Inhofe: ‘There has never been a case of torture’ at Guantanamo Bay.
Inhofe: ‘There has never been a case of torture’ at Guantanamo Bay.
Yesterday, Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK) held a town hall meeting with his constituents in Grove, Oklahoma, where he unleashed a tirade of hyperbolic remarks against Obama administration policies. At one point he even suggested that Obama is “obsessed” with releasing terrorists into the United States, and claimed that there has “never been a case of torture” at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp:
He is also alarmed, he said, by the proposed closing of the detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The Obama administration wants to shutter the camp because of its association with torture.
Inhofe said: “There has never been a case of torture there. The people there are treated better than in the federal prisons.”
He continued, “I don’t know why President Obama is obsessed with turning terrorists loose in America.”
As the Center for Constitutional Rights has documented, there have been countless cases of detainees being abused and tortured at the prison camp. Detainees have been beaten, deprived of sleep for weeks, sexually harrassed, and shackled to the floor for days at a time. Inhofe’s statement at the town hall is only the latest in his political broadsides. He has in the past suggested that Obama is “un-American,” that the mentality of Middle Easterners is “worse than Nazism,” and that the conditions at Guantanamo Bay are humane.
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Ok, either this guy isn’t paying any attention as a legislator (quite possible with his track record) or he has no family or friends who care enough to suggest a medical intervention for severe psychological problems.
What am I saying? He’s a Republican.
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:38 pmInhofe said: “There has never been a case of torture there. The people there are treated better than in the federal prisons.”
Are we torturing people in our Federal Prisons, too?!?
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:38 pmOf course, when President Bush said, “I want to close Gitmo and try them in the U.S. courts“, it was okay, but when Obama continues the plan, he’s “obsessed”.
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:38 pmInhofe should put his own comments through the vetting process.
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:39 pmAnd Abu Ghraib was just a birthday party held for Embassy guards.
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:40 pmGITMO, torture or not should never have been used as a prison. It should have been shut down one second after the idea was floated, every second after that is wrong and continues to be wrong.
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:41 pmOn an evolutionary scale, Inhofe rates just below paramecium.
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:41 pmRachel Maddow said it well last night in regards to how the republicans aren’t even using facts in any serious debate. I know that’s not verbatim and I hope TP does a piece on it but the gist is one side is ignoring factual evidence with a stonewall mentallity and america is hurting because of it.
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:42 pm“There has never been a case of torture [at Guantanamo Bay].”
Despite the fact Cheney has willfully come within a gnat’s asshair of admitting it happened, right?
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:42 pmAnyone who says that waterboarding is not torture should be water boarded themselves.
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:43 pmGitmo was used because it wasn’t within the borders of the US and, therefore, didn’t have to abide by the same laws as the US. So now we have to go back and argue the definition of “torture” and “enemy combatants” instead of following the law.
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:44 pmFetal Alcohol Syndrome is debilitating; just look at Inhofe…
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:44 pmI just had an epiphany. Republicans believe you only get what you earn or pay for. This seems to include friends and family. If they were to suggest people like Inhofe or Bachmann or any of them, seek treatment, they would no longer be able to pay them.
No wonder there are so many whacko Republicans.
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:44 pmI’m having trouble distinguishing between Texas stupidity and Oklahoma ignorance lately.
So many “proud displays” of dumb-shitted-ness…
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:44 pmI keep hearing the government is “holding onto video” of torture that it won’t release to the Press.
Someone needs to strap Inhoff into a chair with his eyes wired open (ala “Clockwork Orange”) and forced to watch those videos.
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:45 pmJim Inhofe: 2nd from the left on your average evolutionary chart
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:46 pmInhofe is a case of tortured logic & just a general sick thought process.
I guess in the mind of our Republic Fascist Party members what the rest of the world considers torture they think is just college pranks.
