The witch hunt on ‘torture’
For Barack Obama, words are colored M&Ms sprinkled in interesting — though meaningless — array on the subjects of his choosing. “As a general deal, I think that we should be looking forward and not backwards,” he said. But, on post 9/11interrogation techniques, it’ll be up to an attorney general who describes waterboarding as torture to decide whether “those who formulated those legal decisions” should be prosecuted. Those techniques produced “high-value information” following 9/11, Obama’s National Intelligence Director, Dennis Blair, has acknowledged.
This is a President who went to CIA headquarters after declassifying for general release the list of permissible interrogation techniques to be used against terrorists posing an imminent threat to the lives of civilians as well as to America’s military personnel. He counseled those at Langley that he knew the revelations had been tough on them, but “you need to know you’ve got my full support.”
As former Georgia Gov. Marvin Griffin used to say: “Everybody who believes that pick up a bale of cotton and follow me.” (For the benefit of city boys and girls, a bale of cotton weighs about 480 pounds.)
The President has said that CIA personnel who used permitted techniques should not be prosecuted. After guaranteeing that the issue would become politicized by suggesting that Congress might invoke “bipartisan review” for “further accounting,” Obama worried aloud ”about this getting so politicized that we cannot function effectively, ” thus hampering”our ability to carry out national security operations.”
This is America’s radical left on a witch hunt — vengence against those who served government during the administration of the hated George W. Bush. And this is supposed to be the post-partisan ”new beginnings” President? U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) nailed it: “This administration looks for every opportunity they can to seek to embarrass the previous administration, and I think this is one time they really overstepped their bounds.”
Those in the nation’s security defenses, including the CIA, who continue to function with this President at their back deserve the nation’s gratitude. It will be a difficult four years.
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© 2009 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
210 comments Add your comment
Churchill's MOM
April 22nd, 2009
8:30 am
Jim, I saw you on PBS last night, you look better than your picture. What is a conservative like you doing on a liberal tv station?
*************PALIN-MCCAIN 2012*************
Davo
April 22nd, 2009
8:31 am
Do you and Bookman have an office bet to see which of you is the biggest partisan hack?
F-22 Man
April 22nd, 2009
8:32 am
Saxby the Draft Dodger Chambliss sure hit that 1 on the head. Why is he out playing golf when he should be working to save my job?
Bo Chambliss LOBBYIST
April 22nd, 2009
8:34 am
Saxby is going to start acting like the King family, you have to pay to quote him. Send $10.00 to my lock box.
Bill
April 22nd, 2009
8:42 am
If I were a gambling man, I’d bet a wad, even at this early date, on Secretary of State Karen Handel to win the Republican primary for governor next year.
Handel has served on the Fulton County Commission and escaped indictment. She has turned out to be a passable secretary of state, though she has been a bit too partisan for my taste. And Gov. Sonny Perdue has joined her team as her No. 1 adviser. The Perdue alliance may be the most important of her attributes. Perdue already has delivered a grand favor to Handel. He made last week’s front-runner for governor, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, so nervous that he complained of severe neck and back trouble, and dropped out of the governor’s contest.
That may be just the first good deed Perdue delivers to Handel. She will need all the help she can get. Georgians usually don’t cotton to female candidates for governor, and we’ve had a run of bad luck with ladies elected to lower constitutional offices.
Former Georgia Schools Superintendent Linda Schrenko, the first woman to be elected to statewide office, still is serving time in prison for stealing money from the state to finance her 2002 bid for governor – a bid that crashed and burned before it got off the ground. The present female school superintendent, Kathy Cox, recently joined the growing ranks of Georgians forced into personal bankruptcy.
Meanwhile, Handel labors on as secretary of state, handing down one decision after another on election regulations to help her GOP colleagues in their quests for public office. She will have to do more than that to become governor. She must recruit the same coalition of interests that brought Perdue to power and left Gov. Roy Barnes a stunned and defeated Democrat.
Here are the anti-Barnes folks who gave us Gov. Perdue:
► Teachers voted en masse for Perdue because they thought Barnes had turned his back on their demands for tenure and started overusing the word “accountability” in his campaign for better schools. Many of those same teachers now are suffering a bad case of buyers’ remorse. Gov. Perdue has whacked their budget by $2 billion, enlarged class sizes, cut pay and generally ignored Georgia’s most pressing need: improving K-12 education. How will those teachers vote next year – for a more humble Democrat Roy Barnes and his crowd, or for the Handel-Perdue alliance?
► Law enforcement officers across the state were peeved at Barnes for installing a super-chief in Atlanta – a commissioner of public safety to oversee all peace officers.
Like teachers, the lawmen in 2002 voted heavily against Barnes, who already is courting them for reconciliation next year. They appeared to be mostly for Cagle until he was struck by strained muscles. How Handel woos the cops, deputies and troopers will be interesting to watch.
