Daily Show: President Bush's Itty Bitty Torture Committee: Condi should go
By SilentPatriot Tuesday Apr 15, 2008 8:38am
Jon Stewart takes the administration to task for, well, there's no delicate way to put this, deciding the intimate details of how we would torture people. It pains me to type those words.
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You gotta wonder, how could these administration officials be so confident that we don’t torture? Well, there’s only two options, really. One, the administration reminded all military and intelligence agencies of the moral commitment that civilized nations have to remain humane, even in times of peril. Or…. They sat in a room and meticulously crafted an interrogation regimen in the lawyer-created space between cruelty and torture. Hmmm….I wonder which way they went.
UPDATE: John Amato: It's good to see TDS pick up on our push with the ACLU to get this information out there. C&L will not let up on this issue and the blogoshere has responded in kind. Thanks. And Condi Rice should be forced to resign over this issue.
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Looks like Dick Cheney Stars in ‘Torture Club’ (A Production of 14th Century FOX)
What the mainstream media doesn't want to contemplate: war crimes.
They'd rather sheepishly prop up war criminals than make a stink.
Some people don't take that attitude, thankfully.
NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD CALLS ON BOALT HALL TO DISMISS LAW PROFESSOR JOHN YOO, WHOSE TORTURE MEMOS LED TO COMMISSION OF WAR CRIMES
Wednesday, April 9, 2008, 08:31 AM
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 9, 2008
NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD CALLS ON BOALT HALL TO DISMISS LAW PROFESSOR JOHN YOO, WHOSE TORTURE MEMOS LED TO COMMISSION OF WAR CRIMES
New York. In a memorandum written the same month George W. Bush invaded Iraq, Boalt Hall law professor John Yoo said the Department of Justice would construe US criminal laws not to apply to the President's detention and interrogation of enemy combatants. According to Yoo, the federal statutes against torture, assault, maiming and stalking do not apply to the military in the conduct of the war.
The federal maiming statute, for example, makes it a crime for someone "with the intent to torture, maim, or disfigure" to "cut, bite, or slit the nose, ear or lip, or cut out or disable the tongue, or put out or destroy an eye, or cut off or disable a limb or any member of another person." It further prohibits individuals from "throwing or pouring upon another person any scalding water, corrosive acid, or caustic substance" with like intent.
Yoo also narrowed the definition of torture so the victim must experience intense pain or suffering equivalent to pain associated with serious physical injury so severe that death, organ failure or permanent damage resulting in loss of significant body functions will likely result; Yoo's definition contravenes the definition in the Convention Against Torture, a treaty the US has ratified which is thus part of the US law under the Constitution's Supremacy Clause. Yoo said self-defense or necessity could be used as a defense to war crimes prosecutions for torture, notwithstanding the Torture Convention's absolute prohibition against torture in all circumstances, even in wartime. This memo and another Yoo wrote with Jay Bybee in August 2002 provided the basis for the Administration's torture of prisoners.
"John Yoo's complicity in establishing the policy that led to the torture of prisoners constitutes a war crime under the US War Crimes Act," said National Lawyers Guild President Marjorie Cohn.
Congress should repeal the provision of the Military Commissions Act that would give Yoo immunity from prosecution for torture committed from September 11, 2001 to December 30, 2005. John Yoo should be disbarred and he should not be retained as a professor of law at one of the country's premier law schools. John Yoo should be dismissed from Boalt Hall and tried as a war criminal.
The National Lawyers Guild was founded in 1937 as an alternative to the American Bar Association, which did not admit people of color, the National Lawyers Guild is the oldest and largest public interest/human rights bar organization in the United States. Its headquarters are in New York and it has chapters in every state.
This is a double edged sword. Many people hear of these atrocities. Many people laugh.
How will the future view us, if there is much of a future.
The economy is screwed, the environment is gettin' screwed, and the torturers are leading the government. Is this what makes the United States so great?
If a nation doesn't adhere to its own principles, than what does it believe in?
The same logic used by this Administration is the same logic the Nazis applied to justify The Final Solution.
The Administration just has better
liarslawyers.Earlier this morning I was watching a group of law professors speaking on the law and national security. This was on C-span2 and filmed April 10 of this year. One of the professors said that if each person detained at Gitmo were given a fair legal trial, not one of them would be convicted. None of the other professors disagreed with him.
If anyone gets a chance to see this or if you find the video at c-span, it's very interesting and well worth watching. There was a lady on the panel and she said the UK was not eager to work with the US on covert intelligence missions because they were afraid the US would torture anyone they might capture.
haven't these torturers forfeited their own right to life and liberty?
where, oh where, is the justice?
it's very depressing that the audience laughs at these segments.
Thank you Jon for picking up the torch where so many news agencies have wimped out.
john @ 8:
Justice is being held in an undisclosed location.
Why are we talking about this? Come on, people. Obama said something that might be considered elitist if you look at it from a certain point of view--that's what should be first and foremost on our minds! And once we're done discussing that, try to determine if Hillary told the truth about diamonds or pearls.
linda @ 9:
Some times you have to laugh, because the only other thought in your mind is an illegal act out of anger.
I'm just wondering how Nancy Pelosi sleeps at night.