Fcuk Inhofe
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:46 pmPeople there are treated better than in federal prisons? Says a lot about your prisons. When the Abu Ghraib news broke, I thought along those lines, but not in an excusatory fashion. Those prison guards had learned their trade somewhere and most likely in equally dire places.
As an aside: There have been doctors involved in the CIA torture program. It’s a big step from being a healer to this abomination.
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:47 pmis it Inhofe or I’m-off?
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:47 pmClose it today and bring the guards home, I hear boats leave there daily.
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:47 pmRepublicans are and should be the only one’s with deep-seated, realistic fear of releasing anyone subjected to our “rendition” program.
Seems they fear that incarcerating innocents might lead to revenge upon their release.
Sounds reasonable and I’m all for it.
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:48 pmSomeone needs to strap Inhoff into a chair with his eyes wired open (ala “Clockwork Orange”) and forced to watch those videos.
mugsy, I’m afraid you’d be doing him a favour. He’d enjoy it.
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:48 pmHe’s an idiot for saying those things (not that he isn’t an idiot anyway), which are false, but he’s also playing to the crowd. Grove, OK is the red of the red, a wingnut polititian’s dream constituency.
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:48 pm“Inhofe: ‘There has never been a case of torture’ at Guantanamo Bay.”
Now here is a Republican clown that either has been kidnapped by aliens for 8 years or he has smoking some funny stuff in Oklahoma. What is my comment to this? I don’t have none. Why explain since the nimrod lawmaker is in denial and doing the usual CYA.
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:50 pmThat dumb a-hole Imhofe also says that the world is less than 6000 years old, that there is nothing wrong with the ozone layer, and that the repiggies stand for less government.
That clown is demented.
Screw him, screw the repiggies and screw the teabagger trash.
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:50 pm“Inhofe: ‘There has never been a case of torture’ at Guantanamo Bay.”
But a whole bunch of 12 packs. Maybe a half barrel?
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:52 pmThe worst part is that the folks in OK keep electing this ass-hat. In my book, they are guilty of treason…
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:53 pmInhofe is what happens when the umbilical cord wraps around the infant’s neck for more than 4 minutes.
38 yrs old before he could graduate from a ho-hum school.
Never, ever had a divorce or a gay in his family.
Believes God is a member of the Republic party.
Doesn’t need to read proposed legislation; his opinion is far more important than his service to constituents.
You Go, Jimmy…somewhere…anywhere but Congress.
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:54 pmWho is going to run against this guy? I want to doante to the campaign. He just makes us all look bad.
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:54 pm“I’m probably not the only one up at this table that is more outraged by the outrage than we are by the treatment [...] [They] are not there for traffic violations. [...] If they’re in cell block 1A or 1B, these prisoners — they’re murderers, they’re terrorists, they’re insurgents. [...] Many of them probably have American blood on their hands. And here we’re so concerned about the treatment of those individuals” – Inhofe on Abu Grahib
He was one of 9 senators who voted to support torture. Seriously. McConnell, Santorum, Vitter, DeMint, Chambliss, Thune…all voted for the Detainee Treatment Abuse Act, and this clod voted against it.
The people of Oklahoma deserve better.
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:55 pmDuring World War II, we held hundreds of thousands of Nazi POWS throughout the country, now we are such wusses that we can’t handle a few hundred Al Queda nutcases.
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:56 pmRoll call, please..
Senate Vote Roll Call on U.S. Patriot Act 2001 & 2006
Inhofe (R-OK), Yea (2001)
Inhofe (R-OK), Yea (2006)
http://educate-yourself.org/cn/patriotact20012006senatevote.shtml
(
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:56 pmIf they’re in cell block 1A or 1B, these prisoners — they’re murderers, they’re terrorists, they’re insurgents.
And if murders/terrorists and insurgents were in this country, caught red handed and then beaten, they would be sent home. Why? Because of due process. Our prisoners are our prisoners regardless and should be afforded the same rights that our system demands.
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:57 pm“I don’t know why President Obama is obsessed with turning terrorists loose in America.”
