Showing posts with label Torture. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Torture. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

HAS HOWDY DOODY LEFT THE BUILDING?

When Bush became President, I called my mother and told her that I thought the American people had elected “Howdy Doody” … yep, that’s right, you heard what I said … I said that the American people had elected a puppet.

Well, we now know that to be somewhat true. He was groomed for his role.*

Dick Cheney and George W. Bush however, we're co-presidents.**

**[Update 2010: Note: Shirley Anne Warshaw (Professor Political Science, Gettysburg College) did extensive research ... She called Bush and Cheney Co-Presidents.
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C-SPAN had Professor Warshaw on their program as a political science guest panelist discussing her research and at that time soon to be released book (originally aired November 22, 2008, and again 2009) ... I forgot to update this post]. Click HERE for the C-SPAN video.
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Fast forward, the American people fed up with the Bush/Cheney regime … were wooed by CHANGE and thought with the election of Barack Obama they got change.

Did we just get a "Howdy Doody"; is this the Obama/Emanuel administration with Rahm [or Geithner] being the person running the financial/business arm of the administration (just like Cheney)? How about who is running the social arm of the administration … who could that be? What about Commander in Chief ... we know it's the President, but who is whispering in the President's ear (the CIA perhaps)?

The American people hate Wall Street … that is not a small number of Americans, it’s most Americans. They are tired of living off refi’s and credit cards in order to live. So, instead of letting that old guard die, we reengage the status quo, give lip service to reform, and that’s it; and get this … the American people [who hate Wall Street] helped them; well, … not really, … we had no choice.
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It will be interesting to see if GM CEO pick, Edward Whitacre Jr. [former "old-school" AT&T executive, innovator and engineer] will turn GM into just a hybrid car producer, or will he diversify into something more innovative and a game-changer ... hi-speed rail, wind turbines and solar products. Most important, will the worker be the majority or near majority owner (the union workers), or will the rich and powerful get away with screwing the American Middle Class worker one more time).
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The vast majority of young people, our future leaders, voted for CHANGE. These young people grew up not caring if you’re African American, Asian, Caucasian or whatever (well, there still is tension between "street Hispanics" and "street Blacks"). These young people could care less if you’re Gay or straight or Gays getting married (and for that matter, most Americans could care less if you’re Gay or straight; and I believe, most Americans don't care if Gays marry or serve openly in the military). So what does the social arm of the administration do? They defend the marriage act … yep, they defend "DOMA" and don't undo "DON'T ASK, DON'T TELL".

OBAMA’S DOMA DEFENSE UNACCEPTABLE by Paul Hogarth

Everyone in the world knows that the Bush/Cheney administration detained people indefinitely, in secret and tortured. The pictures, letters, etc have been around since 2003. We became a pariah and we helped the extremists recruit. So, what does the Obama/Rahm/Holder administration do … yep, they do a cover-up of the crooks … the very crooks that the world spit upon, that the world, and now most of the American people, abhor and want brought to justice.
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TORTURING DEMOCRACY –produced by Sherry Jones
TAXI TO THE DARK SIDE
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Maybe I'm misreading everything. Could there be something different brewing beneath what appears apparent? Maybe President Obama is making it look like he's business as usual with a liberal twist every now and then, or again I ask ... is there just the appearance of business as usual, and is his true CHANGE agenda coming soon? Maybe he just wants to get through HEALTH CARE REFORM first. Should we give him the benefit of the doubt?
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Is this the time to show who is boss? Is it Rahm, Holder or whoever, or is it President Obama? Just who is running the show ... or should we wait a while longer for "the benefit of the doubt"?
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*LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: THE REAL GEORGE W. BUSH by Stephen Pizzo, October 27, 2005

** "The Co-Presidency of Bush and Cheney" [Stanford Politics and Policy] by Shirley Anne Warshaw

Saturday, April 18, 2009

PRESIDENT OBAMAS DECISION NOT TO PROSECUTE THOSE WHO TORTURED

The President’s release of memos detailing torture or what was deemed, at the time, “so-called” acceptable forms of torture, mean nothing because most of the techniques were exposed years ago. So any talk that remains, is, should those who violated U.S. statutory law be prosecuted? The President has made his decision and he is wrong.
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We must not forget that the President is a politician and an intelligence outsider. He has made his decision so as not to alienate the intelligence community and I fear, to appease those right-wingers who hold fast to some false notion that torture is lawful under certain (or any) circumstances. He also clearly doesn’t want Cheney or Mr. Bush (especially Bush) to answer for their deeds. I’m going to ask you to read the following and make an informed decision regarding prosecution of those who authorized torture and those who performed it.
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UPDATE: 6/3/2010
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The movie: “The Deer Hunter” (article 1979, edited 2003) [note objectionable language]
http://www.jackfritscher.com/Drummer/Issues/028/Deer%20Hunter.html

