Missouri State GOP House Leader Proud of His Pro-Waterboarding Record
From the Department of "Not Making This Up":
Representative Brian Nieves, who as Missouri GOP Majority Whip is the #5 Republican in the state's House of Representatives, in the first clip refers to waterboarding as "a little water on the face," and in the second clip clarifies his position that he is really truly supportive of "waterboarding terrorists" but not American citizens held in a privately-run prison.
From the terrific state blog Fired Up! Missouri:
The mocking of the controversy about waterboarding as "putting a little bit of water in their face" is really offensive. If Nieves doesn't think that waterboarding doesn't reach the threshold for torture, fine. I think he's wrong (as do more than 70% of Americans, including weak-kneed libruls like John McCain), but the minimizing of the practice as just "water in the face" is way beyond the pale.
....[T]his Nieves Doctrine of torturing terrorists -- but not American citizens -- raises another whole set of questions. For instance: how does the Nieves [Torture] Doctrine address situations in which an individual is both a terrorist and an American citizen? For instance, would it have been okay to waterboard Timothy McVeigh or Unabomber Ted Kaczynski? If waterboarding is both (a) not torture and (b) effective, then why wouldn't we do it to citizens?
And why don't the voters of Nieves' 98th district throw him out on his fanny? Because he's tougher on terrorists than John McCain? Maybe they think they'll get more media attention if they're represented by a pro-torture decline-of-the-GOP poster child. We got your media attention right here, Missouri.
More likely, because Nieves can't run for re-election in 2010 due to term limits, he's working really hard to make a name for himself state-wide as "more Republican than thou", which of course means really really loving the waterboarding thing.
Honestly, they make me sick.
What an ass. Sure glad he's not from my district, although he gives my state a bad name.
I say waterboard Brian Knave and all the others like him!
that anyone can condone or excuse or defend torture in any way.
Only when the last tree has died
and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught
will we realize we cannot eat money.
Well it's not torture even though they say Pelosi was briefed on torture before she says she was briefed on torture because the CIA's incomplete records may say she may have been briefed maybe even though Senator Graham says he was never briefed about the non torture torturing and his records are better than god's. But back to the point; I think this asshole needs to have a liitle water thrown in his face to see how he likes it. I would better he would quit politics by the time I was finished trowing water in his face.
Christofascism at it's best: Lie, steal, torture, maim, murder.
Three cheers fer Texas Neocons, hip hip hoo....... hoo hooo...
Agggh, dey cut out muh tongue!
Maybe Missouri can leave the union with Texas. Good football, bad politicians.
I live in Missouri and I am astounded at the number of dim-witted red-necks believe that it just hunkey dorey to torture someone. No mind that the use of torture by the US has undoubtedly gotten a lot of our soldiers killed and ruined our standing in the world. They don't even care if the torture is purely for torture sake.
How anyone can be so dim-witted is beyond me. I can't go to the restaurant that I used to frequent because I fear that I would wind up in jail on a serious charge. I mean these people are absolutely stupid and proud of it! I suspect that in-breeding causes a lot of it. The worst part is that these ass-holes think they are good Americans. I consider them to be about as un-American as you can get. Just put brown shirts on them and line them up to give a raised arm salute.
Ass-holes all!!!!!!!
limbaugh and pretending they aren't there is a problem for a democracy
could run Public Waterboardings throughout the USA, especially in the Tough Manly States. Volunteers only, of course. I'd contribute $500.00 to the cause.
I am also from MO. Stupid, undereducated, proud of their stupidity and very angry....that's why the GOP is still winning in Missouri even though they are losing out most other places. Outstate Missouri has the mentality of a Southern state in the location of the Midwest. I have a U.S. Representative who is the biggest loser in Congress, Todd Akin. Some bible thumper with the flag wrapped tightly around his shoulders who does absolutely nothing.....nothing. As a lifelong Missourian, all I can do is apologize for the redneckery of my state.
in the senate-"Kit" Bond. What a freaking idiot!!!!!
they keep bringing up waterboarding to try to convince us that it's only water in the face. The rightwing neocon corporatist nazi fascist media fails to talk aabout all of the other means of torture they used. This is meant to tone down the message.
By the way,
I'll give you an example of why the voters in that district won't throw him out.
I have a "friend" who lives in the heart of Franklin County, which is in this guy's district. Periodically, my "friend" likes to annoy me by sending what he considers to be "jokes."