When you say something wrong, on purpose, aloud so other people can hear you, that’s called a lie.
Inhofe lies. He does not tell the truth. He is a liar.
September 3rd, 2009 at 1:02 pmSenators can and should be censured for lying.
This guy is a freak.
September 3rd, 2009 at 1:03 pm“I don’t know why President Obama is obsessed with turning terrorists loose in America.”
Does this mean the good Senator lives in a maximum security prison?
September 3rd, 2009 at 1:04 pmIt’s one thing to disagree with certain aspects of the general issue, but to say Obama is obsessed with turning terrorists loose in America is over the top. How ridiculous, and yet it’s bought and regurgitated. Amazing.
September 3rd, 2009 at 1:04 pmZimzone @12:54
University of Tulsa has a tier 1 ranking.
The rest of the stuff is true, though.
September 3rd, 2009 at 1:06 pmLiar, Liar Pants on fire! Yes there has been systematic abuse, mistreatment and torture at Guantanamo (and else where) since these people are prisoners of war and we are signatories to the Geneva Conventions, we are in violation of those conventions as well as the UN laws concerning torture and maltreatment of POWs. The Bush administration was also in violation of US laws. The Bush Administration and any government official that denies these atrocities and worked under the Bush Administration, or legislator that signed on to the policies of said administration or supported such policies are war criminals and should be brought before the war crimes tribunal in the Hague. Mr Inhofe, there is plenty of proof that this has occurred in Guantanamo and else where. Since you are clearly a supporter of these activities, I brand you a war criminal.
September 3rd, 2009 at 1:06 pm.
Racist Article in Spy Journal Calls for Killing 100,000 Muslim “Zealots”
By: Jeff Kaye Monday August 31, 2009
.
September 3rd, 2009 at 1:07 pmIncapable of original thought, Inhofe is parroting Limbaugh’s “Club Gitmo” theme, and Cheney’s “waterboarding is’nt torture” lie.
Who said anything about “turning terrorists loose in America?”
Fear and smear politics, the only card in the Repub deck.
September 3rd, 2009 at 1:09 pmOops… LINK
September 3rd, 2009 at 1:09 pmhttp://firedoglake.com/2009/08/31/racist-article-in-spy-journal-calls-for-killing-100000-muslim-zealots/
GO and TELL HIM he’s an idiot.
http://inhofe.senate.gov/public/
September 3rd, 2009 at 1:09 pmSomebody needs to see if Inhofe has any skeletons in his closet.
There must be something interesting–besides his dumb remarks.
September 3rd, 2009 at 1:10 pmTundra says:
And if murders/terrorists and insurgents were in this country, caught red handed and then beaten, they would be sent home. Why? Because of due process. Our prisoners are our prisoners regardless and should be afforded the same rights that our system demand.
___________
I’m not even sure what you’re trying to say here, other than posing a hypothetical…
“And IF…”
“caught red-handed and BEATEN…”
Beaten… by who? Enraged citizens? The police?
The people responsible for the 1993 Trade Center bombings were all caught, tried, and are safely serving life sentences… HERE… in this country.
The issue isn’t being “soft” on terrorists, like Republicans like to claim it is. It has to do with how we see ourselves as a country. We’re supposed to be better than this. Inhofe claimed in that article that the US is the “greatest nation”… yet he has NO PROBLEM w/ torture… which puts us on par w/ the Inquisition, the Nazis, and the Khmer Rouge.
I think Inhofe is suffering from a crushing case of Cognitive Dissonance. His head must hurt something wicked all the time.
Also… I’ve read a large part of the problem w/ the prisoners at Gitmo is the fact that the Bush Admin didn’t even keep files on some of them… no records… nothing to go on. What a horrible dilemma for the people trying to clean up that mess. What do you do?
September 3rd, 2009 at 1:12 pmNobody brings the stupid like Inhofe.
A human sinkhole of Dumb ass.
