Dan Froomkin on the John Yoo Memo: Zealots to madness
By John Amato Wednesday Apr 02, 2008 3:00pm
I've posted this audio many times on C&L to expose the horror of Yoo!
John Yoo should be in handcuffs as I write this post. Froomkin kind of says it all:
The Justice Department memo released yesterday is a key link in the chain of evidence connecting the monstrous abuse of detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison and elsewhere straight to the White House.
President Bush has described the torture and murder of prisoners by U.S. military personnel as the work of an aberrant few. But this 2003 memo opened the door to precisely the kinds of abuse so horrifically chronicled in the Abu Ghraib photographs.
And the memo's author -- John Yoo, then a deputy in the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel -- was a longtime ally and notoriously pliant scribe for the radical legal views of Vice President Cheney and his chief enforcer, David S. Addington. Yoo's memo is a historic document. It is the ultimate expression of Cheney's belief that anything the president or his designates do -- no matter how illegal, barbaric or un-American -- is justifiable in the name of national self-defense.
It is also an example of how enabling zealots to disregard the rule of law and the customary boundaries of human conduct leads to madness.
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I said to my wife last night, "Yoo should be in handcuffs..."
Well, things got interesting after that.
Don't you guys know anything? The baby jesus doesn't care if we torture brown children. In fact, he loves it! God bless the GOP.
John Yoo will occupy a special place in hell
From the froomkin piece: ""If a government defendant were to harm an enemy combatant during an interrogation in a manner that might arguably violate a criminal prohibition, he would be doing so in order to prevent further attacks on the United States by the al Qaeda terrorist network. In that case, we believe that he could argue that the executive branch's constitutional authority to protect the nation from attack justified his actions."
Just because someone says that they "believe" something, that doesn't make it legal. This sounds more like creative fictional law to me.
Did this administration like to do awful things to human beings or were they that paranoid?
Was a similar creative fictional law written to make the telecoms think they were safe from being sued when they were asked to tap our phones?
I'd venture a good 1/3 of Americans think torturing children to prevent another 911-type attack is perfectly fine.
I'd wager many of them also consider themselves Christians.
John Yoo should be in handcuffs as I write this post.
I couldn't agree more but instead he is employed by a University. Rove and Libby along with The entire staff for Vice President Cheney along with Cheney should have been jailed years ago. In our new upside down country we live in treason is now apparently legal and encouraged.
Bush, Cheney and all of the little Yoos should be delivered to The Hague for prosecution under the same standard which resulted the execution of Tojo after the second world war.
The President of our nation approving of the crushing of an innocent child's testicles to get possible information from that kid's parent...who also may be completely innocent. Hilter, Stalin, Pinochet would be so proud of you Bush. And what did Rev. Wright say.....
Bush doesn't have a leg to stand on when he goes to china and lectures them on human rights.
Left&Left @ 8:
Things like this are some of the reasons he said it.
Here's someone who would be quite at home with the Papal and Spanish inquisitions.
(shot fired. footfalls. door opening)
NOBODY EXPECTS THE SPANISH INQUISTION!!!
yoo referred to the president as the 'sovreign'. that says enough about the violation of the constitution.
President John McCain will crush the children's testicles twice as hard!
drtoxic @ 1, I'm so glad I wasn't drinking anything when I saw your post.
gemHusseinpei @ 11:
Not I.
please fix the blog!
one thread has full function.
the next,.... NOT!
Yoo loves the Unitary Executive presidency, but only for Republicans.
When there's a Democrat in office? Mmm. . . not so good:
Witness the true audacity of Yoo's hypocrisy:
"President Clinton exercised the powers of the imperial presidency to the utmost in the area in which those powers are already at their height — in our dealings with foreign nations. Unfortunately, the record of the administration has not been a happy one, in light of its costs to the Constitution and the American legal system. On a series of different international relations matters, such as war, international institutions, and treaties, President Clinton has accelerated the disturbing trends in foreign policy that undermine notions of democratic accountability and respect for the rule of law. ”
Source: John C. Yoo, The Imperial President Abroad, in Roger Pilon, ed., The Rule of Law in the Wake of Clinton 159 (2000).
and
“ In democracies, we distinguish between a public office and the person who holds that office; people for whom the office and the person are one and the same are called kings. ”
Source: John C. Yoo, March 2, 1998, Op-Ed (sub. req'd) for the WSJ Editorial Page
and
“ At a conference on executive power in 2000, Yoo declared that “the Clinton administration has undermined the balance of powers that exist in foreign affairs, and [they] have undermined principles of democratic accountability that executive branches have agreed upon well to the Nixon Administration.” And in the Clinton administration’s strained legal interpretation of the ABM treaty, he added, “the legal arguments are so outrageous, they’re so incredible, that they actually show, I think, a disrespect for the idea of law, by showing how utterly manipulatable it is.” ”
Source: Charlie Savage, Takeover (New York: Little Brown & Co, 2007); pg 67.
Pete @ 3
"John Yoo will occupy a special place in hell"
Where he will be tortured for eternity as a potential spy for the other place. The secruity of Hell must be protected, and any action or crime commited is justifiable in the name of Helland Security.
So all this comes out and the proof it there...what happens now?
Yoo and Mengele will have a lot to talk about.
I see the problem here.
pissed off patricia @ 19:
Damn! Should have read, the proof is there
"President Bush has described the torture and murder of prisoners by U.S. military personnel as the work of an aberrant few. But this 2003 memo opened the door to precisely the kinds of abuse so horrifically chronicled in the Abu Ghraib photographs."
This Pretzelnit is so sure of his beliefs, the neocons so sure of their world view that torture is ok...why do they scurry around in the dark. Why does the Pretzelnit lie about this...why does he not come forward and espouse his view in front of the nation...that torture is good and justfiable...that these "abuses", as we liberals call them, are not abuses...that they are HIS policies...his beliefs...his ideology and that that ideology is affirmed by the Constitution....why oh why is this Pretzelnit so afraid to speak the truth...what does he fear?
Rev. Wright's first amendment protected comments(90% of which were true) and Obama's bowling scores are more important than our President's SS practices on Mulslim children. Bush is the #1 reason for the growth of Al Qaeda. Al Qaeda should make Bush, Cheney, Yoo and company honorary members.
Marc @ 18:
Instead of waiting for a mythical judgment of this still living monster- how about using our LAWS and Courts to punish him now?
Over @ TPMMuckraker commenters have been posting the contact info for Dean Christopher Edley of UC Berkeley Boalt Hall School of Law. Let him know that John Yoo deserves to be fired from their faculty. Hit Yoo where it hurts, in the wallet or, from what I've read about him, in the ego:
Dean Christopher Edley
Boalt Hall, UC Berkeley
Tel: 510-642-6483
Fax: 510-642-9893
Email Address: edley@law.berkeley.edu
"25 BennyP Says:
Instead of waiting for a mythical judgment of this still living monster- how about using our LAWS and Courts to punish him now?"
Let's just crush his testicles now and avoid the Christmas rush.
pissed off patricia @ 9:
What makes you think he would lecture the Chinese? It's more likely he'd go to China to pick up a few pointers.
The ACLU has done more for accountability than the whole spineless dem party.
This is unacceptable.
Donate to the ACLU, not a penny for the spineless dems and vote out all incumbents.
Where is the movement to demand w and cheney's resignations?
The so called "progressives" are too busy hating on the Clintons.
Giving money to Obama but I donated to the ACLU for doing the spineless dem's job.
Some questions Balkinization raises:
1. Who authorized Yoo to issue the memo in the first place, rather than the head of the OLC?
2. Those responsible for using torture may not be legally insulated by the Bush administration? [Believe he's talking about the troops, not Yoo, Rumsfeld, et al.]
3. Esquire magazine analyzed the memo and says it made clear that the Geneva Conventions applied to Iraq. But the White House didn't realize that?
Can I just mention here Froomkin is one of the best things about the WaPo?
And after all this...all of us, the progressives, are reprimanded by everyone, including our peers, if we wish that these megalomaniacal cocksuckers, the Cheneys, Gonzales', Goodlings and Bushs of the world DEAD.
Look at what they've done to our country. Look at what they've done to our government, our Consitution, our society, our economy....hell...our MORALITY.
There is no judicial sentence harsh enough, no rung in hell low enough for these miserable bastards.
Pete @ 3
“John Yoo will occupy a special place in hell”
But in the USA he will be given a medal of honor by George Bush! And the media will say that Obama does not wear a flag pin and sucks at bowling.
Liberal AND Proud @ 32:
Yeah, but look how much money the oil company execs are making. Bushco been very good for the ultra rich and the defense industry as well.
Soooo, tell me again how we had to invade Iraq to take Saddam because he was a bad guy who tortured people.
Yellow Elephant Safari @ 28:
Bush said he was going to talk to them about human rights while he was over there for the olympics, but you're right, he didn't say what he would be talking about.
John Yoo will occupy a special place in hell
I'd like to see him lose his special place on the Law faculty of UC Berkeley. Then, I'd like to see him occupy a special place at Fort Leavenworth.
Trial at 2:00 hanging at 2:30.
Bush said he was going to talk to them about human rights while he was over there for the olympics, but you’re right, he didn’t say what he would be talking about.
And you know how foreign leaders just drop everything to listen to what Chimpy says!
Trial at 2:00 hanging at 2:30.
Can ya make it 2:15? I've got a luncheon to go to at 2:30
geneHUSSEIN214 @ 39:
Yep. I imagine he has been told to fu*k off in more languages than we can imagine.
pissed off patricia @ 36:
And remember. The Olympics opening ceremony is scheduled for 8/8/08. Coincidentally, I penciled that date in as the day of the "terrorist" attack that will be the justification for declaring marshal law long before I knew that the olympics had anything to do it.
Interesting how the right-wingers go ballistic over Professor Ward Churchill's writings when the real danger to our country are lunatic professors like Yoo.
To them he is a hero.
Orwell was so f*cking right.
Yoo tells Esquire, I thought torture was bad...really!
Did Yoo neglect to tell the White House this?
This is mind blowing. WE WILL NOT WIN THIS WAR AND DON'T DESERVE TO.
Oh, and I feel so much better knowing Yoo's memo was only supposed to apply to everyone else, except those in Iraq.
Liberal and Proud at 32: Yes, of those listed; "Cheney is still in office"; Gonzo
has resigned, Goodling likewise(both refusing to give testimony under oath as to
their roles in this and other matters), and "bush" is also still in office. Where is
the justice? These plus many, many more in the bush admin. are criminals and
should have been either impeached or tried for their crimes long ago. But no,
nothing has or probably will be done, so nothing will change until Jan. 09. Much
much toooo late for my satisfaction..and tho guiltly, they will most likely go unpunished. Our Government is so f.....ed up you'd think there would be a public
outcry for justice...yet all I hear is the crickets chirping.
There was no intention or desire that the memo released yesterday apply to Iraq.”
Then it applied to whom? Dissidents in the U.S perhaps??
Yellow Elephant Safari @ 42:
Because 9-11 was such a easy date to remember due to the fact that it's the number you dial for help, my feeling was if there was another attack it would be May 1. May day being the signal for help at sea. Needless to say, I have been very happy to see the last six May days come and go quietly.
Getalife@29 So all of this wicked shit perpetrated on humanity in our name is the Democrats fault?
geneHUSSEIN214 @ 48:
Already has been, you only need look at the NYC 2004 RNC, or LA immigration protest for examples of torture rolled out on American Citizens.
Doggiebobo @ 47:
Which reminds me, whatever happened to the contempt citations for Bolton and Miers? Did our fearless congressional leaders drop the ball on those as well?
goat hussein sage @ 52:
That's why I suggested an adjustment to the George W Bush Sewage Treatment Plant, that the sewage input be re-directed from being processed, to being pumped out into the parking lot and allowed to flood the local area, that way we can have the Nancy Pelosi Swamp Water Preserve.
(remember drain the swamp?)
goat hussein sage @ 52:
You can read Rep. John Conyers' blog and find out. Pelosi referred the contempt citations to the US Attorney for the District of Columbia on Feb. 29. AG Mukasey since said he wouldn't prosecute.
Conyers writes:
In our own history, Henry Wirz was hanged for war crimes on the National Mall. He was the commander of the confederate Andersonville POW camp during the Civil War. Yoo was trying to legitimize what our own legal precedents determined were intolerable.
http://www.americaslibrary.gov/jb/civil/jb_civil_hanging_1_e.html
What is going on at GITMO, what went on at Abu Garihb, is doubtless going on at other sights are war crimes under our own legal system and under international law. Yoo, Bush, Cheney and every participant needs to be brought to justice.
Dubya and Deadeye Dick have formed the first rainbow coalition from hell. Men/Women. White/Black. Hispanic/Asian. All turning out the very best lies, deception and corruption. We have nothing to fear but everything and everyone. Nobody expected the Republican Inquisition! Do worry, be afraid! Be very afraid!!
Thanks, Leslie.
Can't link to alot of the excellent comments above, so I'll just add this. We have come full circle. Nixon famously opined in the 70's "If the President does it, it's not illegal." Well, he chose to resign to avoid facing impeachment and an almost certain conviction in the Senate. Ford pardoned him even though he could have certainly been convicted and sent to prison. So, for all practical purposes, Nixon was correct when he made the aforementioned declaration. But it was Ford that enabled him
In my opinion, this is what put us where we are today. Remember that Shrub's minions include many who were in the Ford and Nixon administrations, so in effect we allowed them to escape punishment for the crimes that were committed then only to commit the same crimes, and much worse, in the Shrub administration. It's a snowball effect. Unfettered power always seeks more if left unchecked. That's why it is so tragic that Shrub and his criminal enterprise have not been held accountable for any of their crimes. If they are allowed to escape justice unscathed as Nixon (and Reagan) did, the next despot that takes power will be even worse. Beware of a McBush regime, because they'll push the envelope as far as they permitted. If the past is any indication, we are perilously close to a dictatorship.
Yoo attempted to reverse our own historical precedents. In our own history, Henry Wirz was hanged for war crimes on the National Mall. He was the commander of the confederate Andersonville POW camp during the Civil War. Yoo was trying to legitimize what our own legal precedents determined were intolerable.
http://www.americaslibrary.gov/jb/civil/jb_civil_hanging_1_e.html
After WWII, we punished nazis and Japanese for similar crimes.
What is going on at GITMO, what went on at Abu Garihb, is doubtless going on at other sights are war crimes under our own legal system and under international law. Yoo, Bush, Cheney and every participant needs to be brought to justice. This Yoo memo should be forwarded to the ICC.
woodguy @ 58:
Well said!
Regarding "can't link:" Are you using Safari 3.1? It's free. Firefox should work too?
Wouldn't everyone really like to hear both our candidates talk about holding these criminals responsible for these atrocious things? Yea, me too, but there is not a chance in Hell that we will hear that from either of them. America is now just another rogue nation that no one respects and no one trust. We will only change that when we hold people responsible. Pretty soon we the people are going to have to get off our lazy asses and make demands of those who are supposed to represent us and our country. This whole bunch needs to stand in the dock at the Hague and answer for war crimes and genocide.
If an angry person were to confront Yoo on the street, he would probably fold like a cheap wallet and soil himself. Same goes for Bush and Cheney. These are the behavoirs of the true coward!
Geo @ 13:
President McRomney would have double-crushed the child's testicles.
Annoyed Canuck @ 17:
Thanks, Annoyed Cannuck. That alone (compared to views expressed during the Bush administration should be enough to make him lose his job at Berkeley.
