americans don’t consider waterboarding torture. According to a recent CNN poll, 69% of Americans consider it torture. Only 29% do not consider it torture, and 2% are unsure. http://www.pollingreport.com/terror.htm

    “…and is a necessary tactic utilized only a very few times on the enemy…”
    – and you know about the frequency of waterboarding…how? Got a link?

    “…to gain information that saved American lives. Bravo!”
    – ditto above comment — how do you know about the value of information gained from this procedure? Even though conservative writer Vasko Kohlmayer claimed that valuable information is gained “every time it has been tried,” most others claim that information gained this way is generally useless.

    “I’d take a waterboarding over a beheading any day.”
    – And why are you making this comparison? A beheading has absolutely nothing to do with waterboarding. One has to do with an interrogation situation and the other has to do with a hostage situation. The righties always like to throw in “beheading” as some kind of bizarre debate point to justify “we can torture them because they behead us!” But it’s really just a distracting strawman.


  53. Leftside Annie Says:

    I am so very sick of all the nasty, stupid, greedy little bullies with huge egos and tiny penises currently running this country…

    …And trolling this website.


  54. PollM Says:

    As the architect of waterboarding legal framework, should former Attorney General John Ashcroft be tried for crimes against humanity?

    http://www.youpolls.com/details.asp?pid=1116

    .


  55. Wayne Says:

    Sure. Simply Google “waterboarding works”.

    Comment by O. Bigfoot — November 28, 2007 @ 11:32 am

    Waterboarding is illegal, cases are already on the books where WE, the U.S. prosecuted people for waterboarding.

    It figures that you fascists promote breaking US and International Law.


  56. bob84108 Says:

    There is a reason why they say war is hell, and believe me we are at war with those who would kill a progressive faster than a conservative. If the the so called progressives here had their way the US would have never one WWII as quickly as we did. No I dont like some of the very ugly things that are done in war, but that is why war is hell. So all you progressives can keep your hands clean and keep your greater than thou attitudes while true patriots do the dirty work.


  57. jb Says:

    Beheading is more reasonably compared to collateral damage. How would you rather die, by beheading or just as an accidental consequence. I suppose that once dead it really doesn’t matter, but there is some consolation if the very personal commitment and absolute intention that goes with beheading. Rather the the “oops” that is the eulogy of so many in modern warfare.


  58. toasterhead Says:

    Sure. Simply Google “waterboarding works”.

    Comment by O. Bigfoot — November 28, 2007 @ 11:32 am

    Beheading also works. What’s your point?


  59. Age of Rifles Says:

    Waterboarding is drowning? Actual drowning? This will come as a shock to the recent lefty volunteer who was subjected to waterboarding and then jumped up to tell everyone how horrible it was.

    You are supposed to be dead, dude.


  60. missmolly Says:

    Sure. Simply Google “waterboarding works”.

    Comment by O. Bigfoot — November 28, 2007 @ 11:32 am

    Which will get you a number of blog entries from torture supporters. When you Google “waterboarding doesn’t work”, you can get just as many from the other side. All proving nothing.


  61. Marcus Aurelius Says:

    That’s cool! I’m willing to do the deed.


  62. nanlichi Says:

    As long as Ashcroft doesn’t die, it’s not torture? So after we waterboard the sanctimonious prick, how about if we put plastic wrap over his nose and mouth until he passes out. Scary, but no permanent damage done right?

    Put him naked in a freezer until he pass out from hypothermia, then revive him. No permanent harm.

    Then put him in an oven until he passes out from hyperthermia and again revive him.

    Put him in a pressure chamber and then relieve the pressure suddenly so he gets air bubbles in the blood stream, I understand that is incredibly painful but if you don’t die, it’s not torture right?

    Put large stones on his chest until he can’t breathe, wait until the last spark dies out on the EKG, and resucitate him. He’ll be fine.

    Then let the entire prison A Block have their way with him. He’ll live, but those precious vocal cords may need time to heal.

    It’s beyond me how Americans defend torture. I would say that anyone who defends torture is not American and should be shipped the fck out of the country


  63. jb Says:

    Waterboarding is torture. That is a proven point of law. Why are we not obeying the law?


  64. bob84108 Says:

    #60
    If you break the speed limit you are breaking the law, if a cop breaks the speed limit in performance of his duties he is not breaking the law. As far as international law goes, I owe my alegiance to only the US.


  65. jb Says:

    Now the right thinks waterboarding is speeding, or do they think speeding is torture?


  66. jb Says:

    Reason is being tortured to defend the practice of waterboarding.


  67. Wayne Says:

    As far as international law goes, I owe my alegiance to only the US.

    Comment by bob84108 — November 28, 2007 @ 11:45 am

    Ever read the Constitution? Any Treaty the US is a signatory of becomes US Law, you ignorant idiot.


  68. bob84108 Says:

    #70
    Never said that. I said that if you are going to stop evil, in times of war, drastic action maybe necessar. My point was that is is not breaking the law.