September 3rd, 2009 at 1:13 pmAnother bible-thumper who loves him some good torture. I mean, he won’t CALL it torture…it couldn’t be torture if it gives him an erection now could it? Senator Inhofe makes baby Jesus cry.
September 3rd, 2009 at 1:14 pmInhofe is from the Tom Delay school of politickin:
Lie hard,
lie often,
never fail to lie.
September 3rd, 2009 at 1:16 pmWhen the NYT broke the story of abuses going on at Abu Ghraib Senator Inhofe was shocked and disgusted at the REACTION of the world to the photos and NOT the abuses themselves. He voted against the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005 which prohibits “cruel, inhuman or degrading” treatment of individuals in U.S. Government custody. Compassionate conservatism at it’s best folks!
September 3rd, 2009 at 1:18 pmThanks SoapBox – I too you up on it, and gave Mr. Inhofe a simple question to answer:
“Sir – Do you ever tire of lying?”
September 3rd, 2009 at 1:19 pmI’m not even sure what you’re trying to say here, other than posing a hypothetical…
Read what you want into it. What I am saying is that GITMO should be closed today and the prisoners that were there released.
My Hypothetical supports that because, if someone was a murder, caught red handed and then tortured by the police while being held in a secret camp. ANY defense lawyer would have them released do to the failure of the system. Does it make them less guilty, NO it doesn’t, however we are a nation of laws and when we break down the fault lies with us. regardless of what these people did, we did just as wrong by our actions and no longer have a right to hold them.
September 3rd, 2009 at 1:21 pmAlso… I’ve read a large part of the problem w/ the prisoners at Gitmo is the fact that the Bush Admin didn’t even keep files on some of them… no records… nothing to go on. What a horrible dilemma for the people trying to clean up that mess. What do you do?
You release them due to our FAILURE as a nation.
September 3rd, 2009 at 1:22 pmI read the article in on-line version of the Tulsa World. Made my hair stand-up! I e-mailed my father-in-law and told him to get other Oklahomans to throw this bum out of office.
September 3rd, 2009 at 1:24 pmInhofe is engrossed in his c-street missionary work, flying to Africa (probably at taxpayer expense) converting Muslims to christianity. Republican Jesus cult stuff.
September 3rd, 2009 at 1:24 pmThe up side of that?
When he’s busy hating muslims, he loses focus on sabatoging the Dems.
Tundra says:
You release them due to our FAILURE as a nation.
___________
Is this good? Bad? Our only recourse? OUR fault? Or Bush’s fault?
September 3rd, 2009 at 1:25 pm.
Dear Tundra,
And IF Martians came to America and zapped a hundred people and turned them into flesh eating zombies… Like that?
.
September 3rd, 2009 at 1:26 pmTundra says:
Regardless of what these people did, we did just as wrong by our actions and no longer have a right to hold them.
_____________
Hmmm… are you actually espousing a PRINCIPLE here?
BTW… please note… I haven’t insulted or personally attacked you here.
September 3rd, 2009 at 1:27 pmIs this good? Bad? Our only recourse? OUR fault? Or Bush’s fault?
Our only recourse. I’m not happy about releasing potential terrorists and murders (as I am sure noone is). However as you stated we don’t even have files on some of them, no way to prove guilt and no trial offered.
Do we potentially keep 1 innocent person in there as not to release 10 murders?
September 3rd, 2009 at 1:29 pmHmmm… are you actually espousing a PRINCIPLE here?
That’s all it is based on.
BTW… please note… I haven’t insulted or personally attacked you here.
September 3rd, 2009 at 1:32 pmNot at all, I didn’t take it that way.
The Obama administration wants to shutter the camp because
of it’s association with torture.
Noooo, Obama wants to close it because it violates international law.
As purported leaders of the free world, America is supposed to set an example.
September 3rd, 2009 at 1:33 pmInhofe said: “There has never been a case of torture there. The people there are treated better than in the federal prisons.”
