No Amnesty for Torturers!

From Democrats.com:

On Thursday, President Obama stood up to intense pressure from rightwingers by releasing four of the infamous "torture memos." This is an enormous victory for those of us who worked so hard to elect President Obama, while also working tirelessly to defend the Constitution against the crimes of Bush and Cheney.

Unfortunately, President Obama also said he would not prosecute CIA agents who engaged in torture, simply because George Bush's lawyers told them it was "legal." President Obama also said Attorney General Eric Holder would use taxpayer dollars to defend torturers against lawsuits by torture victims, and to pay all judgments if they lost.

Tell Congress: No Amnesty for Torturers
http://www.democrats.com/no-amnesty-for-torturers?cid=ZGVtczUzNTYzM2RlbXM=

These decisions are intolerable and unacceptable. Torture is utterly immoral and un-American. It produced absolutely no useful intelligence. It recruited terrorists responsible for at least half the U.S. deaths in Iraq. And it endangered every U.S. soldier who may be captured in the future.

And torture is absolutely illegal. The U.S. ratified the United Nations Convention Against Torture, which prohibits torture and requires prosecution of torturers. In 1947, the U.S. prosecuted a Japanese officer for waterboarding. No lawyer can "legalize" what is illegal.

Congress must take the following actions:

1. Demand the appointment of a Special Prosecutor by Attorney General Eric Holder for torture, warrantless wiretapping, and other heinous crimes of the Bush Administration. (Thanks to Rep. Jerrold Nadler for leading the way !)

2. Prohibit the use of any taxpayer dollars to defend government officials who committed such crimes against lawsuits, or to pay for judgments against them.

3. Impeach Judge Jay Bybee, the torture memo author who serves on the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in California.

4. Protect human rights by restoring Habeas Corpus and the Fourth Amendment (search and seizure), including repeal of the Orwellian-named Protect America Act, U.S.A. Patriot Act, the FISA Amendments, and Military Commissions Act.

5. End secret government by prohibiting use of "State Secrets," "Sovereign Immunity" and "Signing Statements."

Sign our Petition to Congress: No Amnesty for Torturers
http://www.democrats.com/no-amnesty-for-torturers?cid=ZGVtczUzNTYzM2RlbXM=

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Bush and Cheney Deserve Fair Trials

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Cheney Admits to War Crimes!

Yesterday, in an interview with ABC's Jonathan Karl, still-Vice President Dick Cheney surprisingly admitted, in unabashedly matter-of-fact fashion, that he authorized the tactics used against Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, saying "I was aware of the program, certainly, and involved in helping get the process cleared, as the agency in effect came in and wanted to know what they could and couldn't do. And they talked to me, as well as others, to explain what they wanted to do. And I supported it."

In true Rovian fashion, Cheney stridently denied that the acts constituted torture even while admitting to having authorized them, even though CNN reports two-thirds of Americans believe that waterboarding is torture. As a matter of fact, according to the Washington Post, a Japanese officer named Yukio Asano was charged and convicted of war crimes in 1947 for waterboarding an American. The precedent of considering waterboarding as a form of torture and therefor a war crime has long been set, and even then-Whitehouse counsel Alberto Gonzales warned in a 2002 memo that the technique may constitute a violation of the third Geneva Convention, the international standard for the treatment of prisoners of war, and of the United States' own War Crimes Act of 1996 - a capital offense.

To be clear, when Karl pinned Cheney down on "waterboarding" specifically, asking if he thought "even that was appropriate," Cheney responded "I do." But what will be done to hold Mr. Cheney accountable for his admitted clear-eyed commission of war crimes in the prosecution of the Bush administration's "War on Terror"? Not nearly enough, to be certain. Even for the most adamant supporters of the death penalty, even the most prolific mass murderer can only be killed once. Ironically, however, he could be waterboarded endlessly...

Please join me in writing to your Congressman to urge Cheney's impeachment. Here is the letter I wrote, please feel free to use it or draw from it as you please, as I hereby release all rights of authorship into the public domain:

Dear sir:

I am writing to you regarding the candid admissions by Vice President Cheney in a recent interview with ABC's Jonathan Karl that he oversaw the development and administration of interrogation techniques such as "waterboarding", used against detainees including Khalidh Sheikh Mohammed and others, that constitute clear violations of the War Crimes Act of 1996 (US Code Title 18, Part I, Chapter 118, § 2441).

Specifically, Mr. Cheney, by his own admission, conspired to commit an act specifically intended to inflict severe physical or mental pain or suffering (other than pain or suffering incidental to lawful sanctions) upon another person within his custody or physical control for the purpose of obtaining information or a confession, punishment, intimidation, coercion, or any reason based on discrimination of any kind. According to the definitions of the law, the term “serious physical pain or suffering” "shall be applied for purposes of paragraph (1)(B) as meaning bodily injury that involves—
(i) a substantial risk of death;
(ii) extreme physical pain;
(iii) a burn or physical disfigurement of a serious nature (other than cuts, abrasions, or bruises); or
(iv) significant loss or impairment of the function of a bodily member, organ, or mental faculty;"
And the technique known as "waterboarding" unequivocally meets that definition.