We now know for sure that the invasion of Iraq and the slaughter of it's citizens was based entirely on LIES, and that all of the high-level adminsitration officials crafted and enacted TORTURE in contravention of the Geneva accords and the moral values of the US. In fact, it is evident more and more that this whole bunch of Bushies are nothing but liars and criminals > Your basic Crooks & Liars.
IMPEACH - TRY - CONVICT - INCARCERATE!
Guess I'll be writing to her again.
Slaw @ 12:
Because these are elitist torturers
pissed off patricia @ 7:
Thanks, Pop.
And I know the trolls are lined up after reading the above to scream that freeing them would put us ALLL in danger, and that we are betraying the country.
My response is simply...our system of government has defined us, protected us and in no way EVER hindered our ability to protect the nation for over 200 years.
If it is the decision of history that our country should fall in defense of our principles...then so be it. If you betray your principles and become no better than those who are your enemies, if you lose your very soul, then what has really been gained.
Slaw @ 12:
If this is a snark, you need to refine your approach.
If not, then I feel sorry for you.
Have these right wingers ever read any history?
Any nation that tries to rationalize the use of torture on it's enemies will eventually find excuses to torture its own citizens.
Liberal AND Proud @ 16:
My response is that maybe we should have thought of that before resorting to the illegal interrogation techniques that will make convictions impossible to attain.
Alice Hussein (the Bitter are for Obama) @ 17:
Seriously? Please read it again and remember what site we're on.
And McCain, having been tortured himself, votes against banning such practices. For what? Power.
It's one of the most recurrent human behaviors: renouncing principles for power. But never has it been so stark.
Good Morning
What multiple snowball disasters has our Government given us this morning?
How the hell could Condi smile and sort of laugh when she was asked that question? If you are asked about that sort of thing and you are totally innocent, you would be appalled and want to make it clear that you had no involvement in such actions. We know she was involved so how could she just smile?
I guess there go her chances as well as Colin Powell's when it comes to the being on the ticket with McCain. Or hell, maybe it would help his chances with some segment of Americans.
The endiig "Ha ha ha...A piece of me inside is dying" was some very incredibly dark comedy. Bravo, Jon!
Just before Condi answered that question did you notice how she seemed almost giddy? Methinks that was evil shimmying up her back.
Death By Corn
Thats our future
Stewart and Colbert can cut to the chase better than anyone else. MSM cannot bear to even talk about this. It gets too complicated for them. Real issues is much too complicated. They feel better talking about what Obama said and meant and feels. Better still maybe Paris or Lindsey or Brittany will do something outrageous and they won't even have to deal with politics at all.
SassySandy @ 26:
Garden of Earthly Delights
No wonder the US of A does not want any of the so-called terrorists tried in an open court...
Take the Khadr case.
Arrested when he was 15 (I think) - which makes him a child soldier by the UN definition.
Charged with killing a medic.
Facts that have come out -
1) No one saw him do the killing
2) There was another fighter in the room - who was killed.
3) American forces entered the premises throwing grenades.
4) Medic killed.
Must have been the 15 year old, and to quickly guarantee a conviction in a kangaroo court - deny access to lawyers, then access to witnesses, then access to an impartial court.
And you wonder why you are hated throughout the world. Hypocrisy breeds its own contempt.
Of course we have to deal with Stephen Harper who doesn't understand that to most citizens, it is the government’s responsibility to go to bat for our legal rights when a foreign nation is trampling on them. EVEN if it is our closest ally.
Time that we all looked in the mirror and came to our senses. We are destroying the best parts of our society by our single-minded belief that our governments are completely trustworthy and infallible.
Hillary Outlines Agenda for First 100 Days:
...promised to “shut down Guantanamo” and “disavow torture,” as well as sign bills Bush has vetoed to expand federal embryonic stem-cell research and broaden government-supported health care to millions of lower-income children who now go without.
No. 44 @ 2:
I am surprised that he hasn't been disbarred by whatever state bar association he belongs to.
The law professors in that program that I mentioned up thread, said the bush administration has stretched the definition of who may be detained and why, way beyond reasonable.
The primary emotion I felt during watching that program and this video was fear. I felt fearful for our country, for the future and fear of our own government. Coming in second was the overpowering feeling of shame.
Then-presidential counsel Alberto R. Gonzales, then-Attorney General John D. Ashcroft, then-Defense Department general counsel William J. Haynes II, then-National Security Council legal adviser John B. Bellinger III, CIA counsel John A. Rizzo, and David S. Addington, then-counsel to Cheney
discussed AND approved
open-handed slapping, the threat of live burial and waterboarding.
(Oh sorry, apparently the threat of live burial was rejected (me thinks that it was too time consuming and too elaborate a torture device, while punching somebody and drowning them take no time at all).
The Soviet Union lives again, AD 2008
At first I thought the Itty Bitty Torture Committee said
Itty T**y Torture Committee.
VegasRage @ 13:
I watched most of this show last night, and I didn't hear alot of uproarious laughter...it was more like nervous laughter...my bro asked "didn't this use to be a comedy show?" Well I guess with all the criminal activity being perpetrated by this administration, and the MSM covering very little if any of it...not much to laugh at these days.