Inhofe is one hell of a liar but he doesn’t come close to the biggest liar in American history, George W. Bush.
September 3rd, 2009 at 1:34 pmThere are few things that do more to hinder enlightened debate than an ignorant liar.
September 3rd, 2009 at 1:42 pmWhy is anyone surprised that a Republican would tell lies.
For the last 8 years, the rightwing nutjob Republicans and their fellow travellers have made an art form out of lying.
It is well passed time for the rest of us to consider these Republicans as anything but craven, fear mongers and slaves to their corporate masters. It is now time for the Democratic majorities to call these Republicans liars to their faces. It is now time for our Democratic majorities to ignore the Republican bomb throwers and govern in a liberal tradition without attempting any kind of compromise with these degenerate, ignorant failed human beings.
September 3rd, 2009 at 1:42 pmEither the world is coming to an end or it is maybe coming back to life. First backup starts talking rationally, now Tundra is engaging in dialog.
I am confused
September 3rd, 2009 at 1:48 pmWhen can we start “water boarding” GOPers, Dick and Lizard Cheney and see what they think then, about torture?
September 3rd, 2009 at 1:50 pmTundra is engaging in dialog.
Tundra always engages in dialog, most people just don’t like his thoughts :P
September 3rd, 2009 at 1:54 pmIt would help OK’s population rut if we released all the terrorists there. We’ve seen Inhofe’s head turn beet red when something doesn’t seem quite ‘muriken to him, and we’d like to see his head actually explode.
September 3rd, 2009 at 1:57 pmWhat a disgrace – are the people of Oklahoma so pathetic that this is the best they can send to represent them? What an adolescent intellect – does he even comprehend what the Nazi’s were and how idiotic he sounds with his shrill comparison?
September 3rd, 2009 at 1:58 pmWe’ve gotten to the point where everybody’s got a right and nobody’s got a responsibility.” ~ Newton Minow.
I have nothing else to add.
RIP
September 3rd, 2009 at 2:08 pmSGT Stephen R. Sherman
C CO 1-5 IN (STRYKER)
KIA 3 Feb 2005
Mosul, Iraq
As long as the Iraq war and Afghanistan wars were in the interests of big Oil, anything done for them is AOK.
Take a good, long look at the the most vociferous supporters of the war, beginning with big Oil Cheney, Bush himself, and then the many, many ‘research institutes’ funded by Exxon Mobil.
Odd how it also links to the organizations, like 60+ that are opposed to healthcare reform as well.
ORGANIZATIONS IN EXXON SECRETS DATABASE
60/Sixty Plus Association
September 3rd, 2009 at 2:08 pmAccuracy in Academia
Accuracy in Media
Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty
Africa Fighting Malaria
Air Quality Standards Coalition
Alexis de Tocqueville Institution
Alliance for Climate Strategies
American Coal Foundation
American Council for Capital Formation Center for Policy Research
American Council on Science and Health
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
American Enterprise Institute-Brookings Joint Center for Regulatory Studies
American Friends of the Institute for Economic Affairs
American Legislative Exchange Council
American Petroleum Institute
American Policy Center
American Recreation Coalition
Americans for Tax Reform
Arizona State University Office of Cimatology
Aspen Institute
Association of Concerned Taxpayers
Atlantic Legal Foundation
Atlas Economic Research Foundation
Blue Ribbon Coalition
Capital Legal Foundation
Capital Research Center and Greenwatch
Cato Institute
Center for American and International Law
Center for Environmental Education Research
Center for Security Policy
Center for Strategic and International Studies
Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise
Center for the New West
Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change
Centre for the New Europe
Chemical Education Foundation
Citizens for A Sound Economy and CSE Educational Foundation
Citizens for the Environment and CFE Action Fund
Clean Water Industry Coalition
Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow
Communications Institute
Competitive Enterprise Institute
Congress of Racial Equality
Consumer Alert
Cooler Heads Coalition
Council for Solid Waste Solutions
Defenders of Property Rights
Earthwatch Institute
ECO or Environmental Conservation Organization
ExxonMobil Corporation
Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies
Foundation for Research on Economics and the Environment
Fraser Institute
Free Enterprise Action Institute
Free Enterprise Education Institute
Frontiers of Freedom Institute and Foundation
George C. Marshall Institute
George Mason University, Law and Economics Center
Global Climate Coalition
Great Plains Legal Foundation
Greening Earth Society
Harvard Center for Risk Analysis
Heartland Institute
Heritage Foundation
Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace, Stanford University
Hudson Institute
Illinois Policy Institute
Independent Commission on Environmental Education
Independent Institute
Institute for Biospheric Research
Institute for Energy Research
Institute for Regulatory Science
Institute for the Study of Earth and Man
Institute of Humane Studies, George Mason University
International Council for Capital Formation
International Policy Network – North America
International Republican Institute
James Madison Institute
Junkscience.com
Landmark Legal Foundation
Lexington Institute
Lindenwood University
Mackinac Center
Manhattan Institute for Policy Research
Media Institute
Media Research Center
Mercatus Center, George Mason University
Mountain States Legal Foundation
National Association of Neighborhoods
National Black Chamber of Commerce
National Center for Policy Analysis
National Center for Public Policy Research
National Council for Environmental Balance
National Environmental Policy Institute
National Legal Center for the Public Interest
National Policy Forum
National Wetlands Coalition
National Wilderness Institute
New England Legal Foundation
Pacific Legal Foundation
Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy
Property and Environment Research Center, formerly Political Economy Research Center
Reason Foundation
Reason Public Policy Institute
Science and Environmental Policy Project
Seniors Coalition
Small Business Survival Committee
Southeastern Legal Foundation
Stanford University GCEP
Statistical Assessment Service (STATS)
Tech Central Science Foundation or Tech Central Station
Texas Public Policy Foundation
The Advancement of Sound Science Center, Inc.
The Advancement of Sound Science Coalition
The Annapolis Center for Science-Based Public Policy
The Justice Foundation (formerly Texas Justice Foundation)
The Locke Institute
United for Jobs
University of Oklahoma Foundation, Inc.
US Russia Business Council
Virginia Institute for Public Policy
Washington Legal Foundation
Weidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government, and Public Policy
World Climate Report
Inhofe is just one of many Republicans that do not want Holder to investigate because that may lead to full scale hearings/indictments which will put the Republicans in an extremely bad light.
September 3rd, 2009 at 2:09 pmShould we appropriate these memes and wear them out? Nazi-ism. Chairman Mao. Since Republicans talk like this in all seriousness, it’s a tough assignment.
I like the Onion’s bad marketing idea:
It’s a holocaust for stains!
And I am reminded of it every time one of these Pugs opens his or her mouth.
Though I am waiting with baited breath for Michelle Bachman to slash her wrists.
September 3rd, 2009 at 2:22 pmDoesn’t Inhoffe even listen to his own party (Gonzo, Bush, Cheney) who have admitted torture ?
2. Belaluccifer said, “Are we torturing people in our Federal Prisons, too?!?”
Unfortunately, one item that the MSM hasn’t really picked up on is that the principles involved in Abu Ghraib were also Prison Guards in their civilian life (Makes sense, make use of their experience).
But this also leaves a gigantic door asking about their actions in their civilian jobs also.
September 3rd, 2009 at 2:33 pmRight, Sen. In(ert)hof … AND the earth is 6,000 years old.
September 3rd, 2009 at 2:33 pmGood grief. What an unabashed fckwit.
He’s so stupid that if he fell asleep in the rain with his mouth open – he’d drown.
September 3rd, 2009 at 2:59 pmokie dokie says:
Zimzone @12:54
University of Tulsa has a tier 1 ranking.
The rest of the stuff is true, though.
okie dokie! Nothing against doing ‘Tulsa Time’.