► North metro Atlanta residential owners were solidly against Barnes when he proposed building a Northern Arc highway through the northern suburbs and exurbs north of Atlanta. A hard core of anti-arc voters remains active in Forsyth County. Some other folks in the meantime have become sympathetic to Barnes. They’re tired of traffic and want something done. Handel will have to be careful with this group, and perhaps not allude to Gov. Perdue at all. The incumbent’s transportation to-do list is blank, except for a bunch of words about reorganization.
► The flaggers – the guys and gals who wanted to restore the Confederate cross on the state flag – became Perdue’s loudest and most visible allies. After his inauguration, Perdue pushed the flaggers aside and would not even include the Rebel emblem on a ballot for a new flag. Handel may try to recruit the Civil War crowd, but she will do so at her own peril. Most folks began suffering flag fatigue years ago and want to move on to something else. Besides, the flaggers may not forget so easily how they were double-crossed.
So there we have it. Karen’s Conundrum: Can she attract Perdue’s old allies for governor – a group largely alienated and angered by Perdue after his election?
Or will Barnes or some other Democrats bust up the coalition and bring at least part of that angry crowd back into the donkey fold?
Oh, that’s right. Barnes hasn’t even announced for governor. No matter what happens, my bet on Handel stands.
Dusty
April 22nd, 2009
9:17 am
Attention, early posters !! The subject for today is THE WITCH HUNT ON TORTURE. I gather you did not notice in your rush to post anti-Republican/Bush rhetoric. WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT “The witch hunt on torture”???
Obama is trying to swing both ways, support the CIA and run down the CIA. You cannot do both. I don’t know who is planning Obama’s agenda but they need some new thoughts. Trying to prosecute anyone protecting our country from terrorists is NOT the way to go.
Obama says NO and then he says YES in so many words. Somebody better make up their mind whether they are going to support this country or whether they are going to spin their wheels trying to smear Bush.
Obama’s keepers better think twice before THEY are investigated. There are still people in this country who can think without being told what to think.
ProgressivePeach.com
April 22nd, 2009
9:27 am
NO TORTURE IN MY NAME! Thank God we have a President who understands that torture is illegal and immoral regardless of the reasons. Hey Wooten- Since you subscribe to the theory that the president can abrogate any law or treaty for national security, tell us where you think the line is. Can he have someone’s hand chopped off? Can he have their testicles crushed? How about killing someone? Can he order that? Let us know, Jim.
Copyleft
April 22nd, 2009
9:29 am
Dusty: “Trying to prosecute anyone protecting our country from terrorists is NOT the way to go.”
Not even if they break the law? Just trying to get a reading here on how much of the Constitution you’re willing to sacrifice in exchange for safety.
Californication
April 22nd, 2009
9:31 am
I feel so sorry for those poor tortured terrorist, I think BO has some spare rooms, let them move in with him…
Copyleft
April 22nd, 2009
9:32 am
The fact that CRITICISM of torture is what’s being called “extremist”–rather than the actual torture itself–shows how far gone the right really is.
I guess Al Qaeda really DID scare you guys, huh? You’re so scared you no longer care about our freedoms, or justice, or American values, or anything else that makes our country great. You just want to be SAFE, no matter what it takes.
That’s the definition of ‘terrorized,’ folks. Try and shake it off, so you can join the rest of us Americans. Proud, free, and unafraid. It’s a good place–not “safe,” but good.
Copyleft
April 22nd, 2009
9:33 am
Much better, Cali! Now your irrelevant ranting doesn’t include any claims of actual FACT, so nobody will call you out on them and embarrass you!
Rant on. It’s amusing.
Dusty
April 22nd, 2009
9:47 am
Nobody in the USA is advocating torture. Bush did not and nobody else did.
KILLING over three thousand people with two fiery airplanes loaded with passengers is TORTURE. Waterboarding and not killing them was excepted to save another possible thousands of people.
I realize that people with fixed minds cannot understand exceptions unless it happenes to them. The CIA with legal permission did what it could to save more slaughter in America. Even Obama realized that before his hacks told him to counteract his words with nilly willy words about prosecutions and investigations.
Ask yourself: would you rather be waterboarded or burned alive in a skyscraper? Now be honest. Which is real or worse torture?
NO, we do not want torture and will never advocate torture. Nobody does. It was an extreme measure to possibly save thousands more.
If you cannot realize the meaning of extreme measures then join with Al Queda and perform real “extreme measures” without guilt.
Scooter
April 22nd, 2009
9:49 am
Jim,
The witch hunt as you call it seems like politics as usual to me.
Where is the “change” we were promised? I don’t see any.
REPUBLICANS EVIL TIME IS UP
April 22nd, 2009
9:51 am
GET THEM OBAMA THE WITCHES AND WARLOCKS THEY ARE THE WICKED GOP!
Dusty
April 22nd, 2009
9:53 am
Copyleft,
Please tell me where the Constitution says do nothing to protect the country against agressors. Have liberals rewritten the Constitution?
Dusty
April 22nd, 2009
10:02 am
REPUBS EVIL TIME
YOUR time is up. I just made a voodoo doll that looks JUST LIKE YOU and stuck BIG PINS into it! You are sunk, honey! Better call Obama and tell him. Maybe he will pay your bank and your doctor and make you feel better! We’ve all got to feel better you know. That’s the President’s job. Now relax and WAIT!!
Reality Check
April 22nd, 2009
10:04 am
Dusty, Those on the right often use terms like “Rule of Law” or Constitutional Intergrity. Please tell me when did you stop believing in the rule of law? When did it become OK to break the law for ANY reason? We are a nation of laws… Those laws apply to EVERYBODY!!! I know today this blog is going to have a million folks going back and forth with their political dances, But the basis of this country is that the law applies to everyone and is absolute. In this case, regardless of how you justify it, the law is the law….. And in this case it was broken and those who did it need to be held accountable.
Chris Broe
April 22nd, 2009
10:05 am
Today’s sermon is about torture. Bookman tortures his readers with titles like, “Dipping a toe in the Miss USA fray.” If he were a real journalist, he wouldn’t have dipped his toe.
Wooten tortures his readers, too, but only because he doesn’t set the proper mood for his pieces. Witness this one: “This is a President who went to CIA headquarters after declassifying for general release the list of permissible interrogation techniques to be used against terrorists posing an imminent threat to the lives of civilians as well as to America’s military personnel.” That sentence is torture and totally unreadable, yes, but, if Wooten had only set the proper mood, then maybe it would have slipped by.
It’s simple: to set the proper mood for a torture piece, get your keyboard and place a peel-off orange-alert sticker on the keys you never use. Then, a dart board with the president’s face as the target should appear in a pop-up video game in the lower right corner of your screen, obscuring the time. This will trick any Al Queda spies into thinking you’re one of them. Also, Have Rush Limbaugh loud and clear from your PC’s speakers. This will trick the entire Aryan master race into thinking you’re one of them.
Most important: Never look at a time piece when you write. Ever. Don’t do it. Journalists shouldn’t be in to time. Deadlines are suggestions, not imperatives. There’s no such thing as not getting scooped anyway, not with twitter. not with wifi. or i-phones or i-pods or even i-potties. Yes, Pampers has a new line of smart porto-potties for housebreaking children, cats, and even trolls. It narrates the breaking news properly, “That was a really big brown one!” It uses praise and coddles all the boo-boos, just like Bookman does when he works his trolls into a lather … and when he writes and tortures me….but then I repeat myself, (and I’m not even shampooing).
Bookman, get your rinse on, you swirly-challenged, troll-coddling ne’er-do-well.
ditto wooten.
Jackie
April 22nd, 2009
10:05 am
Those that purport to believe in the Constitution and the rule of law and trying to have it both ways.
They want to support the past administration, regardless of the laws that were broken.
Further, they want us to look the other way relative to those broken laws in the mistaken belief that those perpetrators were performing those un-Constitutional deeds in “protecting the country.”
If anyone else were to break laws, should they be brought to justice, or, should a wink-and-a-nod be given with the understanding “they didn’t really mean to.”
Copyleft
April 22nd, 2009
10:06 am
Dusty: Funny, Jay Bookman has posted the relevant federal law just today!
“The federal definition defines torture as:
(A) the intentional infliction or threatened infliction of severe physical pain or suffering;
(B) the administration or application, or threatened administration or application, of mind-altering substances or other procedures calculated to disrupt profoundly the senses or the personality;
(C) the threat of imminent death; or
(D) the threat that another person will imminently be subjected to death, severe physical pain or suffering, or the administration or application of mind-altering substances or other procedures calculated to disrupt profoundly the senses or personality.”
Waterboarding and the related “extreme interrogation techniques” ARE torture. And as such, they ARE illegal.
So I’ll repeat the question: Are you okay with people breaking the law in the name of “protecting our country”? Because that’s what they were doing.
AmVet
April 22nd, 2009
10:10 am
Reality Check, your quaint notion that this is a nation of laws and not men, went out the back door like the weekly trash for your garden variety, brain dead Republican with Nixon, Reagan/North and forever under King George II.
There is NO law these imperious “signing statement” criminals and their sycophants, enablers and apologists would obey, if they could get what they wanted.
The Holstein is simply aping what she here’s from such “patriots”…
AmVet
April 22nd, 2009
10:10 am
hears…
RonJon
April 22nd, 2009
10:20 am
Jim: Do you have any opinion that Sean Hannity did not give me the night before? I really do disagree with the president on leaving this up to the attorney general….oh yeah…I forgot…that darn Constitution got in the way again. Legal matters are best left up to legal people, the attorney general fits that bill. Obama messed up when he passed his opinion off as fact on whether or not people should be prosecuted. Personally, I say no. They were following the intent,if not orders of the President. Time to move on.
behmer
April 22nd, 2009
10:24 am
I simply cannot believe there is not more outrage that the Obama administration has ‘outed’ the CIA and seriously gutted their ability to defend us and obtain field intelligience.
Obama outed the CIA to cast the Bush Administration in a bad light for political gain.
What a naive, idealistic, shortsighted strategy. His job is to protect us, not try to score political points.
The press has been infatuated with his first 100 days, I can’t wait for his last 100 days.
I can only imagine what it must feel like to have lost a family member or friend on 9/11 and watch these clowns play politics.
Since 9/11 there have been no more attacks on US soil. We will never know how many attacks were prevented.
For all of the flaws of the Bush Administration, they got this one right.
The left-wing media calls successful interrogation tactics ‘torture’, at the very least it is retribution.
I call it a win-win; revenge that gathers information.
Maybe if we called it ‘extraction techniques’ the left-wing pansies would sleep better.
Poor Khalid Sheik Mohammed was subjected to waterboarding 183 times.
The liberals gasp at such inhumane treatment.
I suggest we do it 4,817 more times.
That way it would equal the number of lives lost in the 9/11 attacks.
ncgreybr
April 22nd, 2009
10:28 am
Dusty: “Nobody in the USA is advocating torture. Bush did not and nobody else did.”
Let me ask you, Dusty. Where have you had your head for the last 8 years? Oh, that’s right! It wasn’t “torture”, it was inhanced interrigation techniques. Do you REALLY think that changing it’s name changes the truth?
BUSH violated the Geneva Convention!
BUSH DISTROYED America when he decided that HE and his administration was above the law. Now comes the rebuilding and it’s going to take years. The first step in rebuilding is to admit that there was a problem. Something that you and Wooten will NEVER see.
Republican: good. Democrat: bad. Isn’t it difficult to go thru life with those blinders on?
Algonquin J. Calhoun
April 22nd, 2009
10:35 am
Torture is proscribed for United States service men and women and intelligence personnel. Those who were ordered to carry it out did so knowing they were accepting unlawful orders. The depravity of the sadists representing the United States was hidden for quite some time but it came to light. Then all the talk started about how the criminals George W. Hitler and Dickhead Cheney had kept America safe by stomping all over the Constitution and torturing those even suspected of being enemy agents. Many suspects were killed during interrorgations by United States goon squads. Bring all the torturers to the bar of justice. Those that followed orders they knew to be unlawful should be tried like the common criminals they are. The officials who implemented the policy should be brought to trial and, if found guilty, incarcerated for the rest of their days. George W. Hitler, Satan and Rumdum should be tried and if found guilty, executed!
Reality Check
April 22nd, 2009
10:36 am
Behmer…. Please explain to us how the CIA has been outed???
Torturer
April 22nd, 2009
10:36 am
Who cares if those terrorist camel jockeys were tortured? They would kill your family in a heartbeat. What is the matter with you people?
Reality Check
April 22nd, 2009
10:41 am
Torturer….. Maybe you simplisticly small brain get understand this point…. This is not about them…. It is about us and our rules and laws!!! If I murder a drug dealer, the fact that he sells drugs does not change the fact that I committed MURDER!!! The same logic applies to George, and Dick and Donnie Rumsfeld too!
peter
April 22nd, 2009
10:45 am
blah blah blah….im smarter than everyone else.
The Baron
April 22nd, 2009
10:47 am
I seriously worry about Republicans and what they really want. What is their ideal world? From all I can discern, apart from having no clear ideas, not one of them comes across as able to sustain an argument with any form of logic whatsoever. Their default attitude appears to be “as long as everyone accepts my way of thinking, everything’s fine. But as soon as anyone rejects my way of thinking, all hell must break loose”. Yet their way of thinking is extremely myopic on several issues, but particularly on the ‘non-issues’ they love to draw blood on!
Isnt it just amazing that the average Republican cannot see the relationship between our values and the unprecedented succes that America has become in the world? If these fundamental and time-tested tenets which have brought us to where we are today are abandoned for expediency in order to deal with a current threat, cant they see that we end up reducing ourselves to the level of our enemies and consequently lose not just the moral authority that has built us in the world, but our own moral compass? Really, is this so difficult to see?
I consider myself a reasonable, objective person and truly crave the day when I’ll hear a cogent, logical argument emanate from a Republican on a real, serious issue at hand. I’m tired of hearing rants against other people from using birth control if they so wish, or preventing other people from doing whatever they want to even if they are gay, or a desire to carry on in the world as if America is a hammer and everyone else are nails, etc etc.
Give us something other than hate, hate, hate, Republicans. Show us evidence of some serious thinking and consideration in your ranks. Then most Americans might just begin to take your views a bit more seriously!!!
kevin
April 22nd, 2009
10:48 am
hey peter, how does that hook taste?