  69. Age of Rifles Says:

    Waterboarding is torture. That is a proven point of law. Why are we not obeying the law?

    Leaving the lights on 24/7 is torture, screaming loudly in someone’s face is torture, threatening to ground them into dust is torture, promising a few hours of punishing exercise is torture.

    We need to close the boot-camps, our recruits are being tortured and we are not obeying the law.


  70. bob84108 Says:

    #72
    You are wrong again, no treaty says that water boarding in all cases is illegal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If you think so, give me the treaty??


  71. gummitch Says:

    If you break the speed limit you are breaking the law, if a cop breaks the speed limit in performance of his duties he is not breaking the law. As far as international law goes, I owe my alegiance to only the US.

    Comment by bob84108 — November 28, 2007 @ 11:45 am

    This would be the same US that prosecuted Japanese war criminals, specifically citing waterboarding as torture in the list of crimes.

    Did it stop being a crime magically in the intervening years?


  72. bob84108 Says:

    #72
    PS, you dont have to be insulting. I know it makes you feel so superior, but, lets back up your facts and then you can feel superior.


  73. bob84108 Says:

    #76
    The sad part about all the progressive arguements here is that you all confuse the torture of uniformed troops with those of terrorists dressed in civilian clothes. The law provides for those not in uniform to be shot as spies. Maybe we should enforce that law.


  74. missmolly Says:

    Waterboarding is drowning? Actual drowning?

    Comment by Age of Rifles — November 28, 2007 @ 11:42 am

    I’m pretty sure that you were trying to make a point by snark, but just in case you are truly confused on the issue, let me clarify.

    “Drowning” is to suffocate by water or another liquid, often to the point of death. When you start pouring water into somebody’s lungs, you are drowning them — even if you stop and revive them before they actually die.

    It’s like suffocating somebody with a pillow. Or strangling somebody. If I were to do either of these to you to the point where you couldn’t breathe, but I stopped before you actually died, you would probably still say you were smothered, suffocated, or strangled.


  75. gummitch Says:

    Waterboarding is torture and has been considered so in this country for decades.

    That term is used to describe several interrogation techniques. The victim may be immersed in water, have water forced into the nose and mouth, or have water poured onto material placed over the face so that the liquid is inhaled or swallowed. The media usually characterize the practice as “simulated drowning.” That’s incorrect. To be effective, waterboarding is usually real drowning that simulates death. That is, the victim experiences the sensations of drowning: struggle, panic, breath-holding, swallowing, vomiting, taking water into the lungs and, eventually, the same feeling of not being able to breathe that one experiences after being punched in the gut. The main difference is that the drowning process is halted. According to those who have studied waterboarding’s effects, it can cause severe psychological trauma, such as panic attacks, for years.

    The United States knows quite a bit about waterboarding. The U.S. government — whether acting alone before domestic courts, commissions and courts-martial or as part of the world community — has not only condemned the use of water torture but has severely punished those who applied it.

    After World War II, we convicted several Japanese soldiers for waterboarding American and Allied prisoners of war. At the trial of his captors, then-Lt. Chase J. Nielsen, one of the 1942 Army Air Forces officers who flew in the Doolittle Raid and was captured by the Japanese, testified: “I was given several types of torture. . . . I was given what they call the water cure.” He was asked what he felt when the Japanese soldiers poured the water. “Well, I felt more or less like I was drowning,” he replied, “just gasping between life and death.”

    Nielsen’s experience was not unique. Nor was the prosecution of his captors. After Japan surrendered, the United States organized and participated in the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, generally called the Tokyo War Crimes Trials. Leading members of Japan’s military and government elite were charged, among their many other crimes, with torturing Allied military personnel and civilians. The principal proof upon which their torture convictions were based was conduct that we would now call waterboarding.

    The author of that article: Evan Wallach, a judge at the U.S. Court of International Trade in New York, teaches the law of war as an adjunct professor at Brooklyn Law School and New York Law School.

    So, hmmm, who has a better handle on the legality of waterboarding, a troll or a judge and a professor of law? A stumper.


  76. jb Says:

    Leaving the lights on 24/7 is torture, screaming loudly in someone’s face is torture, threatening to ground them into dust is torture, promising a few hours of punishing exercise is torture.

    We need to close the boot-camps, our recruits are being tortured and we are not obeying the law.

    Comment by Age of Rifles — November 28, 2007 @ 11:51 a

    Hey dude, Words do have meaning. Leaving lights on is wasteful. creaming in someone’s face is rude. Threats are threats. Exercise is strenuous. Waterboarding is torture.

    Bootcamps and recruits as well as the civilians in charge need to obey the laws of the US. Troops normally do as they are taught and told.


  77. gummitch Says:

    Personally, I will believe the words of people who have actually experienced it, rather than the theory of know-nothing bleeding hearts who would rather see Americans die than use a non-lethal, non-torturous and well proven effective practice utilized to gain information that saves American lives.