Last week, he sent me one of these "jokes." It was purportedly an advertisement for a cruise out of the Sudan. For "only" $800 a day, you could take this cruise and go hunting (and killing) Somali pirates. It listed all sorts of weapons, some of which were included in the price, and some of which you could rent. AK-47 "riffles" are free, but you have to pay for ammunition.
I ignored my "friend's" latest email, but it just goes to show you the mentality of the people who voted this guy Knave into office.
Hey, I have a "friend" like that. I haven't responded to his emails in 2 1/2 years. Not since he was bitching up and down and all around about some of them Jewish people singing at a a mall during the Holidays. Christmas was about "Santi" Claus he said. Not about Jews. He sounds a lot like your "friend".
I've known my "friend" and his brother for about 25 years. His brother actually is a closer friend. His brother really isn't that much of a redneck.
However, they both shocked me 5 years ago when I discovered they were Republicans, voting for Bush. I suppose it didn't surprise me that my "friend" I referred to earlier was voting for Bush because this "friend" is not all that bright, and he does have a bit of redneck in him (actually, he has a lot more than I thought!)
I usually do reply to my "friend's" emails just to show how wrong he is, hoping to change him....but when someone jokes about killing people, even if they are bad people, I just figured I'd ignore it.
I've got aquaintances that used to send me stuff like that. What I did, after unsuccessfully trying to persuade them to something closer to my point of view, was to write to them saying that I valued their friendship (even if I really didn't) and saying that their barrage of right wing hate and "humor" was putting a strain on our friendship. I asked them to stop sending that stuff and in exchange I'd stop trying to refute it.
They pretty much did. Some stopped communicating completely while others just stopped sending the obnoxious stuff. Either way it was a very acceptable outcome.
interested to hear that Christmas isn't about Jews, seeing as He was one.
I really wish we could give him and those who think like him an example of what it feels like to have a "little water thrown into their faces" saying it is nothing to complain about. Perhaps if we cold show the arrogant bas**** exactly what it was he would not be so quick to shrug it off as nothing.
Sounds like a baptism.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
Repugs playing grab ass in the Missouri State Legislation is not news to this Missourian.....note: mizz.oor-EE....not mizz-oor-uhh.
I loath and despise my Repug Congressman, state Senator, and state Representative.
'We, the People'............rimshot................hahahahahaha!
When I moved to Missouri 25 yrs ago, I found out that my non- representation came from missourah. Since then I was never represented here. bond, blunt don't even speak english (they can't even pronounce the name of the state). I find it very difficult to admit I'm a resident. It's totally embarassing.
I will continue to keep saying it, these idiot torture/war crimes defenders would piss their pants in less than a minute if the were subjected to what the detainees were.
-Oh, and the guy who was let out of Gitmo recently had been on Hunger Strike for nearly TWO YEARS:
http://yellingatthemoon.com/2009/05/17/us-set...
…Give me a water board, Brian Nieves and one hour and I’ll have him confessing to the Sharon Tate murders.
The acceptance of torture will all come to roost the next time American solders are captured.
Hail thy wisdom oh noodle master, and lavish we pastafarians with your meatballs....
....hey wait, that didn't sound right.
'We, the People'............rimshot................hahahahahaha!
and gets excited and confesses when he wets his bed every night
rep. nieves does NOT get it and doesn't want to get it. this great country is becoming less great. of course
none of us want terrorism and we understand the need to protect this country but we must abide by rules and the law. waterboarding is a form of torture and is illegal. the right does NOT want to face possible consequences and fears a longlasting tainted identity.
After having watched the video of Jesse Ventura on Larry King I wish he (Ventura) would have a "discussion" with these idiots as to a Navy SEAL's take on waterboarding. Maybe even a demonstration. Especially with this guy.
Send this guy to Jessie Ventura too.
I still say that Insannity or BillO the Clown should send out one of their stalker producers after Jesse Ventura for Ventura's comments about waterboarding! My, wouldn't that stalker producer get a rude awakening!
I would love to see that try to ambush a Man for a change
I would love to see that try to ambush a Man for a change
I would love to see that try to ambush a Man for a change
perhaps if we had a real president who wasnt supporting obstruction of justice by not going after the bush criminals for the torture acts you might have a leg to stand on against these monsters , as it is your tilting at windmills because it was not only the repigs who approved of torture it was allso the dummy crats! and the dummy crats are just shoveling the shit under a rug!
That rug is such a good place to hide so many things though; wars, accountability, campaign promises.