September 3rd, 2009 at 3:00 pmFull disclosure: I didn’t know which school he attended, thanks.
Guantanamo was run by GEO Group/Wackenhut, and owns more than 32,000 beds in private prisons throughout the U.S..
September 3rd, 2009 at 3:00 pmI’m sure there is torture.
They have a high rate of suicide, beatings, and “mysterious deaths”.
Sounds like Inhofe is giving comfort to the enemy, yeh, thats what he is doing, yeh, dats it, hes giving comfort to the turrirsts
/snk
September 3rd, 2009 at 3:16 pmWonder what congress-people think is their job description?
September 3rd, 2009 at 3:26 pmInhofe can’t open his mouth without lying. I couldn’t find a single sentence attributed to him in this TP post without one.
September 3rd, 2009 at 3:50 pmApparently Inhofe is either lying through his teeth, or he truly believes we have been treating the Gitmo prisoners like resort guests, or his definition of “torture” is a bit different from the way the rest of us define it.
If it’s the last one, he may need a closer look at the various interrogation techniques employed at Gitmo to form a more educated opinion. Like at the receiving end.
September 3rd, 2009 at 3:53 pmHe continued, “I don’t know why President Obama is obsessed with turning terrorists loose in America.”
That is the important point in Inhofe’s message. It’s blatant scaremongering. Get the folks on the right riled up with some namecalling and lying and then scare the holy living shit out of them by conjuring up the notion that the terrorists are going to be out walking around the streets of their home town.
The man, if we can call him that, has no decency, morals, or ethics.
September 3rd, 2009 at 4:07 pmInhofe said: “There has never been a case of torture there. The people there are treated better than in the federal prisons.”
He continued, “I don’t know why President Obama is obsessed with turning terrorists loose in America.”
____________________________________________________________
Three sentences. Three lies. I remember a time when that would set some kind of a record, but nowadays in order to make the top echelon of the Pinocchio Club, you really have to cram more than one lie into a sentence.
September 3rd, 2009 at 4:15 pmTotally loony on the climate, totally loony on torture!
September 3rd, 2009 at 4:38 pmIn a sane world, he would live in an asylum.
September 3rd, 2009 at 4:41 pmAs the Center for Constitutional Rights has documented, there have been countless cases of detainees being abused and tortured at the prison camp. Detainees have been beaten, deprived of sleep for weeks, sexually harrassed, and shackled to the floor for days at a time.
***********************************************************
If memory serves, hasn’t at least one independent legal review concluded that at least some of the detainees housed in Guantanamo Bay were guilty of nothing more than being in the wrong place at the wrong time — as in, they were falsely identified as terrorists by fellow countrymen (some of whom may have borne grudges against the people in question) who in turn were awarded monetary bounties by the U.S. government? I don’t know about you — but I’d frankly consider being arrested, thrown into the pokey for an indefinite period of time far away from home, and accused of crimes I did not commit without being offered a chance to answer the charges against me a form of torture in itself even when you remove additional abuse or harassment from the equation.
As as far as Inhofe’s accusations go regarding “turning terrorists loose in America”…is Inhofe absolutely certain that all or even most of the detainees housed at Guantanamo were guilty of committing and/or planning to commit acts of terrorism before they were sent there? If not, I’m rather inclined to think that some of these supposed would-be terrorists are of our own making. It’s by no means unnatural to expect that being thrown in prison and subjected to psychological torture (or worse) might actually encourage hostile feelings in the person who’s subject to this — and especially if they didn’t do what their captors have accused them of doing.
September 3rd, 2009 at 4:42 pm76. ZimZone and Okie Dokie,
And oddly enough, the Univ of OK has a premier collection of artifacts of Darwin.
Go figure !
September 3rd, 2009 at 4:47 pmGuantanamo Bay was never meant to be a country club.
September 3rd, 2009 at 5:07 pm11. hellinabucket says: Gitmo was used because it wasn’t within the borders of the US and, therefore, didn’t have to abide by the same laws as the US. So now we have to go back and argue the definition of “torture” and “enemy combatants” instead of following the law. September 3rd, 2009 at 12:44 pm
That was probably one of the first mistakes Shrub, Darth Cheney and that wrecking crew made with regard to prisoners. Not being a lawyer, I can’t claim cognizance of the case law, but I would suspect that the courts might not give them a pass on that notion. The courts certainly don’t seem to have had a problem with engaging with the issues coming out of Gitmo or any other place of detention where the prisoners can get access to legal representation; they may not grant relief to a detainee, but they also haven’t ignored them, either.
I would think that if some person is in US custody, then certain rules of law apply. The Shrubbery wanted to play a weasel game, they wanted to evade legal obligation, and they should expect to have to deal with the consequences of that. This gets to the whole issue around people like Addington and Yoo who seem to think that their particular interpretation of law IS law; it isn’t and the courts and the legislature (Congress) and DOJ should disabuse them of the notion that they could just make it up as they went along.
Stated bluntly, prisoners at Gitmo or Bagram or wherever) should be subject to the military’s UCMJ or to Federal Code, with appropriate allowances for the Geneva Conventions.
September 3rd, 2009 at 5:08 pmTundra says:
I pretty much agree. I mean those we CAN bring to trial because they HAVENT been abused and tortured and we THINK we can make a case bring them to trial but if we cant bring them to trail either because there is no evidence or because they have been tortured we should release. It is the price we have to pay to live up to our values. We can keep an eye on them. Even if we have to hire more FBI CIA agents and keep a few squads on to do ONLY that. We cant just keep them indefinitly without charges. Habeas Corpus is an 800 year old legal principle.No country can even CLAIM to have a fair justice system if they dont abide by it
September 3rd, 2009 at 5:08 pmkwsventures says:
Guantanamo Bay was never meant to be a country club.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Just like apparantly YOU were never meant to be a decent human being or have an ounce of integrity
September 3rd, 2009 at 5:10 pm“Stop makin’ stuff up!”
-Sarah Palin
truer words were never spoken
September 3rd, 2009 at 6:00 pmGrove, OK, where Inhofe was speaking, has become way red conservative the past few years. Their state rep Dr. Doug Cox is a physician at Integris Hospital there. Most of the events covered in local papers show some kind of involvement or donations by Integris.
September 3rd, 2009 at 7:44 pmSo it’s a serious corporate healthcare town.
It is also a lake community, with many retirees from medical and energy fields, and executive lake homes. There is a an abundance of right-wing radio from nearby Vinita there, and a free newsstand paper that prints those e-mail stories you see on snopes as news stories.
The last headline I saw actually had the snopes ip under the headline, and when you go there, it says it’s completely false. So bizarre.
“The Banner” seems to have some connection with the Heritage Foundation. Anyway, last month they ran the stories about public option death panels and forced gun confiscation, as well as referring to Obama as “our lying president” on the front page. Both Inhofe and Cox have columns in this yellow rag, giving this piece of garbage public validity.
The worst part, is our Democrat Governor also has a column there.
Liar, liar, liar! Inhofe will burn in hell.
September 3rd, 2009 at 10:10 pmMapleStreet @4:47
Both TU and OU were founded over a century ago.
September 3rd, 2009 at 11:12 pmTU, founded in 1882, was originally a Presbyterian mission for Muskogee Indian girls. It became a college in 1894.
University of Oklahoma was founded in 1889, before statehood.
The current president is former U.S. Senator David Boren (D). It is one of the top ten state universities in the country, with a medical school in Tulsa, as well.
Sorry for my chest beating, but I attended both schools.
You won’t find any of that creationist crap anywhere but theology class in either school.
Ya know, if the good folk of OK would elect an ignoramus next time in place of Inhofe it would be a step up.
September 5th, 2009 at 11:43 amyou for your sharing.!
September 7th, 2009 at 10:25 am