    Comment by O. Bigfoot — November 28, 2007 @ 11:53 am

    So, having read the testimony of people who actually experienced it (in the linked article above), you now will concede that waterboarding is torture, or will you persist in your utterly dishonest assertion that (a) it isn’t torture and (b) Americans on the whole agree with you (which was thoroughly discredited by another commenter)?


  78. Wayne Says:

    You are wrong again, no treaty says that water boarding in all cases is illegal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If you think so, give me the treaty??

    Comment by bob84108 — November 28, 2007 @ 11:52 am

    Congress has enacted four statutes and ratified two treaties that prohibit torture of all kinds. By any reasonable reading of the statutes, waterboarding is a crime. Waterboarding is also considered illegal under both Senate-ratified treaties.

    The applicable laws are:

    The federal Anti-Torture Act; the federal War Crimes Act which, even as amended by the Military Commissions Act, bans acts such as waterboarding; federal criminal assault laws, which, under the PATRIOT Act, apply to all assaults by or against Americans on or in overseas facilities designated for the use of the federal government; the McCain Amendment in the Detainee Treatment Act; the Senate-ratified Convention Against Torture; and the Senate-ratified Geneva Conventions (particularly Common Article 3, which prohibits torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of detainees).

    http://www.aclu.org/ safefree/ torture/ 32634prs20071108.html

    Want to try again to show your ignorance?


  79. Age of Rifles Says:

    Wouldn’t it make more sense to actually, oh I don’t know, just hold the guy’s head under water?

    Sorry but having your lungs fill with water means you are dead and presumably unable to answer any further questions. Unless you have John Edwards in the room to channel the deceased.


  80. --Blue Girl Says:

    He’s willing to be waterboarded? Line starts behind me!


  81. losangelian Says:

    RE:

    “Let the Eagle Soak.”

    Comment by Menehune

    Thank you for this. I laughed my ass off.


  82. bob84108 Says:

    #81
    Nice try but terrorists under the Genieva Convention are not coventional soldiers. What Japan did was illegal. You distort the facts by taking out of context. So now who is the troll– YOU


  83. jb Says:

    Never said that. I said that if you are going to stop evil, in times of war, drastic action maybe necessar. My point was that is is not breaking the law.

    Comment by bob84108 — November 28, 2007 @ 11:51 am

    Oh so now we are fighting evil. Well if the defeat of evil is our goal, then I expect that the first thing that needs to be done is to eliminate as much as possible form ourselves.


  84. bob84108 Says:

    To Comment by Wayne — November 28, 2007 @ 12:00 pm

    Thanks for your facts, I will read them. I appreciate those who give facts not insults.


  85. Buckie Boy Says:

    Why do you guys bother responding to O. Littledick? He’s a total ass.

    Anyway back to the subject of the thread.

    Can we all watch Ashcroft get waterboarded on the internet? YouTube would do fine.

    Bush/Cheney
    Hague Trials ‘09

    Buck Fush


  86. missmolly Says:

    Personally, I will believe the words of people who have actually experienced it, rather than the theory of know-nothing bleeding hearts who would rather see Americans die than use a non-lethal, non-torturous and well proven effective practice utilized to gain information that saves American lives.

    Comment by O. Bigfoot — November 28, 2007 @ 11:53 am

    I too prefer to believe the words of people who have actually experienced it. And they call it torture. You claim it’s not. Why? Do you have some testimony from people who have actually been waterboarded and claim it’s not torture?

    As far as your claim that it’s a “proven effective practice” that “saves American lives” — the jury remains out on that one. John McCain — a man who actually knows a thing or two about torture — disagrees with you. And I’d hardly call him a “know-nothing bleeding heart.”


  87. Marcus Aurelius Says:

    As far as international law goes, I owe my alegiance to only the US.

    Comment by bob84108 — November 28, 2007 @ 11:45 am

    If it didn’t violate the rules for posting at this blog, I’d swear to god you’re a knucklehead.

    And as International law goes, the US is bound by the treaties we sign. So, you’d better get calling your Congressional Rep. - you are bound by your stated adherence to US law to do so. Or are you a classic “Rule of Law (but not as it would apply to me or mine) Republican?

    There is no lid on the box you are in. Feel free to explore the outside, once in a while.


  88. jb Says:

    Our legacy of torture under the current administration will open the door for other countries to use torture. Whatever happened to our practice of fair treatment of enemy to encourage will surrender? Now they will fight to death to avoid torture.


  89. Age of Rifles Says:

    Hey dude, Words do have meaning. Leaving lights on is wasteful. creaming in someone’s face is rude. Threats are threats. Exercise is strenuous. Waterboarding is torture.
    Bootcamps and recruits as well as the civilians in charge need to obey the laws of the US. Troops normally do as they are taught and told.
    Comment by jb — November 28, 2007 @ 11:59 am

    United Nations Convention Against Torture:

    Article 1
    1. Any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession

    You have obviously never had a D.I. or C.C. screaming in your face and asking what the complete chain of command is from himself to the POTUS, and threatening dire results if you get it wrong.

    Though I would expect that getting creamed in the face is an experience you endure on a daily basis.


  90. bernard quatermass Says:

    “Any American who would rather see Americans die than utilize effective means of coercive, non-torturous interrogation is not an American”

    Anyone else see a logical problem with this statement? Imagine!


  91. Age of Rifles Says:

    Our legacy of torture under the current administration will open the door for other countries to use torture.

    BWAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

    As if other countries don’t already use torture. Wait, those North Korean and Chinese gulags really are relaxation centers?


  92. Maddog Says:

    “If you break the speed limit you are breaking the law, if a cop breaks the speed limit in performance of his duties he is not breaking the law. As far as international law goes, I owe my allegiance to only the US.”

    Only because the law address these situations. The Law does not ever address a situation that water boarding is not in fact a crime. It is one of the oldest forms of torture. Anyone who condones its use is Un-American and a threat to the principals that millions of Americans have fought and died to protect. Every soldier fighting in every war to protect this country and our way if life can not simply be ignored so that the psychotic, Bush derangement supporters can defend an administration that has been the most detrimental, incompetent administration in this counties history.


  93. Wayne Says:

    Waterboarding, as practiced by the United States in it’s limited form, causes no physical damage, the effect is merely psychological. Thus, no torture.
    Comment by O. Bigfoot — November 28, 2007 @ 12:06 pm

    Are you aware of the medical implications of drowning?
    Obviously not.

    Waterboarding is drowning the victim, you force their lungs to fill with water.

    How you idiots can defend this just boggles the mind.


  94. shoeless Says:

    I know who my enemies are.

    Comment by O. Bigfoot

    Fortunately for you, many people who would be your enemy are already dead.

    Thomas Jefferson
    Benjamin Franklin
    John Hancock
    Samuel Adams
    Thomas Paine
    James Madison
    George Washington
    ect.


  95. Chris L Says:

    OT, just wanted to share this, and I apologize for going off topic. I thought some of you might enjoy this. Note: Some of the guys in the comments section are friends of mine and some of them are still in Iraq, so if you are going to post a comment, please be respectful. Thank you.

    http://www.vetvoice.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=150


  96. Age of Rifles Says:

    Waterboarding is drowning the victim, you force their lungs to fill with water.

    That would make them dead and would therefore defeat the purpose of trying to gain information.

    It is simulated drowning which is why the lib who recently got himself waterboarded lived to tell the tale of his experience.

    SERE students are sometimes subjected to waterboarding; it is a proven historical fact that killing your military recruits has a negative effect on the recruits themselves.


  97. Maddog Says:

    “The stones on the chest cause actual death from asphyxiation. Thus, torture.”

    Water poured down the throat does not cause asphyxiation but stone on the chest does?

    The simple truth is you defend water boarding not on logic or reason, but simply because you support those that did it and you hate the Americans that do not support this administration. Your politics have failed in every measurable way with this administration. You simply refuse to accept being wrong, logic and truth be damed as long as Rush and Hannity agree you refuse to see.

    WHat about a crown of thorns it that accpetabe interigation? How about nailing the suspect to a tree? was that “Acceptable interigation technique” too?


  98. Chris L Says:

    As if other countries don’t already use torture. Wait, those North Korean and Chinese gulags really are relaxation centers?

    Comment by Age of Rifles — November 28, 2007 @ 12:12 pm
    #

    And we all want to be just like North Korea? I thought we were supposed to be the moral compass for the world. I served in Iraq from 2003-2004. Professionals treat their captives with respect and dignity. It’s idiot E-3’s and new, naive privates that think torture of any kind is good. Now, when one of our own is captured, then released unharmed, we look even more like the bully. Our troops have it hard enough being stop-lossed and deployed for four and five tours without people like you making it even harder for them. Realize, people like you and Bigfoot here are the reason why the only Iraq war vet serving in congress is a democrat.


  99. toasterhead Says:

    Any American who would rather see Americans die than utilize effective means of coercive, non-torturous interrogation is not an American, and should be shipped out of the country.

    Next.

    Comment by O. Bigfoot — November 28, 2007 @ 12:06 pm

    Any American who would advocate the use of torture, and justify it with scare tactics about “Americans dying” is a fascist.


  100. PatrioticLiberalChristian Says:

    And what are the consequences to the torturer?

    French author Alec Mellor writing, in 1972, about French General Jacques Massu’s use of torture in Algeria quotes a former French career soldier, now a priest, Pere Gilbert, SJ, thus:

    “But let us admit for a moment that it might be possible to justify torture for the ‘noble motives’: have they (those who justify torture) thought for one moment of the individual who does it, that is, of the man whom, whether he wishes or not, one is going to turn into a torturer? I have received enough confidences in Algeria and in France to know into what injuries, perhaps irreparable, torture can lead the human conscience. Many young men have ‘taken up the game’ and have thereby passed from mental health and stability into terrifying states of decay, from which some will probably never recover.”


  101. Chris L Says:

    SERE students are sometimes subjected to waterboarding; it is a proven historical fact that killing your military recruits has a negative effect on the recruits themselves.