I implore you and your colleagues to seek the due course prescribed by the law. Impeachment proceedings must be brought to bear against Mr. Cheney immediately if we are to preserve even the illusion that executive accountability and the rule of law remain intact in this great nation today. The brevity of Mr. Cheney's remaining time in office is no excuse for inaction. On the contrary, immediate action is required to demonstrate the certainty and equity of the rule of law. For it is the rule of law, along with our restraint from the baser acts of savagery, that separates us from the terrorists we pursue.

Respectfully Yours,
[your name]

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Socialism doesn't make my butthole pucker

Since the economic bailout, there’s been a lot of talk about socialism. At least one of my more liberal friends predicts the bailout equals the death of socialism’s staunchest rival: capitalism. The hinging factor in this argument is not merely that the government has bankrolled the private financial market – it is that our government is literally buying stock in the country’s largest banks. By definition, this move does amount to a socialist strategy. It certainly falls under the umbrella of “a broad set of economic theories … advocating social or collective ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods.”

The Republican ticket’s VP candidate, however, doesn’t agree with this analysis. According to this CNN article, Palin answered she did not agree the bailout was a socialist move. It was simply a “shoring of banks,” she said, that was necessary for “not only the housing market but the credit markets also, to make sure that that’s not frozen.”

Palin, however, not surprisingly turned a 360 during the same Colorado Springs press conference. While defending the bailout as a purely capitalist move, she called Barack Obama’s tax plan an “experiment with socialism.”

This has yet to be proven. His plan calls for a tax increase for anyone making more than $250,000 a year and a tax credit for middle- and low-income workers. Essentially he’s helping those who need it and taxing those who don’t – and admitting that he himself is one of the few who can afford to pay more.

Maybe it is socialism, and maybe it isn’t. If his plan called for all of the extra taxes garnered from the rich to be directly distributed in the form of those lower-income credits, than yes, it’s socialism. If the two items of business remain separate from one another … well, it could still be socialism.

Here’s my question – who fucking cares? The wealthy and powerful have been demonizing socialism since the early 1900’s. It’s no surprise – the main thrust of Karl Marx’s theory is that capitalism is meant to keep the wealthy wealthy and the poor poor. A socialist agenda would see these rich legislators and their richer special interests losing out. Oh, the humanity.

That’s not how Palin and McCain argue their case, however. Instead of using the phrase “the rich,” they talk about how much this plan will hurt “small businesses.” Their argument assumes that we either make more than $250,000 a year or that we are simply ignorant. They’re counting on the uneducated, the uninformed and the traditional voters (and by “traditional” I mean “old”) to vote wildly against Obama simply because they’ve labeled him with this 20th-century epithet. It harkens back to a time when the American people were led to believe democracy was in danger.

I’m sorry, but the fact Obama wants to “spread the wealth around,” as McCain has been so eager to point out, doesn’t instantly anger me. For one thing, Obama’s plan would see the wealth going into my pocket and not coming out of it. It would take my wife and I 10 years or more to make $250,000. For another thing, I agree with Obama – the rich can and should pay more. It’s absurd to believe that we can pull ourselves out of this recession (yes, I said it … recession) without taking a tax hit. McCain decries increased taxes as an insensitive and unneeded hardship upon Americans. Well, suck it up. If we want things in our society – like universal health care or, say, a balanced budget – we have to be willing to pay for them. And if you’re living comfortably, quit complaining about it. My wife and I cling to each and every check we make. If you don’t have to worry about whether you can feed your daughter for the next week, you’ve got no room to whine.

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Why John McCain Fails the Commander in Chief Test

That's right, John McCain FAILS the Commander in Chief test. Why? My understanding is, John McCain recused himself from the dealings with George W. Bush and I hope that's the case. Why, specifically? Any and all of them, that I have seen. Again, and not to belabor the point, but one reason, specifically, why John McCain fails the Commander in Chief test? Take it away, Senator Obama...



John McCain cannot rest on the laurels of his experience. He continues to demonstrate a lack of understanding of effective foreign policy. With the cavalier attitude he shows toward our Iran policy, his judgment of the situation in Iran promises to be no better than his judgment was of the situation in Iraq before sending our troops to pursue our tragic foreign policy there. Take it away, Senator McCain...



War with Iran? That's your punchline? Excuse me, sir, but war with Iran is no joke. No, I mean it's NO FUCKING JOKE! You would send our troops in to die instead of even attempting a diplomatic solution, meanwhile deriding your political rivals for even entertaining the idea of a diplomatic solution, and while our troops are in harm's way 7,000 miles from home, you would crack wise about it? You, of all people, after your experience in Vietnam, should know better! In what nation in this world, sir, would a free people elect you its Commander in Chief? NOT THIS ONE!

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Last night on SNL

For those who missed it, Tina Fey brought back her ever more adorable and ever more idiotic Sarah Palin in her interview with Katie Couric (Amy Pohler).

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Sarah Palin: Might Actually Be Retarded...

There isn't a lot I can add to this.

I did make a drinking game out of it. Every time Palin refers to John McCain as a "maverick", you have to drink an entire bottle of cheap vodka, then break the bottle and slit your wrists.

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