Republicans just don't take the politically safe term for it like the Dems do-----Extraordinary Renditions----there. All done. It's all good now. It isn't torture, it's extraordinary renditions. Done. Now all the Dems will jump on board and welcome it with open arms. Oh wait, lots of them already did support it, eh Nancy and Harry?
Are cowards just like bush/chenny cowards through and through! No way should he be addressed as gentelman. Idiot, moron, stupid asshole,and fool, are all exceptable descriptions for this type of thing!
.
Dear Representative Brian Nieves,
So you're all for supporting the Law when it suits your needs, but when it comes to enforcing the law...
... Not so much?
.
Starve the WAR Beast...
... Feed Americans.
Bottom line is these asshole make me sick too. Grrrrrr
Never been there....but most everyone I've met from there I could peg to a state with such ignorance.
I'm sure there are a lot of very bright, brilliant, wonderful folks there. It's just, in my experience, the folks I've met have been less than intelligent by any measure.
It's a shame, but that's been my experience.
There is a huge difference if you live here.
Depraved people like Brian Knave gravitate towards the Missouri Repugs.
Being a MissourEE Repug is like joining Peter Pan and the Lost Boys.....you never have to grow up.
'We, the People'............rimshot................hahahahahaha!
Now, now, don't peg us all that way. Yes, Rush Limpballs is from the bootheel of this state, but so is Cheryl Crowe.
I know there are a lot of backasswards here, and the state did go for McCain by about 3000 votes; but remember that shortly before the election last year, Obama held a rally on the grounds of the arch which drew his largest crowd to date (ok, I'm sure many of those were from Illinois as well!)
Actually, I grew up "across the river" from St. Louis, in Illinois, lived in Chicago and Europe for a number of years, and am now back in Missouri, where I have lived before. Parts are good; parts are bad. We need to work on fixing those "bad" parts!
I am a Progressive living in W. St. Louis Co., and am absolutely frustrated with the Repugs that rule over me.
I always vote in the Repug primaries against their incumbents hoping to bring balance to the ballot, but the wingnut sheep keep putting the same chuckleheads in office......sheesh!
I will not give in however as I have no alternative except move.
'We, the People'............rimshot................hahahahahaha!
I feel for you, Radical Mod! I'm still learning Missouri politics, after having moved back here some 13 years after I moved to Chicago. I live in Clayton.
He is the absolute worst member of Congress, bar none. A smarmy weasel. Problem with Missouri is that it is 90% rural, only 10% cities. Outstate hates the two big cities and all those who dwell there. So they elect the most Babbitty pipsqeaks they can find, ie, the Blunts, Bond, Ashcroft. We used to be a real state and had the likes of Senator Stuart Symington representing us. We have certainly fallen on hard days.
Yes I live in Akins district.
He wins every year by small margins even though the Dems put up cannon fodder to oppose him.
I wish the Dems would get serious about this disrict.
'We, the People'............rimshot................hahahahahaha!
The Obama rally at the Arch drew 200,000 people........it was absolutely amazing!
'We, the People'............rimshot................hahahahahaha!
he would have drawn the KKK. I was proud of my city that day.
So, this upstanding American citizen would be against waterboarding Jose Padilla? Somehow I doubt it. Bet he'd be against waterboarding Tim McVeigh though.
Are Republicans saying torture is an "enhanced interrogation" technique or are they using it to punish.
If the latter is the case - it is still illegal as cruel and unusual punishment.
If the former, it is also illegal under the third Geneva Convention which is the law of the US since we are a signatory albeit with reservations. Expert interrogators say it is counter-productive and the refuge of people who don't know what they're doing. Hmmmm - sounds like a definition of Republican.
called interrogation. John King could not refer to torture as torture, and Rick Sanchez calls it "so called" torture.
Interrogation, whether enhanced or harsh or soft, is "to question formally and systematically." Torture is "the infliction of intense pain to punish, coerce, or for sadistic pleasure." Perhaps when universities are handing out their journalism degrees, they could include a pocket dictionary.
.... a running mate for Caribou Barbie.
...over at Show Me Progress.
what a macho prick...
In a recent column, conservative columnist Kathleen Parker addresses the comparison of the Japanese version of waterboarding in WWII with America's current version.
What she boils it down to is this:
The Japanese poured water directly into the victim's mouth and nose.
On the other hand, America covers the victim's nose and mouth with a wet cloth.
(Note: she gives no source for her version of the Japanese procedure. On the other hand, via a quick run of Google I've found a source, linked to below, which lists a statement that indicates the Japanese sometimes used cellophane instead of a cloth over the victim's nose/mouth).
Thus, that is the Parker difference between torture and no torture. Never mind the fact that the purpose of waterboarding, as I understand it, is to make the victim THINK he/she is going to drown, and thus will say anything in order to make it stop. The fact that one version uses a cloth, and the other does not, SHOULD not make a difference, but for the Righties grasping at straws apparently it does. As the NPR article below states:
But waterboarding has changed very little in the past 500 years. It still relies on the innate fear of drowning and suffocating to coerce confessions.
Also from the NPR article below:
Cases of waterboarding have occurred on U.S. soil, as well. In 1983, Texas Sheriff James Parker was charged, along with three of his deputies, for handcuffing prisoners to chairs, placing towels over their faces, and pouring water on the cloth until they gave what the officers considered to be confessions. The sheriff and his deputies were all convicted and sentenced to four years in prison.
Does this not count as a precedent, and if so, why can it not be used to prosecute for waterboarding in the "war" on terror?
If not, since Kathleen and the waterboarding supporters have declared that it is not illegal then can we dismiss the charges levied against Sheriff Parker and his deputies and have their records expunged?
Source: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?...
From the Tokyo War Crimes Trials (Representative Brian Nieves (r): "Waterboard 'em!"):
This will come in handy.
are some of the most uncivil in the United States. The Majority Leader, an optometrist named DR. Steve Tilley just cut funding to the Cancer hospital in Columbia because he got into it with the the Democratic representative from that town. They jeer at Dems during sessions, are Babbitty Chamber of Commerce types and would make a maggot sick. This guy is just one of a whole passle of redneck, small town, small minded guys in the Missouri Legislature. It ain't pretty in Jefferson City, and little or nothing gets done for the citizens.
I bet he's wet his pants if someone jumped out in front of him and said, "BOO!" I just want to be clear on that. I bet he'd wet his pants if someone jumped out in front of him and said, "BOO!" I just want to be clear on that. I bet he'd wet his pants if someone jumped out in front of him and said, "BOO!" I just want to be clear on that. Are we clear on that . . . the thing about wetting his pants?
Bruce C Johnson
Cowardly chickenhawk punks such as George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and Brian Nieves would not exist if ALL young men and women were required to serve in the U.S. military immediately after high school--NO exceptions other than verifiable physical and/or mental disability.
On both the right and left of the political spectrum, the percentage of immature, cowardly know-nothings has increased significantly ever since we eliminated the draft. Most young people need to have reality slapped into them, and the military does an excellent job of doing that. Every now and then we are blessed with someone such as Barack Obama who has somehow become a real man without the military--but such true men and women are the exception to the rule in the United States where even 30-year-olds are considered "kids." If you doubt this, just watch news coverage of the Spring Break where the irresponsible and often dangerous and harmful antics of 18-30 year-old students who are still parasites on their parents are excused because they are "just kids letting off steam."
What an absolute clown Brian Nieves is. Sounds like the typical "tough guy" we usually hear from the GOP. Running scared while yelling out over his shoulder like a BIG MAN. These GOP are total cowards. This is why they like to pull the military card without asking the hard questions.
I believe someone earlier in the day or maybe it was on another site suggested that we start calling it by its proper name: water torture.
Take a page out of the Repubs handbook and stop saying waterboarding and refer to it as water torture.
Does the percentage of Americans who think waterboarding is or is not torture matter?
For politicians? Yes. For scholars studying the power of the media to lead millions of people to adopt totally ridiculous ideas? Yes. Otherwise? Gimme a break!
The real horror here is not that some small-time politician is either deluded or deceitful. The horror is that such an unbelievable percentage of Americans believe what he's saying.
Rigid; xenophobic; prone to either/or, fight-or-flight thought patterns; attracted to authoritarian figures and violence. A way of seeing the world that probably emerges under certain conditions from a remnant of our reptilian brain.
It might come in handy in a small band of roving primates but in a complex, modern multi-faceted world that requires a social contract, this kind of mindset is basically a toxic personality disorder, and this little neo-fascist is a great example.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlN3oEjMpUQ
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
Christianic terrorists and traitors are _always_ proud of the crimes against humanity they commit or defend. They have gods on their side, after all.
...a poster child for the importance of teaching proper use of the condom.
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