    Comment by Age of Rifles — November 28, 2007 @ 12:19 pm
    #

    SERE was invented to enable our troops to understand how to survive in Soviet gulags. Look what we have become.

    Jon Solz for President!


  102. bob84108 Says:

    You are right Bigfoot, George W. had the British Major who supported Benedict Arnold shot with out even a trial. If he tried that today, all these progressives would be his enemy.


  103. Wayne Says:

    SERE students are sometimes subjected to waterboarding; it is a proven historical fact that killing your military recruits has a negative effect on the recruits themselves.

    Comment by Age of Rifles — November 28, 2007 @ 12:19 pm

    I went through SERE. I know first hand, it is torture, and it is drowning.


  104. Guido OBGYN Lover Says:

    Weirdo



  105. Age of Rifles Says:

    And we all want to be just like North Korea? I thought we were supposed to be the moral compass for the world.

    The claim was made that our actions will open the door for other countries to use torture, as if they haven’t done so all along.

    Try to quash the naive notion that this sort of thing doesn’t happen all the time and hasn’t happened repeatedly in the past, in every country on this poor globe.

    National interests being what they are and always have been for all nations, such tactics will be utilized whether it is officially condemned or not, failure to realize that will simply make you mad when it occasionally comes to light.


  106. toasterhead Says:

    But let us admit for a moment that it might be possible to justify torture for the ‘noble motives’: have they (those who justify torture) thought for one moment of the individual who does it, that is, of the man whom, whether he wishes or not, one is going to turn into a torturer?

    Comment by PatrioticLiberalChristian — November 28, 2007 @ 12:23 pm

    Yes they have - the whole reason why the subject made it to the national agenda was because the administration wanted to protect CIA agents and security contractors from lawsuits.


  107. Maddog Says:

    “I went through SERE. I know first hand, it is torture, and it is drowning.”

    They are not interested in facts and actuall truths. Those that condine toture will condone anything to support their cause. Reality is nothing but a roadblock that can be brushed aside by talk radio and fox news.


  108. jb Says:

    Captured terrorists need to be prosecuted for their crimes.


  109. toasterhead Says:

    National interests being what they are and always have been for all nations, such tactics will be utilized whether it is officially condemned or not, failure to realize that will simply make you mad when it occasionally comes to light.

    Comment by Age of Rifles — November 28, 2007 @ 12:27 pm

    Good point. If the Spanish Inquisition tortured people, why oh why can’t we?


  110. missmolly Says:

    Any American who would rather see Americans die than utilize effective means of coercive, non-torturous interrogation is not an American, and should be shipped out of the country.

    Comment by O. Bigfoot — November 28, 2007 @ 12:06 pm

    I have no problem utilizing effective means of coercive, non-torturous interrogation when necessary. I don’t know anybody who does have a problem with that. However, waterboarding does not fall into that category.


  111. loretta Says:

    Is anyone taking up a collection for this? Any idea how much it costs to rent a Blackwater guy for a short-term assignment?


  112. Maddog Says:

    “You are wrong in so many ways…let’s see where to start….how about from the beginning of your statement through the end of your statement…”

    Yes brilliant rebutal, full of fact and information and insite. You are a complet idiot, as evidenced by all your above posts.


  113. jb Says:

    Information obtained by torture is inadmissible in court.


  114. racom Says:

    If you are as tired of this argument as am I then let us clearly define the ‘waterboarding’ issue.
    1 If they do it, it is torture.
    1 If we do it, it is not torture.
    Now lets have a group hug.


  115. toasterhead Says:

    Captured terrorists need to be prosecuted for their crimes.

    Comment by jb — November 28, 2007 @ 12:29 pm

    Agreed, as long as the prosecution includes a fair trial. Terrorist suspects should be treated no differently than suspects of any other crime.


  116. jb Says:

    Agreed, as long as the prosecution includes a fair trial. Terrorist suspects should be treated no differently than suspects of any other crime.

    Comment by toasterhead — November 28, 2007 @ 12:32 p

    This administration has trouble obeying the law, let alone enforcing the law.


  117. MapleStreet Says:

    Of course, me guess that he said that knowing that it wouldn’t happen. So how do we take him up on his offer ?

    Of course, I’m from the Great state of Missouri - even as conservative as it is, and even as Neocon-cloned the governor is, when MO had the choice of electrinc Ashcroft or a dead man, MO had the common sense to elect the stiff.


  118. Chris L Says:

    Professionals treat their captives with dignity and respect. That is who we are. That is what we believe in. We are the United States of America, and that is what we have fought for. A soldier who abuses or mishandles a captive is a danger to his unit and his chain of command. I fought in Iraq. My father fought in Vietnam. My grandfather fought in World War II. This is who we are. We are not North Korea, the Nazis of Germany, or the USSR. Those are the ideals of the enemy. Third world dictators and petty pathetic strongmen believe in torture. America is above that.


