Hey Tea Party, Cuban Protesters in Miami Can’t Spell, Either
But then, English is their second language. What’s your excuse again?
Oh yeah, now I remember.
Month: December 2014
Memo to Dick Cheney: George Washington Ordered Execution As Penalty for Torturing Prisoners
During a recent interview, former Vice Pres. Dick Cheney proudly assumed responsibility for the U.S. government’s program of torturing prisoners in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. “I’d do it again in a minute,” Cheney asserted.
Cheney is undoubtedly emboldened by the fact that there is no chance that he, the president he served or their minions will ever face justice for ordering the torture of prisoners, actions that were, by even the lowest standards of decency, war crimes.
Cheney and the others will escape justice, largely because the current president chooses to allow it, despite the fact that torture is illegal in this country and worldwide, under provisions of an anti-torture treaty signed by Pres. Ronald Reagan in 1984. There is also precedent for trying officials accused of torture. As was noted earlier, in 1946, the United States and its allies executed Japanese officials who ordered waterboarding of prisoners during World War II.
But the roots of America’s abhorrence to torture go back even farther, all the way to the founding. In fact, during the Revolutionary War, George Washington ordered that soldiers under his command who were found to have tortured prisoners could face execution.
PensitoWire
- Patti Davis: Dear Sasha and Malia
- AP: Putin Accuses West of Trying to Sideline Russia
- PoliticsUSA: Tea Party Nation Says #Whitelivesmatter
- Eclectablog: While Progressives Try to Catch up with ALEC in the States, ALEC Moves to the Cities and Counties
- TPM: ‘Nuclear Option’ Helps Obama Reshape The Courts For A Generation
- Agregate: Who Would Jesus Waterboard?
Whole Lotta ‘I’m Notta Democrat’ Going Around
26%
Of Americans now identify themselves as Democrats, down from 32% six weeks ago. “The number of Americans identifying themselves as Democrats has dropped to a record low in nearly 34 years of ABC News/Washington Post polls, marking the party’s challenges after its poor showing in the 2014 midterm elections. The Republican Party, by contrast, has gained sharply in popularity, if not allegiance.”
This is Going to Piss Off Ted Cruz’s Dad
Not to mention little Marco Rubio. But America’s policy toward Cuba makes no sense, and these reforms are long overdue. There will be a hew and cry from the old guard in Miami, from FOX, and from the far rightwing, but since when have they been on the sensible side of issues?
Obama Fatigue Is Widespread
70%
Of Americans want the next president to take a different approach to governing. “Even among Democrats, 47% said they wanted a successor who takes a different tack — about the same as the 46% who wanted an Obama-like approach,” according to a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll: “Looking ahead to 2016, seven in ten That puts Mr. Obama in George W. Bush territory: In the latter part of Mr. Bush’s second term 74% wanted the next president to take a different approach.”
Jeb Bush a Solid Moderate Republican
37
Jeb Bush’s ideological score based on a combination of three statistical indices created by Nate Silver. Bush’s score is “similar to Romney and McCain, each of whom scored a 39. He’s much more conservative than Huntsman, who rates at a 17. Still, Bush is more like his father, George H.W. Bush, who rates as a 33, than his brother George W. Bush, who scores a 46. And the Republican Party has moved to the right since both Poppy and Dubya were elected.”
It’s OK to Be Politically Incorrect If You’re French
On behalf of the French delegation, I want to tell you, you are very beautiful.
— French ambassador Gérard Araud, quoted by the New Yorker, in a text message to U.N ambassador Samantha Power, adding that, “As a Frenchman, I’m not condemned to be politically correct.”
The Terrorists Are Winning: Polls Find Growing Support for America As a Torture State
In its report on the torturing of terrorist suspects by the U.S. government during the Bush-Cheney administration, the Senate Intelligence Committee revealed a long list of abuses:
Detainees were forced to stand on broken limbs for hours, kept in complete darkness, deprived of sleep for up to 180 hours, sometimes standing, sometimes with their arms shackled above their heads.
Prisoners were subjected to “rectal feeding” without medical necessity. Rectal exams were conducted with “excessive force.” The report highlights one prisoner later diagnosed with anal fissures, chronic hemorrhoids and “symptomatic rectal prolapse.”
The report mentions mock executions, Russian roulette. U.S. agents threatened to slit the throat of a detainee’s mother, sexually abuse another and threatened prisoners’ children. One prisoner died of hypothermia brought on in part by being forced to sit on a bare concrete floor without pants.
In a facility codenamed COBALT, but referred to as the “Dungeon,” the United States created a chamber of horrors:
