Day: October 27, 2006
Cheney: Not Just Yes, But HELL Yes, We Water Board!
Every chance we get. AP:
The White House said Friday that Vice President Dick Cheney was not talking about a torture technique known as “water boarding” when he said dunking terrorism suspects in water during questioning was a “no-brainer.”
…Earlier, White House press secretary Tony Snow denied that Cheney had endorsed water boarding.
Asked to define a dunk in water, Snow said, “It’s a dunk in the water.”“You know as a matter of common sense that the vice president of the United States is not going to be talking about water boarding. Never would, never does, never will,” Snow said. “You think Dick Cheney’s going to slip up on something like this? No, come on.”
In an interview Tuesday with WDAY of Fargo, North Dakota, Cheney was asked if “a dunk in water is a no-brainer if it can save lives.”
The vice president replied, “Well, it’s a no-brainer for me, but for a while there I was criticized as being the vice president for torture. We don’t torture. That’s not what we’re involved in.”
Peppered with questions about the remarks, Snow said Cheney did not interpret the question as referring to water boarding and the vice president did not make any comments about water boarding. He said the question put to Cheney was loosely worded.
The administration has repeatedly refused to say which techniques they believe are permitted under the new law. Asked to define a dunk in water, Snow said, “It’s a dunk in the water.”
Larry Cox, executive director of Amnesty International USA, said in a statement, “What’s really a no-brainer is that no U.S. official, much less a vice president, should champion torture. Vice President Cheney’s advocacy of water boarding sets a new human rights low at a time when human rights is already scraping the bottom of the Bush administration barrel.”
NBC to Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Go Away
Does it never end? Now NBC is reportedly refusing to run ads for the documentary about the Dixie Chicks, “Shut Up and Sing.” Before we go on, view the trailer.
Looks good, right? I wish it were released a couple of weeks ago and in wide release instead of only heading to New York and L.A. theaters this weekend, but still.
The company distributing a new documentary about the Dixie Chicks has blasted the NBC and CW networks for allegedly refusing to accept a commercial spot for the film, which opens in four theaters Friday.
In a press release issued late Thursday, the Weinstein Co. said NBC rejected a spot for “Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing,” because the spot included material that “disparages President Bush.”
So who doesn’t? The point is, why is NBC refusing to comment on this?
The Weinstein Co. distributed a document from CW that referred to “concerns (that) we do not have appropriate programming in which to schedule this spot.”
…According to a source, the spot has been cleared for broadcast on CBS, MTV and on local NBC, CW, ABC and Fox affiliates in New York and Los Angeles, as well as on local cable systems, including local spots on Fox News and CNN.
Yeah, no appropriate programming. The network that gave us Must See TV, Saturday Night Live, and The West Wing finds an ad for a documentary about censorship and blacklisting “inappropriate” for its viewers.
There is also a blog associated with the film, called Shut Up and Post. PR readers need to go there and participate because it looks like it’s getting overrun with trolls. Check it out, and leave a note for our side.
Foley, Gannon Gay GOP Scandals Are Minor Compared with 1989 Call Boy Sex Ring with Ties Inside Bush White House
(Via BuzzFlash.net and The Law Party)
In a February 1989 raid on a gay escort service, the Secret Service showed up and confiscated key evidence. Law enforcement officials said that involvement of the Secret Service in a local operation was highly unusual and had never happened before.
Forget Mark Foley’s electronic dalliances with underage pages and the dozens of White House visits by gay GOP prostitute, Jeff “Bulldog” Gannon — the biggest gay Republican scandal to date was the uncovering in 1989 of multiple gay prostitution services that billed tens of thousands of dollars to credit cards belonging to powerful men inside the Bush and Reagan administrations — including top staffers, military officers and lobbyists. The scandal was revealed in late June 1989, and then just as quickly was swept under the rug and has barely been mentioned since.
If you think this sounds outlandish, consider the original source: The story was broken on June 29, 1989, by the ultraconservative Washington Times newspaper, which is of course owned by Korean rightwing cult leader, Rev. Sun Yung Moon. The lead reporter on the story was Paul M. Rodriguez, who is known for the rightwing slant of his reporting.
The article was edited by Wesley Pruden, then the Times’ managing editor, now its editor-in-chief. In it, Pruden, who makes on secret of his conservative, even neo-Confederate, views, made it clear that higher-ups in the Reagan and Bush administrations would be protected — the paper would only reveal the names of subordinates:
“There is no intention of publishing names or facts about the operation merely for titillation,” said [Pruden].
The Times ran the story above the fold, with a banner headline that read, “Homosexual prostitution inquiry ensnares VIPs with Reagan, Bush,” with the subheading, “‘Call boys’ took midnight tour of White House.”
Reading through the story (which we have transcribed, in part, below), it appears that the investigation into the call boy sex ring had begun about nine months earlier, arising from an attempted blackmail and charges of credit card fraud. Apparently the gay prostitutes routinely videotaped and photographed their encounters with their clients, especially those who had powerful positions in the government, which meant there was plenty of fodder for extorting money.
In February 1989, as Washington D.C. police were conducting a raid on an out-call center operated by several gay escort services in a residence on 34th Place NW, the Secret Service made a surprise appearance and confiscated some of the evidence, according to The Times:
Although the confiscated material was turned over to District police on the scene, witnesses and law enforcement agents say the Secret Service kept one box containing names and other information about high-level government officials who were clients of the male escort business.
District police officials say that, to their knowledge, this is the first time the Secret Service has ever become involved in such a raid in this area.
Initially, the Secret Service denied it was involved in the raid, but after a second raid of the 34th Place house on May 18 [1989], the agency acknowledged its involvement in the investigation.
Secret Service spokesman Bob Snow said the agency participated in the search and seizure operation because of its jurisdiction over credit card fraud. “We come into such operations usually at the request of a U.S. attorney … if the fraud involves $10,000 or more … We are not involved in any local prostitution investigation,” said Mr. Snow.
GOP lobbyist Craig Spence spent upwards of $20,000 per month on gay prostitutes.
The paper named Craig J. Spence as a central figure in the sex ring:
One of the ring’s big spending clients is Craig J. Spence, Washington socialite and international trade consultant, according to documents and interviews with operators and prostitutes who say they engaged in sexual activities with Mr. Spence.
Mr. Spence spent upwards of $20,000 a month for male prostitutes who provided sex to him and his friends, said to include military personnel who also acted as his “bodyguards.” It was Mr. Spence who arranged the nocturnal tour of the Reagan White House. Repeated attempts to reach Mr. Spence by telephone, fax machine and personal visits to his home, were unsuccessful.
Credit card vouchers confirm that Mr. Spence charged thousands of dollars on American Express and Visa cards, sometimes making $600 charges against his cards several times a day, drawn in behalf of an escort service called Professional Services Inc.
A few months after the story broke, Spence committed suicide, but in an interview with the Washington Times (which we have not yet located), he allegedly told the paper that he was given access to the White House that night by Donald Gregg, who was a top Bush adviser.
Other underlings named by the newspaper included Charles K. Dutcher, former associate director of presidential personnel in the Reagan administration; Paul R. Balach, Labor Secretary Elizabeth Dole’s political personnel liaison to the White House; and Todd A. Blodgett, a former assistant to President Reagan.