Stewart, Colbert are the only ones I know of, outside of the MSM with the balls to call this administration out on their crimes.
linda @ 9:
Well as it has been said a few times before, in medieval times, it was usually the court jester who was the one who told the truth in the form of a joke. People would laugh, but once they thought about it, it wasn't so funny.
Same as the case here.
So what are YOUR choices? The administration's choice has been made.
You can make jokes and laugh about it (like the Daily Show), but it won't go away.
You can be pissed off and blog about it, complain to congress etc. (like us), but it won't go away.
You can ignore it (like most people), but it won't go away.
You can vote against it, but it probably still won't go away.
You can accept it, or
You can actually do something about it (something more than the above options, for which we have the second amendment - not pretty).
I think most people lean toward ignorance or acceptance.
YourMom @ 36:
Corn, corn, more corn, and corn.
L.A. Confidential @ 37:
Maybe my brain isn't awake yet, but I'm not getting what this "corn" thing is that you are talking about.
Bush lawyers said "enhanced interrogation" is not torture unless someone dies. If anyone has died under intense interrogations ordered by Bush, that then constitutes torture. It would also be murder, and that would make George Bush a confessed murderer without even having to have the confession beat out of him.
pissed off patricia @ 38:
http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/kingcorn/
It's enough to make ya sick.
We just moved two hours away to an area which is predominantly Republican (the only bad thing about it!)
But yesterday I was at the hardware store and I saw a bumper sticker (on a truck filled with hay, no less) that said in huge letters:
BUSH SHOULD BE BEHIND BARS
Gives me hope.
Also, we just registered here so add two more Dems to dilute the red-ness!
L.A. Confidential @ 40:
Think about it. One "burger" is 63% pure unhealthy fat. Even a steak. And thats just the tip of the iceberg.
On a much lighter note, Michelle Obama was funny last night when she sat down with Colbert. The part about the spoons was great.
There is no way in hell that I could imagine seeing her husband give the nod to torturing human beings. I just can't see it happening.
Thanks LA for the explanation link.
valleta @ 41:
The masses are to confused and too disorganized. If they were focused and organized Bush would have been booted in 2004. If not sooner.
pissed off patricia @ 43:
Your welcome. Better to be aware the Corps are killing us then not I suppose.
Are these considered tortures: Wedgies, Wet-Willies, Noogies, Indian Burns and of course the ever popular Purple Nurples?
sulphurdunn @ 39:
The pictures of the body packed in ice at Abu Grahi...
oh!... wait!! "Dancing with the Stars" is coming on ...
what was i saying ...?
pissed off patricia @ 7:
And the administration is planning on executing some of these men this summer. The people they are planning to execute are the same men that they waterboarded. If these men were given a fair trial, no testimony gotten from these torture techniques would be admissible. That is one reason they are rushing to get them tried. The other is because they are running out of time to write the last big chapter of Bush's legacy. Disgusting. Do you think anyone will stand up and stop these men from being executed?
valleta @ 41:
Ok, this is now drifting way off topic, but I just had to say it:
What's the pope doing chilling out with Bush on the south lawn!? There are sex abuse victims in Boston who would very much like to meet with him in person and get a personal apology but instead he's getting schmoozed by a torturer.
ysbaddaden @ 46:
You forgot the dreaded "Rear Admiral"!
In light of the topic of this thread, it was bizarre to just now hear bush's speech to the Pope. He talked about every life being precious and how caring we must be for one another. This same man who less than a week ago admitted he had allowed human beings to be tortured. I was waiting for a bolt of lightning to come down and scorch the space surrounding where bush stood. What a loathsome human being.
pissed off patricia @ 23:
condi smiles all the time. Its just her nature. See, she's a happy-go-lucky person, who smiles a lot. And its a good thing. if she stops smiling, her skin will shrivel and she'll turn into a Sith Lord.
i've often noted that at the most inappropriate times, condi is smiling. After a natural disaster, on a trip to iraq, when asked about how many casualties there are, etc. She's got to be the worst front person we could ask for. Why she's the secretary of state is a mystery. She's the worst we've ever had.
This whole torture thing is so beyond the pale, that I really wonder what we can do about it. Frankly, our gov't has always been run by people who were more or less willing to follow the rules. It doesn't seem like anyone in Washington cares about the rules anymore.
If we start prosecuting these guys for war crimes before bush is out of office, he'll just pardon all of them. He'll probably pardon them all preemptively before he leaves office anyway.
navyswan @ 48:
Good god! This is disgusting! How the hell can we stop this insanity?
Gah. Watching the Pope's visit at the White House.
Disgusting. Katie Couric sounds like she dusted off her notes from 2005 rather than do any research, asking about the Pope's old nickname of 'God's Rotweiller'.
And then there's Bush doing his fidget act during the playing of anthems.
The real capper is Bush's opening remarks, which take a sharp right turn into playing the terrorism card and lauding America as a Christian nation while ignoring that he's admitted to being a war criminal.
Makes me want to scream.
navyswan @ 48:
I'm afraid there won't be but I sure as hell wish there would be. Killing someone without proving legal cause sounds like murder to me.
Slaw @ 20:
I have lost part of my sense of humor.
emphasa @ 49:
Because birds of a feather etc.
It's like some kind of mafia summit. The heads of crime syndicates sitting down together to laugh about all the lives they've destroyed and all the money they've made doing it. You think the head pedo who wrote the book on how to refuck little victims using the legal system as his shield is going to run into the arms of his victims and say he's sorry? Yeah. And maybe there's a magic invisible sky daddy watching it all just waiting for the correct alignment of stars and religious idiots so it can swoop down and save us all.
I love that pope pedo the first snubbed an official dinner with the chimp and actually got good press for it. The only way their meeting would benefit anyone is if someone got a picture of shrub getting head from ratzi the nazi. That's the only crime in the reslug world that will get you in trouble [but only briefly]. And in this case the reslugs would find a way to spin it in their favor.
emphasa @ 49:
It's called DELUSION. With Bush Co leading the way deeper and deeper into it.
herr dubyah just told the Pope that "America is a compassionate country". I wonder how much compassion is put behind his mandated, supported, and authorized torture and murder?
pissed off patricia @ 51:
Pat, when reslugs and religious fools talk about the preciousness and sanctity of life they're talking about a fetus. Nothing other than that is precious or worth saving. Once it's born, well it better have a trust fund.
Life is only worth protecting if it's unborn. That makes the womb property of the gov. since they are the mighty protectors of the unborn. As for the rest of the citizenry, well they need to shut up and grab a gun because they need more meat for the war grinder.
Shadowgm Hussein @ 54:
Weird choice of flags.
http://tinyurl.com/6ofmbz
Dr. Hussein Matt @ 59:
Is there a laugh track? There should be.
liberalHUSSEINmoderation @ 53:
One person at a time.
Hearing Onward Christian Soldier sounds peculiar this particular this day and time.
PETN - People for the Ethical Treatment of Nobody
Am I automatically a member if I become a republican?
But, but, Jack Bauer! Ticking time bombs! 9/11 changed everything! Hey, did you hear what Obama said about those decent hardworking white folks in Pennsylvania while schmoozing those gay and gay-loving college graduates in San Francisco?
Seriously, I think part of the reason that it's harder to get the media excited about this is the same reason it's hard to get them excited about racial profiling - it happens to other people, who probably did something wrong (after all, they're brown/black/poor). We just need to find out what, and if it takes a little coercion, well, so be it.
As a somewhat related aside, Republicans tend to view trial as merely a prelude to conviction, rather than a means of determining whether conviction is appropriate. A trial that fails to result in a conviction is therefore a failure because someone who was guilty (after all, why else would he/she have been charged) went free. Except, of course, when the offender is a well-connected rich crony like Scooter Libby.
pissed off patricia @ 51:
Human life is only sacred to the unborn. If you are already in existence then you are on your own and out of luck.
True Majority just sent out another mailing wrt torture and getting rid of Condi
http://act.truemajority.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=5SAGEhD0r2IVF6%2FiaincOu...
L.A. Confidential @ 63:
Seriously...I don't think we can wait that long. Though, I don't know how to go about stopping it...I am feeling really helpless, and discouraged lately.
pissed off patricia @ 64:
Geeeezus...why don't they just make a joint announcement that they are restarting the Crusades.
pissed off patricia @ 64:
Sound peculiar to me ANY time.
liberalHUSSEINmoderation @ 69:
That was my point earlier. There really is no solution without going somewhere nobody wants to go. Voting is not enough (I'm not a citizen anyway). I'm despondent too!
No. 44 @ 2:
The way I interpret this post is - one asshole's memo led to the blueprint used for torture. How un-American!
And still, STILL, the Democrats in Congress won't fulfill their Constitutional duty. How many times have we seen it now where this administration appears to have broken the law? I'm pretty f-ing certain undermining an international treaty willingly falls under the "high crimes and misdemeanors" category.
YourMom @ 72:
Regarding the 2nd amendment? Yeah...that may be the only option left soon. I've been reading a book called "The 15% Solution, A History of American Fascism" Or something like that...and, while it's fiction...it's pretty damn scary. And I'm only a few chapters in.
So is this enough yet? When is enough ENOUGH!?!
YourMom @ 72:
Don't feel alone. Seeing humanity succumb to base animal instincts is painful.
rain @ 73:
Oh...but what a mighty asshole it was. The Sphincter of Liberty!!
I wish the Pope would call out Catholics to categorically condemn torture. He wields some influence, and it'd be nice if he seized the moment.
I found a blog yesterday that actually walks you through filing a grievance against John Yoo for his role in injecting torture into the realm of what Americans do. The guy has done all the legal legwork. All you have to do is fill out the complaint forms then print out his post which details rules broken under D.C. and Pennsylvania (Yoo's bars) codes of conduct.
pissed off patricia @ 64:
When I was in Elementary school, well after the O'Hare Supreme Court case, they continued to have morning devotionals, forcing us to bow our heads and listen to Onward Christian Soldiers, and I felt it inappropriate since we were what we now know was the final years of the Vietnam war.
79 Mel Says: I wish the Pope would call out Catholics to categorically condemn torture. He wields some influence, and it’d be nice if he seized the moment.
That would be ironic considering the history of the Inquisition, and wars against heresy.
Brave New Films has also posted a video on youtube and companion petition for getting rid of Condoleezza Rice because her role in the Torture Program.
ysbaddaden @ 81:
What could be better PR for the Vatican than being finally right on torture? Plus the church could butter up Muslims and promote their interfaith scholars program with Muslims.
Amitola @ 14:
She sleeps on a matress full of money and a pillow stuffed with screams. San Francisco liberal indeed.
liberalHUSSEINmoderation @ 69:
I felt that way over the weekend, a depression that wasn't aided by the media fussing over what Obama said/didn't say instead of paying attention to what our War-Criminal-In-Chief said.
It's like some bizzare sci-fi/horror flick where the last sane people are confronted by the zombies/mind-controlled humans and made to comply. I used to joke that there was some kind of Karl Rove Stupid Ray being aimed at the populace (mostly because I kept seeing people channel surfing and stopping at crap like FOX Propaganda or Glenn Beck and staring with their mouths open).
The Wall of Stupid is apparently more real than I feared.
To be in this administration you must check your heart and your sense of decency at the door.
pissed off patricia @ 86:
...If there ever were hearts and decency
pissed off patricia @ 86:
No, that's simply a courtesy offered to guests. You know, hat, coat, heart, sense of decency ...
... the real price was your soul (that quantity of character, ethical behavior, and morals rather than any particular religious definition).
It is perfectly normal to compare our country torturing suspected terrorists to nazi germany killing innocent jews. If torturing a million suspected terrorists saves just 1 american life then it is worth it. You ask how other nations will view us and I tell you that they will eventually view us as a nation too scared to do what is necessary to protect ourselves against the people who hate us thus and too scared to retaliate againgst the ones that attack us. It has been proven that iraq has and had a connection to al quaeda prior to 9/11 however all the left wingers are complaining that we should be in afghanistan. If we were there people would be saying that we should be in iran or north korea. If 9/11 never happened and we just heard on the news every day how hussein was boiling people and killing hundreds of thousands of people, there would be an outcry by people to go help them out. The bottom line is that the muslim community hates us for a number of reasons and will forever and will try to hurt us forever. The only thing to do is try to get them in line and make them behave.
pissed off patricia @ 86:
Is there like a pretty blond in a mini-flounced skirt and fishnets checking it in?
Miguel @ 89:
Oh Miguel, Miguel, Miguel....You are dead wrong on every "point" you try to make.
Mel @ 87:
It's easy for them. They can't hear the Baby Jesus crying due to the screams of the prisoners.
Depressing.
Miguel @ 89:
Be a good boy, watch SpongeBob and eat your broccoli.
Shadowgm Hussein @ 85:
The Wall of Stupid is apparently growing bigger by the minute...it's already taken poor Miguel!
VegasRage @ 10:
shame on the daily show team for filtering TORTURE through a comedic lens. this is not a laughing matter, and jon stewart's show had adults all across america laughing in unison during this segment. about TORTURE. indeed, history will not be a kind judge. even more frightening is the world just outside our borders judging us now. they are certainly not laughing.
if jon stewart truly had a pair of balls he would emasculate this organized crime ring in front of cameras without the use of a live audience's laughter. without the sponsors that support his network of choice. like the armed forces.
people in these forums often express their sadness that real news is being brought to us through a comedy show on television. jon stewart and the daily show are just one of many filters. this is not an accusation of conspiracy or collusion to deceive on the part of the host or writers. rather, that to treat issues such as TORTURE (war,oil,terror,religious extremism, etc etc etc) with the aim of making americans giggle is collectively pacifying.
let this show die. tune it out. it does not work for us. not because it doesnt want to; but because it cant.
Liberal AND Proud @ 94:
You kiddin? Spongebob? Reichwingers think Spongbob's gay!
Mistress Condelezza's House of Discipline. All major credit cards accepted.
Miguel @ 89:
I say you're a terrorist. I have no proof. But, if torturing you will save an innocent American, I expect you to comply without further equivocating.
I'm surprised there's enough light up Hannity's ass for you to see the screen and type.
There was no and is no connection between Saddam and al-Qaeda, prior to or after 9/11.
And it's not complaining we should be in Afghanistan, it's remembering what our mission is: stop al-Qaeda. We left before that was done, and now the Taliban is back to threaten Hamid Karzai's government.
Yup. Nothing spreads peace and understanding better than a good beat-down.
You are mistaking a bunch of Wahabist extremists for the whole of Islam. Furthermore, how would you react if they chose to come here and make US 'get in line and behave'? Would you rise up and fight, or see if you can find a cheap prayer rug at WalMart?
You bluster, but you have no concept of military strategy, no understanding of the enemy, and no faith in America.
But I bet you've got a flag pin on your lapel or a 'support our troops' sticker and a Jesus fish on your car.
bridger @ 96:
Bridger. I watch that segment last night, and when John asked a serious question, he didn't crack jokes, and not one audience member laughed, not that I can recall anyway.
It seems that he and Colbert, are the only ones covering the serious issues, well there's Olbermann and that other guy, if the only show to cover the real issues, happens to be a comedy show, so be it...and that says ALOT about the MSM's complicity with the powers that be, IMHO.
Shadowgm Hussein @ 99:
And a W in 04' sticker too.
liberalHUSSEINmoderation @ 97:
No. They think Patrick is gay!
liberalHUSSEINmoderation @ 100:
I see what bridger is talking about. I personally would like to see John Stewart have a show where he begins it by saying, "Today, I am going to talk about something deadly serious, no jokes, no laughter." Making the distinction on what is usually a comedy show may actually shake people out of their slumber and make them realize that this is not just another Bush joke, but this is something that that needs to be taken very seriously. Kind of like his hardball appearance before the 2004 elections. He made much more of an impact when he went from being funny to being serious.
Alice Hussein @ 56:
That's happened to most of us in these dark times.
The castopo ss guard will do anything for money. On one hand the church feeds the masses and all the while preparing us for slaughter. It was no wonder our forefather took drastic measures to leave Britan.
Miguel @ 89:
Then I accuse you of being a "suspected terrorist" and think you should be absolutely fine with whatever "interrogation" techniques the CIA/military deem appropriate to employ. Don't be surprised by that knock on your door, and go peacefully, please. There may be one or more American life on the line. We know you're guilty of something and we won't stop until you tell us what it is.
Actually, you're absolutely right. Our nation's leaders are too scared to do so much as perform oversight over this administration, much less hold them accountable to justice and laws. Because I promise you there is no other group on this planet with more disdain and hatred for the US and Americans than those who currently make up the Executive Branch of the government. THEY are the real enemy. Unfortunately, we have to deal with the Congress we have, not the Congress we wish we had.
Which is why the illegal invasion and 5 year occupation of Iraq is so bothersome, since you know, THEY HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH 9/11. You don't get out of mama's basement often, do you?
Prove it, jackass. Give me one reputable source (and that discounts anything from Fox News or Ann Coulter) that says that. Just one. You won't find it because the only people who still believe that are either with two-digit IQs or whose last name is Cheney or Bush. Which one are you?
Funny thing about wanting to go after al Qaeda. THEY'RE IN AFGHANISTAN. But thanks to idiots like you cheerleading this occupation, we've given them even more influence and attracted even more disaffected and angry Muslims. Good job, cowboy.
Only people like you who think that we should pre-emptively attack sovereign nations who have never threatened us. Let me ask you this, champ. Let me put this in an analogy that you might understand: When you see a threatening looking guy when you go out for a drink at your favorite dive, do you always go up to him and punch him in the face because he might be a threat? How well does that work out for you? Now expand that to whole nations and you can see the problems with your form of foreign policy.
And the Bush Administration would ignore it, just like they're ignoring human rights crises in Darfur and Tibet.
Jeebus, can you actually find your way out of your ass? The Muslim community doesn't hate us. A small, discrete and extremist group of fundamentalist Muslims hate us, but that's like judging the entire US as a bunch of child-raping, multiple-wife possessing freaks because of that Mormon cult in Texas. There are 1 billion Muslims worldwide. There are 300 million Americans. Hate to break this to you, smart guy, but if they all hate us, you're in for a world of hurt, because we are HUGELY outnumbered.
And how would you feel if they try to do that to you? After all, they outnumber us. And they have reasonable cause now since they have proof that we've tortured innocent people, jailed them without due process and violated all sorts of international laws and treaties. Will you get in line and behave for them? Or will you fight like hell for the dignity of your life? What do you think THEY'RE doing?
The Torture Issue does not resonate with the American people no matter how much the mainstream media tries to flog the subject. Pun intended. The plain old truth is that ever since 9/11/01; the vast overwhelmingly majority of the American people have an extremely hard time summoning much righteous indignation if a suspected Islamic terrorist is hung upside down and gets a cattle prod shoved up his ass.
abob @ 107:
That's because they're all falling for the White House framing of it.
These are not Islamic terrorists being tortured. These are perfectly innocent Muslims like Maher Arar who are getting tortured.
And strictly speaking, even if their hearts are not troubled by the thought of some Muslim--innocent or no--being tortured, since we have done such an excellent job of demonizing them as The Other, we should give some pause to the thought of the precedent we have set for others to treat captured American citizens and service members.
Nicole Belle @ 108:
Exactly. If it is ok for the US to torture anyone if it "keeps one American safe", then don't other countries have the right to torture Americans if it keeps even one of their citizens "safe"?
ashabot @ 76:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
Maybe its time we broke this oldie out of the closet and put it back to use.
navyswan @ 103:
I can see where he's coming from as well, I've turned the daily show off when I thought they went too far...but I always come back. I just don't think that last night was one of those times. And I could be wrong. Won't be the first or the last time.
And I agree with you navyswan, about this topic being taken seriously, this topic and so many others right now...I think there is so much evil happening, it's taken alot people aback, and they're not sure how to express their dismay, their outrage, or their sadness.
abob @ 107:
I disagree abob...I think certain factions in this country want us to believe that the majority of Americans are indifferent on this topic...the majority of the people I've talked to about torture, and most everything else regarding this corrupt fascist regime is up to..recalled that we sent alot Japanese and Germans to their deaths for torturing, among other war crimes. Now just because it's America that's doing the torturing now, it's all good?
Nicole Belle @ 106:
Nicole, we all love you dearly, but you're wasting your breath.
These people don't think logically. They don't even think. They simply post talking points throughout the blogosphere in accordance with Rove's law..."If you repeat a lie often enough, it becomes the truth."
zugzug @ 110:
Hell yeah!
Amazing.. all these innocents (hundreds, thousands?) were/are treated like less than animals by the US with the approval from highest authority. Their only crime their religion and bad luck. The terrorist Tim McVeigh was treated like a king in comparison
So, had any fun whilst I was gone?
106 Nicole Belle
And the Bush Administration would ignore it, just like they’re ignoring human rights crises in Darfur and Tibet.
Actually boosh I ignored the gassing of the Kurds in 1988, and the news pretty much ignored it too. Supposedly that's the rationale for our troops presence in Iraq, once it became clear there were no WMD to find and justify this occupation.
Sy Hersh spoke here a couple of weeks ago. He mentioned that the tactics for the sexual humiliation of Muslim men has to have come down from the top of the administration. And that is one of the "legacies" of this administration the Muslim world will not forgive.
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
These words were endorsed by men who owned slaves. The Founding Fathers saw no hypocrisy nor absurdity in the moral chasm between their words and deeds. Our nation was not founded on Judeo-Christian principles but Moral Relativism. Torture is legally defined as torture if the enemy does it to us. If we torture our enemy we define it as, coerced interrogation.
"It all depends on what is...is" _ bill clinton
You guys scare me thank god you weren't around during WW11 we would all be speaking German/ Japanese. These Islamic terrorist want to destroy us.
Slaw @ 12:
Thanks for that wake up call! We all know better but many times we invariably get caught up in the BS like the rest of America.
Steve @ 120:
Doubtful...and you guys worry me...willing to give up your rights for "security" if people like you were around during the American Revolution, we'd still be a British colony. I don't deny that a small minority of Islamic extremists are out to destroy this country...but we're creating MORE, by bushy's ham-handed attempts at playing army with OUR troops, while cheney and his defense contractor pals make BILLIONS of taxpayer money...that's how they "support" the troops Steve. Do you think that by supporting bush, you're actually supporting our troops? Think again.
The contractors like Blackwater are riding around with full body armor, and fully armored transports on the taxpayer dime, while OUR troops get squat. Supporting the troops my ass...just another jingoistic catch phrase used by the fascists to garner support for their illegal war.
Steve @ 120:
Okay, Steve. How?
Seriously. Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan had sufficient military force to contest Europe and the Pacific. (Go read General Rupert Smith's The Utility of Force for a discussion of 'industrial war' vs. what we face in Iraq.)
The terrorists have nothing. It's why they had to hijack planes and rely on people like you falling for their booga-booga-comin' to GET YOU nonsense.
I'll say it again. If you want to take America, you've got to take ALL OF IT. Cross an ocean on either side (and this includes if you're coming down from Canada or up from South America) to get here. Then you have to fight for every city, every town, every street and parish, then hop on a boat and row your ass to Hawaii and Alaska.
Or are you really telling me that you honestly think there's something the terrorists could do that would make you fall on your knees and beg for mercy? You can't be yelling 'bring it on!' and be afraid the bad people are going to take away your faith and freedom.
Shadowgm Hussein @ 123:
HA! Well said friend!
BTW...the turrists don't have to anything to make folks like Steve fall on their knees and beg for mercy...Fox News is doing that already just fine.
Steve @ 120:
Oh yeah...did ever occur to you, that bush is doing exactly what these terrorists hoped he would do? By stretching our forces too thin, draining our treasury, (most of which is going to private contractors by the way) and creating more recruitment opportunities for Islamic radicals. Not ONCE in recorded history, (please correct if I am mistaken, but I don't think I am) has a conventional military force EVER defeated a guerilla force. Al Quaeda (SP?)knew full well they could never take us on militarily. They wanted to take us down economically...and now, thanks to BushCo's SEEMING ineptitude at nearly all levels, it seems they are succeeding.
And you DARE take us to task for dissenting against this motherfucker?
Look up fascism, Steve, and try your damn best to read with an OPEN mind.
bridger @ 96:
Sadly it has been comedy that has hit topics on the head where the news agencies have failed. Comedy bad, I don't think so, Stewart brought down Cross Fire. The Daily Show is number one for reasons beyond humor.
If it saves troops' lives, then I don't care if they hang them by their toenails and force them to listen to The Backstreet Boys. Go ahead and whine about civil rights and all that hippy stuff if you like. They want you just as dead as the next Westerner. :P
liberalHUSSEINmoderation @ 100:
Agreed.
navyswan @ 103:
We all have the power of discernment it’s up to us to use it.
jace @ 127:
So, do you think it would be ok if other countries held our troops indefinitely and tortured them? You must if you condone this behavior. Btw, real military people are against these kinds of abuses.
Steve @ 120:
If you actually studied your history you'd know that the Republicans were isolationists at the time.
Study up on General Smedley Butler and how he ratted out a bunch of powerful corporationists, including Prescot Bush, in their attempt to overthrow the US government and replace it with a Nazi/Fascist style dictatorship where the president is only a figure-head.
And the Democrat FDR finshed a WORLD War in less time than boosh has in Iraq.
And FDR didn't rely on torture.
navyswan @ 130:
They know that if they followed these sorts of orders they'd be illegal, and they only would have to pay if caught.
The only following orders defense didn't even work at Nuremburg.