Algonquin J. Calhoun
April 22nd, 2009
10:50 am
Very well put Peter. You are smarter than the rest. I’ve heard blah, blah, blah before but never have I heard it so forcefully put and so musically spoken. It sings!
Dusty
April 22nd, 2009
10:53 am
Two things you libs forgot to mention.
Where does the Constitution say that we should not protect this country from aggressors?
Why do you know more about the law than the Justice Department which realized an “exception ” to save thousands of Americans was permissable.
There was no rejection of the law unless you do not recognize the Justice Department as upholders of the law of the USA. Obama recognizes that. You do not.
Torturer
April 22nd, 2009
10:53 am
Reality check, learn how to spell. If you murder a drug dealer, good for you. I have no problem with that. My point is when you have people that aren’t US citizens that have knowledge of plots to kill Americans then torture is no big deal.
The Baron
April 22nd, 2009
11:03 am
Dear Torturer, start torturing non-Americans routinely and I guarantee you, you’ll soon be torturing Americans too! That’s the whole point… it’s a moral value, a differentiator!
Torturer
April 22nd, 2009
11:04 am
Baron, how do you come to thet conclusion?
Copyleft
April 22nd, 2009
11:04 am
Answer the question, Dusty. The fact that the “enhanced interrogation techinques” were torture is not in dispute. They were torturing people, and those actions were illegal.
Now: Are you okay with people breaking the law in the name of protecting the country? Simple yes or no, please. I’m curious to find out if you have any principles whatsoever.
Reality Check
April 22nd, 2009
11:04 am
Torturer, It is against US law to Torture. And Dusty, Where in the cConstitution does it say that the Foudation for this country can be disgarded If we think something bad may happen. 911 was horrible!! But does that jsutify throwing away all of the principles that make our country great?? We have laws, some are abstract and complex, and some are simple and plain… This One is simple and clear as a bell. No exceptions regardless of who ask for it. And by the way, If they thought that their view was correct, Why did they try to collect and destroy the State Department memo that opposed their point of view??
Dusty
April 22nd, 2009
11:10 am
A.J. Calhoun,
Do you get paid to front for terrorists against the USA or just do it on your own?
Baron,
Where have you been? “Hate” is notoriously connected to Bush by you fine Democrats. It started when Gore lost and continued in your quest to elect Kerry. An offshoot of “Bush hate” is the phrase “Bush did it!” commonly used by Democrats. The name for this mind altering disease is BDS or Bush Derangement Syndrome. It is not fatal, just produces faulty reasoning as displayed here today by liberals.
Note to AmVet:
If you continue to use “Holsteins” to denigrate women I shall addess you as “AmVet the Apeman”.
ncgreybr
April 22nd, 2009
11:11 am
The Baron: Well said! I don’t think I’ve heard it better!
Reality Check
April 22nd, 2009
11:11 am
Dusty, When is it OK to disregard the law? I am waiting for an answer……..
Jackie
April 22nd, 2009
11:12 am
The problem the so-called conservatives refuse to acknowledge IS the selectivity of rules practiced by the previous administration.
If they can get away with administrating rules against “terrorists,” how does it feel when selective application of those illegal acts were enacted against American citizens. Remember the problem with the unauthorized wiretaps and search of our electronic communications within the USA?
Tom
April 22nd, 2009
11:14 am
But we know that important intelligence was gained by these torture sessions. And how do we know that? Well, because the very same people who’ve lied about the whole program over and over and over and over and over again (whether it was done at all, how many times, to how many individuals, etc.) say so. Their word is good enough for Dustrag.
ncgreybr
April 22nd, 2009
11:17 am
Just curious here…if the Justice Department “creates” a law saying that all Jews should be killed and creamated, is it OK as long as it’s for the “good of the nation”? Does that make it “legal” if the Justice Department “creates” the law? Should we not prosecute the people who kill the Jews? Or do we admit that “they were just following the law” and look the other way? Should we prosecute the poeple who wrote that law?
ncgreybr
April 22nd, 2009
11:22 am
Just a hypothetic question, of course…..
ncgreybr
April 22nd, 2009
11:23 am
If we prosecuted those people, would it be a “witch hunt”, Jim?
Dusty
April 22nd, 2009
11:25 am
Reality Check,
I know of no State Department documents destroyed. No doubt there was a discussion. Important issues are always discussed.
I believe that Cheney has asked that all documents be open to the public. Why not? There is nothing to hide. No foundations destroyed. And NO destruction of our country because we were protected.
There is no appreciation for our safe America whatsoever by some liberals. They had rather lose the country than protect it.
Terrorists do not care whether we torture or not. They simply want to kill us and they say so openly. They also want to destroy Israel. That makes two countries they hate and wish to destroy. Torture has nothing to do with that wish. Extermination is the name for that goal.