  119. Loonie Says:

    I wonder how it would work out for those claiming that this is not torture to undergo waterboarding until they “confess” that it’s torture. Then if they claim their statement untrue, and that they made it just to make the waterboarding stop… well, bingo.

    Of course, to get the whole “feel”, the extreme temperatures, sleep deprivation, stress positions and beatings should be thrown into the mix as well.

    Remember when doing this kind of thing was bad? Remember when one puzzled and agonized over how one could possibly commit such an appalling act against another living being?

    Now we know.


  120. toasterhead Says:

    Professionals treat their captives with dignity and respect. That is who we are. That is what we believe in. We are the United States of America, and that is what we have fought for. A soldier who abuses or mishandles a captive is a danger to his unit and his chain of command.

    Comment by Chris L — November 28, 2007 @ 12:37 pm

    Beautifully said. Thank you.


  121. shoeless Says:

    “I know who my enemies are.

    Comment by O. Bigfoot

    Fortunately for you, many people who would be your enemy are already dead.

    Thomas Jefferson
    Benjamin Franklin
    John Hancock
    Samuel Adams
    Thomas Paine
    James Madison
    George Washington
    ect.

    Comment by shoeless — November 28, 2007 @ 12:14 pm”

    It would appear you need to read a little bit of history, shoeless. The practices and procedures endorsed during wartime by the folks on your list would be considered barbaric by today’s standards. Perhaps we need to learn a smidge from them.

    Comment by O. Bigfoot

    Sorry torture boy. You don’t get to make up your own history. It’s not nice to lie about our founding fathers, just to defend your current inhuman leaders.

    America’s Anti-Torture Tradition


  122. owlbear1 Says:

    “The things that I can survive, if it were necessary to do them to me, I would do,” he said.

    Well yah see Johnny… There really aren’t any guarantees in life now are there?

    Promise you you won’t die while I force water down your throat?

    That would be a lie Johnny and you KNOW that!


  123. Buckie Boy Says:

    America’s Anti-Torture Tradition

    Comment by shoeless

    Yes, it is amazing just how ignorant and clueless O.LittleDick truly is. Even when you point out just how stupid he is, he will just ignore it and keep believing the Fascist Repukian Propaganda no matter what proof you have against the total crap that little subhuman neanderturd posts.

    Bush/Cheney
    Hague Trials ‘09

    Buck Fush


  124. ScrewBush Says:

    Dear Loyal Bushie,

    Because of the LIBERAL MEDIA, the Republican Party lags far behind the Democrats in fund raising for the 2008 elections. On December 31, a great American John Ashcroft, the man with the golden pipes I might add, is going to be “waterboarded” on Pay Per View. He will prove that this “enhanced technique” is absolutely not “torture“.

    All profits will be split between Republican Party and the various legal defense funds set up for the many Loyal Bushies just like you, who are targets of a JUDICIAL SYSTEM GONE WILD!

    Contact your local cable company today and order:

    Mr. Ashcroft Meets the Executioner

    We hope you and yours will turn off WWF for an hour and join us in building a STRONGER AMERICA. As you well know this is an emergency because Democrats are WELCOMING TERRORIST TO KILL AMERICANS. Please help us help you protect the CHILDREN.


  125. RickS Says:

    “If the the so called progressives here had their way the US would have never one WWII as quickly as we did. ”

    FDR was a conservative?


  126. Red Pill Says:

    PAY-PER-VIEW!!!!


  127. Tender Chicken Says:

    Then waterboard his a$$, and film it. It’ll be fun to see how such a big “man” crumbles and cries like a baby afterward.


  128. shoeless Says:

    America’s Anti-Torture Tradition

    Comment by shoeless

    Yes, it is amazing just how ignorant and clueless O.LittleDick truly is. Even when you point out just how stupid he is, he will just ignore it and keep believing the Fascist Repukian Propaganda no matter what proof you have against the total crap that little subhuman neanderturd posts.

    Bush/Cheney
    Hague Trials ‘09

    Buck Fush

    Comment by Buckie Boy

    Yes, and what is truly disturbing is the revelation that sick Bushbots, like O. Bigmouth are willing to make up heinous lies about our founding fathers in their vain attempts to defend the evil practices of their dark lords.

    What happened to these people to make them hate America so much?


  129. Zimzone Says:

    Chris L., thanks for your service to our Country and your insight and comments on previous posts.

    Us old ‘Nam Vets still have a lot to say, but somehow your words are better attached to present day dilemmas than my memories of 40 years ago.

    A soldier is a precious commodity and valuable human life.

    For those of you who chose not to or were unable to serve, please recognize that every time you assume you know what it’s like to be in combat, you’re wrong. Every time.

    No one can project, simulate, or pretend to know what live combat feels like. For those of you who disagree with our opinions, that’s fine.
    That’s why we fought for your freedoms…you’re welcome.

    But don’t ever. EVER. think you can ‘know how we feel’. You can’t. If you really want to, join up.

    /off soapbox


  130. mary Says:

    This coming from a man who couldn’t handle looking at a statue’s naked boob.

    http://www.usatoday.com/ news/ nation/ 2002/ 01/ 29/ statues.htm


  131. shoeless Says:

    This coming from a man who couldn’t handle looking at a statue’s naked boob.

    Comment by mary

    For Ashcroft, that was torture.


  132. arcticredriver Says:

    Bob writes:

    Nice try but terrorists under the Genieva Convention are not coventional soldiers.

    Bob, the Geneva Conventions are online. You can read them yourself. Articles 3, 4 and 5 of the Third Geneva Convention is the pertinent one here. It says captors have to treat ALL captives as if they were legitimate POW, even those someone is sure is a war criminal, until a “competent tribunal” determines they are not legitimate POWs.

    NONE, count ‘em NONE of the captives have had a competent tribunal convened on their behalf.

    I’ve read the transcripts, as you, I suspect, have not. My guess is that perhaps a few dozen of the 775 Guantanamo captives would not have been protected from prosecution by the Geneva Conventions.

    Shame on you for calling them all terrorists.


  133. RickS Says:

    Calling what drill sergeants do to recruits “torture” is an insult to the thankless job that they do.

    I know it’s been nearly 20 years since I was at Benning, but I have no recollection of any of my drill sergeants ever threatening me with death or physical torture (50 pushups may sound like torture, but it doesn’t permanently damage you physically). I was stressed, but never to the point where I thought my life was in danger.

    Any drill who did put those under them into a situation where the threat of death was present would not be a drill sergeant for long.


  134. Leftside Annie Says:

    I am ashamed to my very core that cruel and sadistic bastards who advocate the torture of another human being are allowed to call themselves “Americans.”

    America has become a terrorist nation. Shame on us. Shame on all of us.


  135. sacopenapa Says:

    P L E A S E !!!!!! CAN I WATCH!!?????


  136. drobert_bfm Says:

    OK, let him name the time and place; I’ll volunteer to perform the procedure…

    SOMEBODY call him on his bluff!!


  137. CybScryb Says:

    Funny…I’m torn between offering to waterboard Ashcroft and doing my duty as a human being and throwing him and his fellow conspirator’s against my Constitution into prison. But I think I’ll stand by my principles and throw the rascals into a cell for the rest of their lives.


  138. anton Says:

    “Any American who would rather see Americans die than utilize effective means of coercive, non-torturous interrogation is not an American, and should be shipped out of the country.”

    - O. Bigfoot

    1. If you shipped out all of the people who think that the US should be above waterboarding then the US would collapse. How much of an idiot are you?

    2. The founders of this country declared ‘give me liberty, or give me death’. NOT ‘take away my liberty in exchange for safety’. How much of a coward are you?

    3. The ONLY people who think that waterboarding ISN’T torture are the people who don’t know what it is. YOU know very well that waterboarding is torture and you are lying denying it. EVERYONE knows it.

    Let’s be plain here. Unless the elections suspended or manipulated in some way, in which case you can expect this country to go into a second civil war, the Republicans have just spent 7 years ensuring that the sleeping giant that is the center and left of this country will not allow them to abuse this country for at least another 70 years. Count on that. You can blow hard all you want. But that’s all you are going to be able to do for the rest of your life as a Republican. Have fun. At least Democrats will ensure that you are always free to be a blow hard idiot. If that is what you choose to be.


  139. Leftside Annie Says:

    150 - Anton - HEAR, HEAR!!!!


  140. JMOHR Says:

    Aschcroft did not actually say that he was willing to be water boarded. He said that he would survive it should it be necessary to do it to him. I have a feeling that he would not believe it to be necessary in his case. He did not say “Water boarding is not torture. Water board me to show that it is not.”


  141. mary Says:

    I think that he certainly implied that he would be willing to though JMOHR.

    Seems to me that it was his way of saying that waterboarding is not that big a deal.


  142. Is Says:

    I’ve gotta say - love most of the comments here.

    So, has anyone hear ever been waterboarded?

    That said, to the dictionary-lacking - why would waterboarding be used to obtain information from people that would not give up said information unless under severe distress, if it was not torture?


  143. tablogloid Says:

    Ashcroft later clarified his statement,

    “OOOH! Waterboarding. I thought you said wakeboarding.”


  144. Is Says:

    Obviously that should be… has anyone HERE ever been waterboarded? You know, a little fun between friends…


  145. newpantaloons Says:

    These commenters who are defending ‘waterboarding’ on the premise that they are ‘patriots’ and defenders of the country’s ideals are liars and cowards that are only doing this at Karl Rove’s direction. Rove started this little ‘experiment’ after the 2006 elections, when he got a big surprise on the morning of the 8th of November. He just didn’t think the ‘internets’ were that big of a threat. But, having realized that he was mistaken (so much for his “genius”), he decided to get stupid little boys and girls from Regent University to volunteer to go onto liberal, progressive sites and counter all arguments of actual ‘patriots’. Regent U has gladly given them free credits towards their business major or political science degrees (?). So, they come on here and other progressive blogs and show their university inspired intellect. And, believe me, we are all really impressed!They are all in the distinguished company of Jeff Gannon, also known as Jeff Guckert, male prostitute hired by the Bush Administration (Karl Rove) to ask softball questions of President (?) Bush at his infrequent press conferences. (If you don’t believe me, just google ‘Jeff Gannon/Guckert). In fact, one of these trolls might just be Gannon/Guckert. So, Bigfoot (Bigmouth) or Bob84108 or shoeless could just possibly be that famous and proudly Republican, Gannon/Guckert. Come on, boys, fess up and take your rightful place in the annals of historical obscurity.
    Oh, by the way, when the Democrats take over a ‘permanent’ majority, you will have to deny your diploma from Regent University, because you will NEVER get a job without Bush or Karl behind you (Hummmmm?).

    So, TPers, just ignore these “paid political announcements” and feel good that you are not one of the stupid, intellectually inferior idiots that come here to obfuscate, rewrite history, praise the biggest fool ever known to inhabit the White House and just generally show America what it is like to attend a college without any credentials beyond the fact of loyalty to a criminal administration and a mindset that condones torture as a sign of fealty to a failed president that should not have been allowed into office in the first place. We have better things to do. We have a complete takeover of our government to accomplish. So, when these fools come on here and sputter their stupidity, just hit the “abuse” sign and soon these idiots will disappear forever, just like the ‘permanent Republican majority’.


  146. antonym Says:

    There are two things being left out.

    The first is that Ashcroft assumes that his “survival” would be guaranteed.
    This is not the case in waterboarding. People are suffocated and drowned.
    They DIE. What does Ashcroft think this is - a scary ride in an amusement park?

    Secondly - this is being done to people who are SUSPECTS! They have not been convicted of anything. They are labeled “terrorist ’suspects’”. They have not been charged or given the chance to confront their accusers. This may have been OK for the Nazis and the WW2 Japanese, but America had previously held itself to a higher moral standard.

    Fascism is a plague. Germany was a great democracy and citadel of culture in the early 20th century. Then the plague struck and it was transformed by greedy and ignorant little men into a fascist state. The people went along with it - some with conviction and some passively. That’s what we have now. Hopefully we can regain our consciences and our morality and adherence to standards expressed in the Constitution.


  147. SpeakupNation Says:

    Actually, this gives me an idea. FOX is planning this new “reality” show in which people are privately asked personal questions with a polygraph operating and then are reasked the questions publically for points. How about we hook up Ashcroft to a polygraph and ask him a bunch of questions then reask those questions while he’s being waterboarded.

    Perfect timing. With the writer’s strike it could really take off!


  148. BushSunkOurShip Says:

    Why are we tolarating these criminal hoods, that have arrogantly taken over our country and s…. all over our constitution and rights, stealing our economy, resouces while laughing in our face.
    No one in our government has the right to change our constitution and bill of Rights to they will take over control of our country, telling us we no longer have a say in the policies and actions which they wish to set in place.
    Our forefathers stood up for their rights against a totalitarian government in order for us to gain our freedom and rights from Britain, but now it seems as if we have let our country slide back into a totalitarian government that is worst then the one they had to endure.
    With the advance technilogy, wealth and power which our country has achieved by our system of democracy, freedom and respect for laws and other citizen’s and their rights and property, our Corporate government is using this wealth and power against us to have complete dominance of our country.
    The very people which have gained the most wealth and power under our form of government, are now using this wealth and power to criminally and illegally destroy our democracy & freedom to set up their totalitarian from of governmemt and destroy the wishes and policies of the American citizens. I really believe Americans either believe it that this will not take place or have totally lost the will to fight for their democracy, freedom, rights and way of living.
    Bush and his mob has scared the h… out of Americans with their constance threat of terrorist attacks by using 911 as a propaganda tool. At the same time waving the American flag to use patriotism to join in his systematical destruction of everything we hold dear, our democracy, freedom, rights, jobs, social programs, honor and most of all our military.
    They have sucessfully split our nation into different group of citizens one of the first tools in dividing a county to gain power over it.
    They have used they propaganda to divide races, religious group and people with different opinions on political & social policies.
    They have destroyed our economy for the weatlh and control of their family, friends, oil companies and global corporations, private contractors and even the foreign nations take have given them support.
    If the Congress thinks they can approve this criminal activity to change our law to gain control of our nation then they are “wrong” and the laws they are passing are “illegal and un-constitutional” and we should put an immediate stop it now.
    American citizens are the makers of the laws of this nation and what gives these arrogant, corrupted, deceitful criminals, think they have the right to do any d… thing they please and tell us we do not have the intelligence to tell then what policies should be made or changed for our nation.
    It seems like the democrats are satisfied with the illegal and corrupted election procedures Bush and his administration has set in place. They must agree for they have done nothing to stop him.
    We now have foreign countries controlling out policies, while stealing our jobs and taking our land and resources. Whne are Americans going to get off the a…. and say enough is enough.