Steve @ 120:
When, where and in what capacity did you serve?
Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both. - Benjamin Franklin
ysbaddaden @ 132:
I know. But, I know one "troop" that actually believes in the Geneva Conventions written on his military ID, I am married to him. He also believes that "following orders" is no excuse and is mentally prepared to disobey any order that is illegal, knowing full well the consequences of doing so under this criminal administration.
HOLD THESE CRIMINALS GUILTY AS CHARGED!!!
I'd ALSO Like to ask the three remaining presidential candidates the following question:
If you become president will you give up all of the powers arrogated to George W. Bush that he has perniciously applied while in office over the last several years including condoning torture?
TABLE OF CONTENTS
FULL LIST OF ALL SIGNING STATEMENTS AND
CORRESPONDING CONGRESSIONAL ENACTMENTS
2001-2008
Liberal AND Proud @ 5:
Greed...........
John Amato, why should just Condi Rice resign? Why single her out? Every member of the Principal's Committee are now war criminals. If there were justice in this world, their best futures would lay in prison cells.
Dr. Hussein Matt @ 59:
I realize their are a lot of good people in this country. However, call me unpatriotic if you want, but this is one VIOLENT fucked up society. And the shit starts at the top with the murderer and torturer in chief. Violence permeates every aspect of our existence in the U.S. from the big guy down to the little guy. Hell, our economy is essentially a war economy. And half the religious nuts in this country are begging for a bloody rapture.
Compassionate my ass.........
5 Liberal AND Proud Says: If a nation doesn’t adhere to its own principles, than what does it believe in?
====================
Money. MONEY. Money. MONEY. Beautiful people. Money. MONEY. Money. More money.
13 VegasRage Says: linda @ 9:
it’s very depressing that the audience laughs at these segments.
Some times you have to laugh, because the only other thought in your mind is an illegal act out of anger.
================================
Yes. The facts are not evaded: etched in stone.
72 YourMom Says: liberalHUSSEINmoderation @ 69:
L.A. Confidential @ 63:
liberalHUSSEINmoderation @ 53:
How the hell can we stop this insanity?
One person at a time.
Seriously…I don’t think we can wait that long. Though, I don’t know how to go about stopping it…I am feeling really helpless, and discouraged lately.
That was my point earlier. There really is no solution without going somewhere nobody wants to go. Voting is not enough (I’m not a citizen anyway). I’m despondent too!
==================================
I think everyone wants to go there.
PS I mean, wouldn't it be, "Ding dong the witch is dead?"
71 liberalHUSSEINmoderation Says: pissed off patricia @ 64:
Hearing Onward Christian Soldier sounds peculiar this particular this day and time.
Sound peculiar to me ANY time.
=======================
Yeah. WTF. Talk about brainswashing the masses. Is that what god wanted? (Obviously.)
120 Steve Says: You guys scare me thank god you weren’t around during WW11 we would all be speaking German/ Japanese. These Islamic terrorist want to destroy us.
=========================
You need to open your eyes and grow your mind. It's seems to be steeped in the typical American, self-congratulatory, circle-jerk, we are great, propaganda. How about reviewing the facts of this administration and their lies.
33lp @ 137:
One major problem with Condi...she is the SOS, traveling the world to dispense American wisdom and humanity.
How can she now be sent out to meet world leaders and shake their hands and lecture them about 'human rights' or anything for that matter?
127 jace Says: If it saves troops’ lives, then I don’t care if they hang them by their toenails and force them to listen to The Backstreet Boys. Go ahead and whine about civil rights and all that hippy stuff if you like. They want you just as dead as the next Westerner. :P
=======================
As any "good christian" would agree. I mean, America is a christian nation, under god, isn't it??
I was called a conspiracy theorist for what people are just finding out now. I already knew this stuff for years.
The entire Bush Administration including Bush Senior, Barbara Bush, The bush Daughters, & the white house dog should ALL be immediately INCARCERATED FOR THE REMAINDER OF THEIR ENTIRE NATURAL LIFE WITH OUT A TRIAL OR A HEARING!!
They are guilty as charged:
1. War Crimes
2. profiting OFF IRAQI OIL
3. Allowing the Fed. Reserve to continue to operate to rape, & enslave the American people.
4. not abolishing THE IRS
5. Not releasing free energy technology give to us by the ET's
Mel
navyswan @ 130 ...Btw, real military people are against these kinds of abuses.
Nice to see you again, navyswan. Maybe one small silver lining in all this is that (a) the left supports the military more now than possibly at any other time in the past 100 years. And (b) the military knows it.
I'm not advocating violence or a military coup... but in some fantasy world, were the Armed Forces to turn on their idiot Commander in Chief, overthrow him and his cabal of civilian vultures, the country would sure as hell be in safer hands.
149 nonny mouse Says: navyswan @ 130 …Btw, real military people are against these kinds of abuses.
Nice to see you again, navyswan. Maybe one small silver lining in all this is that (a) the left supports the military more now than possibly at any other time in the past 100 years. And (b) the military knows it.
I’m not advocating violence or a military coup… but in some fantasy world, were the Armed Forces to turn on their idiot Commander in Chief, overthrow him and his cabal of civilian vultures, the country would sure as hell be in safer hands.
=================
Hear, hear.
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