Reality Check
April 22nd, 2009
11:30 am
Dusty, Give me a second and I will get you the name of the State Department officail that wrote the memo in question. And to your second point… If we conduct ourselves based on their standards, how are we any better than them??
DB, Gwinnettian
April 22nd, 2009
11:32 am
I simply cannot believe there is not more outrage that the Obama administration has ‘outed’ the CIA and seriously gutted their ability to defend us and obtain field intelligience.
Perhaps the lack of outrage is due to neither of those assertions bearing any resemblance to the truth?
Since 9/11 there have been no more attacks on US soil.
got anthrax?
Dusty
April 22nd, 2009
11:33 am
Tom,
“Their” word was good enough for Obama.
ncgreybr,
Wooten does not answer usually. If members of the CIA are prosecuted for doing their job of protecting America, then it will be called “The Pinnacle of Bush Hate”. History will recall it as the disgrace and dissolution of the Democratic Party.
AmVet
April 22nd, 2009
11:34 am
Holstein, take a hint. I’m neither denigrating women, nor dairy cattle.
Just vapid and vacuous neo-conned cheer leaders and anti-American thugs and their illegal activities.
Now go get milked and you’ll feel a WHOLE lot better…
bushwacker
April 22nd, 2009
11:34 am
All I know is that us not torturing terrorists so our guys don’t get tortured is a joke.
After seeing the video of them cutting that guy’s head off, honestly I DON’T GIVE A DAMN WHAT WE DO TO THEM, TORTURE THE HELL OUT OF EM!!
Algonquin J. Calhoun
April 22nd, 2009
11:39 am
11:10 am
A.J. Calhoun,
Do you get paid to front for terrorists against the USA or just do it on your own?
You fascist old crone, I happen to love this country! America embodies the hope for justice, equality and opportunity that no other nation can or has ever been able to offer. America is a land ruled by laws and those laws are predicated upon the notion that individual rights matter and that those rights include humane treatment of those accused of crimes. In wars past, torture was the tactic of the barbarian. It still is! The United States has always been above resorting to pulling out fingernails and the like. That is until the criminal George W. Hitler and Vic-president Satan stole office. They re-defined torture so they could torture without meeting the definition of torture. They are criminals and I want to see them executed for their crimes against humanity!
As for me, I served four years in the USMC. I served in Vietnam and I was and I am proud of my service. General Westmoreland was a friend of mine. Many other friends are public figures who have served this nation. I’ve earned the right to say what I want and I’m going to do it. I have served my country well and I love what America is supposed to be about and that’s freedom for our people and freedom from oppressors such as GWH and Satan. Now, let’s get to you. What have you done for this nation? Have you ever served anything, other than breakfast? Calling me, or even intimating that I’m, a terrorist is some low Republinazi tactic. To that I say, “screw you bitch.” You haven’t earned the right to question my patriotism but I definitely have a right to question yours and I do. You are a fascist douchebag who sits in a chair and supports the troops. Bitch, I’ve been a troop in harm’s way and I did it all so that scum like yourself could be asinine!
Dusty
April 22nd, 2009
11:40 am
Reality Check,
I said there were discussions..State Department, Justice Department, CIA and the decisions was made. It was a big discussion because no one wants to torture anyone. Nor do we kill prisoners.
Terrorists have no government, no Constitution, just a fanatical leader who says kill and they do; civilians, prisoners and anybody else they hate.
If you think Americans are like that, you are way out in left field, too far out to be retrieved.
Reality Check
April 22nd, 2009
11:40 am
Bushwacker,
I have seen the Video of Tim McVeigh blowing up the Ok city Federal Building….. Should we round up and Torture all 20 something, ex army white guys??
Jackie
April 22nd, 2009
11:48 am
@ A J Calhoun
Salute to fellow Viet Nam vet.
Dubya and Cheney are criminals that deserve ALL they can be given.
What a lot of these non-believers don’t seem to understand, if you lower yourself to the level of diminishing your own humanity, how are you any better than those you are fighting in defense of your nation?
get out much?
April 22nd, 2009
11:48 am
witch hunt? Funny, I didn’t know that Kenneth Starr was working on this.
Reality Check
April 22nd, 2009
11:52 am
No Dusty, To the contrary, I KNOW we are better than that. That is why we should not resort to things like torture. We have a standard of hunmanuity that is bigger than everyone. We control the moral highground and should never surrender that, regardless of any contrived rational that Cheney of Bush can muster.
Dusty
April 22nd, 2009
11:58 am
A.J.,
I appreciate your service. I wish you could do something about your name calling and insults. Your rhetoric and namecalling betrays any high ideals or stability.
I will continue to object to your Bush-hate and vitriolic antagonism. Any disagreemnt with your opinion brings it on. Try for a little control.
bushwacker
April 22nd, 2009
12:01 pm
I have a question for all you liberals who want to presecute the people who are trying to protect Americans including your sorry asses, was it illegal when the terrorist cut the americans head off?