Does Torture Work? (June 21, 2004) [there may be a promo before article, skip promo]
http://dir.salon.com/story/opinion/feature/2004/06/21/torture_algiers/index.html

Does Torture Really Work? (June 13, 2005)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7516880/

“24” Versus the Real World (9/20/2006)
http://www.newsweek.com/id/45788

Five Myths about Torture and Truth (12/16/2007)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/13/AR2007121301303.html

The Torture Garden (article 2/6/2008)
http://www.eastbayexpress.com/movies/torture_garden/Content?oid=637385

Torture & Human Rights: A Guide (6/19/2008)
http://www.uusc.org/programs/STOP/index.html
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President Obama's Statement on The Memos
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Emptywheel (April 18, 2009)
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Love what "Bono Vox" said in his comments 4/22/2009, at the above link: [READ]
"A state-sanctioned torture policy is about as un-American as you can get. Washington wouldn't torture, even though the Brits were torturing thousands (including boys) on ships docked off Brooklyn. Lincoln wouldn't torture, even though his life was endangered. FRD didn't institutionalize torture, and Ike didn't have torture as his policy in the field, even though the free world was at risk. So Chuck Todd not only has the will of the people wrong, he doesn't understand the historic magnitude of what the Bushies did under our flag. Todd's ignorance is despicable.
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After the horrors of WW II, Americans took a hard look at what made us different than the Nazis and the Russians. One of the big AUTHENTIC differences (not just lofty ideology) is that we don't torture. Thousands of German soldiers at the end of the war scrambled to surrender to us and not the Russians because the Russians would torture and kill, while we wouldn't. Torture isn't a minor issue. Frankly, I think it's a lot more important than the economy, as this defines who we are as a nation wheres the economy is cyclical in nature. Do we really want to be on the Hitler-Stalin-Pol Pot side of the torture issue?"


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Regarding SERE and eliciting “false confessions” in order to justify
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[John Yoo-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torture_memos#torture_memo]

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Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy



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Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

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Thursday, January 22, 2009

JOE SCARBOROUGH and the "GITMO" PROBLEM

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Joe Scarborough co-host of "Morning Joe" doesn't have a problem with "Gitmo", or former President Bush's policies on detention and torture; and was visibly extremely angry with people who do not believe as he does.
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My response to Joe:
There you go getting your “knickers twisted up” Joe. No one has a problem prosecuting terrorists. The problem was/is, a group of people of Muslim descent who we thought/think may be linked to terrorist organizations weren’t prosecuted; they were detained indefinitely and in secret; and some even tortured.

Let me ask a question. Was it ok to detain Japanese Americans?
Is it ok to profile Muslims, African Americans and Hispanics, etc. by virtue of their ethnicity or color of their skin? Do you absolutely know the face of Al Qaeda, what they look like?

How about domestic terrorists … those groups who want to kill and have killed Americans, African Americans, gays, Jews, Hispanics, etc … it’s their mission … ok, is it ok to detain or detain indefinitely and in secret, members of those groups?

You’re walking a really fine line here Joe. Look, no one has ever profiled you … you walk a line of privilege. Therefore, it appears that you aren’t real worked up when people of another race, ethnicity and/or color are profiled and detained ... worse, profiled, detained, tortured in secret.

The Bush/Cheney administration by virtue of its policies of profiling, torturing and detaining indefinitely and in secret have created this huge problem for America and how Americans are perceived in the Muslim world and other parts of this world.

We are a young country in a big world and a global economy. We were seen as a leader of the “FREE” world.
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What happens here, in the United State, spreads to the rest of the world. We are largely responsible for the mess in this global economy. We must also bear some responsibility (due to our policies) for this world not being a safer place.

President Obama (and it is President Obama, not Obama ... since you love civility, tradition and respect) is extremely aware of the violations of all people’s rights and liberties.

If you want to go there, Joe, my suggestion is you don’t travel anywhere outside of the United States, because one day, someone may not like the fact your Caucasian, see Caucasians as aggressors; who they may view as a people seeking to advance their own interests over the interests of others, and willing to use military force to advance it; and then they confine you indefinitely and secretly in some foreign country. Perhaps we’ve been seeing that backlash for some time now.
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The Facts:
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*I want to add that I do not think Joe is a racist; but his remarks were insensitive and not well-thought out.
He simply represents the growing fear in the United States regarding America's safety. That said, policies such as what occurred during the Bush administration, may cause those who witness, are tortured or hear about what we've done, to lash out and retaliate.