Leslie @ 30:
Yeah, Yoo put this memo out on a Saturday after the OLC head resigned - while there was no acting chief, perhaps?
Regarding number 3, yes, the Conventions apply to Iraq, but not after the war. I haven't heard, but I imagine that Bush would call the members of the insurgency "non-state actors" or "unlawful combatants" too.
Yep, a whole bunch of fucking criminals.
bush cheney have to go
hey abu ghraib we have two more guests for you
and please no need to record anything you do to them
except for public pleasure and satisfaction.
Yoo is a definite sociopath. I think Neocons are on the whole also sociopaths.
Couldn't a bunch of doctors get these freaks committed?
Leslie @ 60,
Thanks. Sometimes @ C&L the little blue "comment" at the lower left hand side of the post is missing. Without that I'm clueless. As far as foxfire or safari goes I'm totally without the foggiest. I have come a ways from when I started commenting on blogs, but still an amateur. I can copy and paste, but I'm lost sometimes when people throw IT terms around.
I can do anything with a piece of lumber, though!
Remember, for all the insanity that spurts out of Yoo, Addington is still in government. The unitary executive concept also includes the absolution of all crimes committed while encased in the constitutional armor of elected office. Yoo is literally the arrogant face for all that still goes on in the VP's office. There is still time for them to add to the damage.
That creep- YOO needs to die.
Underground Pirate @ 70:
Easy does it. Go take a walk. It's going to be okay. Just because Congress failed to do their Constitutional duty and impeach and remove, does not mean it time to load the guns. Just make sure they're clean.
Seems like those convicted at Abu-Grahib ought to be looking for a retrial based on this. They were convicted in part because they had the duty to reject improper orders. According to the memo's doctrine, there can be no improper orders.
Pete @ 3:
And this should be his punishment
geneHUSSEIN214 @ 40:
I have a tight schedule, too, so let's do the hanging first and the trial whenever we get around to it.
John Yoo is the sort of guy that gives our WWII Japanese internment camps a good name, metaphorically speaking.
Why is his 'opinion' considered legally valid? Who is this 3rd rate guy to dictate policy?
Lawfare indeed.
Rube Goldberg@75 Rube, Yoo is an asshole who truly deserves to have HIS nuts crushed with plyers, but there is and will never be an excuse for the internment of American citizens who happened to be of Japanese origin.
Left&Left @ 77:
Korean
I did not read all comments so pardon me if this is redundant. Talkingpointsmemo comments on this outrage contain UC Berkeley email addresses of the law school dean and other prominent law school faculty. Send them a note!
As evil as bush/chenny and yoo are what kind of person follows orders from people like these? Cannot everyone see how stupid greedy and evil bush/chenny are and if you do why would you do anything they wanted you to?
I just have a hard time understanding how anyone could consider bush/chenny/therepublican party to be in charge of anything? These people belong in prison or a hospital not out killing people for their own foolish selfish reasons.
Why do republicans hate America and it's people so much?????
Just think of the karma America has sewn for the nation, or "do unto others as you would have done unto you".
Ignorance is no excuse and neither is greed.
All empires fall .
All the "Bush" laws that were made should be rescinded after his administration are all prosecuted at the HAGUE, along with every congressperson and senator that did nothing to stop so many crimes.
It is also a testament to how easily our Constitution can be subverted by delusional individuals who manage to fool an unsuspecting and uninformed electorate.
Isn't Christian terrorism just lovely?
What if the President is just "into" pedophillic CBT? I don't see anything wrong with that!
John Yoo(hoo)
I can't believe nobody said "Fuck Yoo" yet..
The torture memos were not all Yoo was engaged in to subvert the Constitution. He specifically declared 9/11 as an act of war, thus freeing the event from criminal investigation. This is obstruction of justice. He then violated the very rules of war by violating the Geneva Conventions Article 3 that specifically protects ANYONE from abusive treatment, i.e. Torture. John C. Yoo needs to face criminal charges as well as charges of Treason and War Crimes!
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