Dusty
April 22nd, 2009
12:06 pm
Reality check,
You were not there when the decision was made. It was a one time decision for a specific reason. It was for the PROTECTION of our country.
When you give up your country it is GONE. There is neither high nor low ground. It is GONE ground. Our leaders have to make their decisions on how to save the USA and THEY DID.
Keep your high standards. I do. We need them. But don’t do it blindly.
catlady
April 22nd, 2009
12:07 pm
If Saxby is so worried about embarrassment, why doesn’t he resign?
Jackie
April 22nd, 2009
12:08 pm
@bushwacker
It is illegal to someone to kill another person.
With all due respect, don’t you believe dead is dead, regardless of the method?
Now, tell us what you have done to protect all of the sorry liberals who happen to be military vets?
bushwacker
April 22nd, 2009
12:10 pm
To reality check, yes if we have specific info that a particular 20 something white soldier is in involved in a possible terrorist attack on American citizens, by all means, torture them too!
These killers that they “torture” are known to be involved in future attacks, its not like we are picking up just any middle eastern looking fools and torturing them.
Dusty
April 22nd, 2009
12:11 pm
Ahh…I see AMVET THE APEMAN is here again. Too bad…..
GayGrayGeek
April 22nd, 2009
12:17 pm
I’m glad to see that the DustBuster, as always, cannot form a cogent argument nor communicate any support for her positions other than “Boogety Boogety!!!”.
Using her own “logic”: Since Dusty supports torture, and it’s well-established that torture is illegal, then Dusty support all lawbreakers, everywhere.
WHY DO YOU HATE AMERICA, DUSTY?
Poultry
April 22nd, 2009
12:17 pm
Remember that Jimmy Carter’s evisceration of the CIA came back to haunt him, and us. Did the CIA not exist it would be necessary to invent it.
I resent President Obama’s straddling of this issue. Steadfastly he stands with a foot in each camp. Chickenslop. Chickenslop and Amateur Hour.
I’d really like to see a responsible historian come up with a close history of America’s use of various coercive techniques in military interrogations. Sometimes I get the feeling that the word “torture” is as slippery as the word “terrorism”.
George Washington was a hardass when it came to intelligence gathering, and Alex Hamilton often was his hencher. Dwight Eisenhower had few qualms in that regard. A commander could give a captive one hour to save his own neck, and Ike didn’t have a problem with that. At slapping a couple GIs with battle fatigue, however, he drew the line. Washington and Eisenhower shared a knack for something utterly lacking in Obama, a keen sense of us and them.
Copyleft
April 22nd, 2009
12:17 pm
Dusty: Why are you still avoiding the question? It’s a simple yes-or-no:
Are you okay with people breaking the law in the name of national security?
Shouldn’t take you more than 30 seconds to answer “yes” or “no.” We’re all waiting….
Mike
April 22nd, 2009
12:25 pm
Obama is a Master of Doublespeak (MOD).
Here’s hoping Obama MOD becomes Obama OTP (One Term President).
Californication
April 22nd, 2009
12:36 pm
Do any of you liberals remember Daniel Pearl? I guess that was not torture, they just sawed his head off slowly while they filmed it for their entertainment. I guess asking them nicely for information should work, they are reasonable people.
AmVet
April 22nd, 2009
12:38 pm
Holstein, your vision is commendable!
No wonder your beloved Republican Party keeps getting decimated every other November.
And seriously, who the hell truly believes there is going to be a Republiconned “correction” in 2010? Or 2012? Or 2014? Or…
A future that the Tories cannot comprehend and will not see is coming straight at them…
KISS system
April 22nd, 2009
12:42 pm
Copyleft@9:29- Under normal circumstances I would totally agree with you 100%. But I do believe there are situations where I want the Govnment to do all and anything to protect us. I believe that should be it’s main focus anyway-to protect the citizens of the united states. 9/11 if anything taught us we are not above being attacked. For decades we/I believed falsely that no one would have the gonads to attack this country for fear of retribution. But no more. If any of these methods of extracting information saved my/your family or just one unknown U.S. citizen, to me it was worth it.
Dusty
April 22nd, 2009
12:42 pm
CopyLeft,
It takes me a while to answer dumb repetitive questions. I have to think of simple words.
A ONE time decision to use torture in an EXTREME situation does not make it legal except for that ONE time. The Justice Department said that waterboarding, not killing, was legal for that ONE exceptional time. Protection of the country is the job of the CIA. They are doing it!
Now, if you poor suffering (from torture) liberals will excuse me, I have to leave. Don’t forget now. Sanity is soothing. Try it!
Dusty
April 22nd, 2009
12:47 pm
Oh and a special goodbye to….AMVET THE APEMAN…au revoir!!
AmVet
April 22nd, 2009
12:48 pm
Toodles, Holstein…
JC in Powder Springs
April 22nd, 2009
12:48 pm
I’ll tell ya what torture is – it’s seeing garbage from Wooten every day in the AJC! I’d rather have my head slammed against a wall than read Wooten’s b.s.! Hey Jim – don’t you have a scoop on the President’s new dog? Now that be some fiiiine report’n!
catlady
April 22nd, 2009
12:49 pm
Dusty: when you “give it up” once, it is gone for good. I am talking about basic American rights (used to be guaranteed by the Bill of Rights) and what used to be American honor.
It is the Bristol Palin arguement. Just once doesn’t hurt anything right? And if you do it once, you might as well do it again and again, right? I mean, it is normal, and no one will know, right?
Wrong.
Reality Check
April 22nd, 2009
12:53 pm
Dusty,
For the record It was close to 300 Times not one. ( Not that the Facts matter)
Poultry
April 22nd, 2009
12:53 pm
@ Copyleft,
Do you believe that guardians of American national security should be subject to prosecution for violation of laws enacted, or regulations promulgated, retroactively? It’s a simple yes-or-no.
Torturer
April 22nd, 2009
12:59 pm
You know, JC, you don’t have to read Wooten’s opinions.
Beavis
April 22nd, 2009
1:01 pm
If Obama’s on a witch hunt, I can help him out – one of them is the Secretary of State and the other one is Speaker of the House.
Jefferson
April 22nd, 2009
1:02 pm
If your wife cheats on you, you should cheat on her to get even.
Big Bucks GOP
April 22nd, 2009
1:02 pm
Morgan Stanley said Wednesday it posted a net loss of $177 million in
the first quarter, compared with a $1.41 billion profit in the
comparable period in 2008. Its revenue fell 62 percent to $3 billion,
and the firm said it would reduce its first-quarter dividend to 5 cents
per common share.
Morgan Stanley also posted a $1.3 billion loss for the month of
December, which was broken out separately because of a change in the
firm’s financial reporting calendar.
“While challenging markets continued to impact our results this
quarter, we saw improved performance across most of our businesses
during the past three months,” John J. Mack, the company’s chairman and
chief executive, said in a statement announcing the results.
Big Bucks GOP
April 22nd, 2009
1:03 pm
The Obama administration has entered a tense showdown with several of
the nation’s largest banks that appears likely to determine whether
Chrysler survives,
Big Bucks GOP
April 22nd, 2009
1:04 pm
The banking industry is pressuring the Treasury Department to reduce
the cost for financial firms who want to exit the Troubled Asset Relief
Program,
Big Bucks GOP
April 22nd, 2009
1:07 pm
Two months after Steven Rattner left Wall Street for Washington, the
Quadrangle Group, his private investment company, is facing a widening
investigation into corruption in public pension funds — and fighting
for its future
I Report, You Bedwet
April 22nd, 2009
1:07 pm
You ever notice that a mindless libtard will NEVER give you an example definition of “torture” other than it’s bad? What I also find interesting is that not one single Democrat of authority now who had authority post-9/11 has acknowledged up front that he or she was against “torture” methods from day one. You ever notice how these bedwetters don’t ever take a STAND on something until they figure out it’s either 1) fashionable, or 2) ok with their constituents that put them in office, or 3) both. That’s not LEADERSHIP folks. That’s no better than merely making buying decisions to keep up with what the Jones’ like and have.
You want MY definition of torture? Here’s an example: the mindless hysteric Algorbots shoving their junkass global warming science down our children’s throats so much so that it affects their belief in the future of the planet – as in they say they will HAVE no planet to enjoy. Further, this nonsensical liberal horsecrap has stressed minority children at a greater rate than white children:
“There’s a new bogeyman lurking in the closet, and this one isn’t imaginary. Us. One out of three children aged 6 to 11 fears that Ma Earth won’t exist when they grow up, while more than half—56 percent—worry that the planet will be a blasted heath (or at least a very unpleasant place to live), according to a new survey. Commissioned by Habitat Heroes and conducted by Opinion Research, the telephone survey polled a national sample of 500 American preteens—250 males and 250 females. On a sliding scale of anxieties, minority kids have it worst; 75 percent of black children and 65 percent of Hispanic children believe that the planet will be irrevocably damaged by the time they reach adulthood.”
As if minority kids aren’t already at a disadvantage in health matters like obesity and diabetes. Now they are going to be at a mental disadvantage from Algorbotism. You can thank the mindless hysteria of liberalism in our public lib-run gubment schools for that.
More random thoughts brought to you by the mindlessness of liberalism:
*New York Times is down to $34M in cash assets and owes $1.3B in liabilities. Just sink that left wing bedwetting US intelligence exposing crap wipe already.
*Ahmadinejad knocks the Obama administration for the boycott of the UN “racism” conference. About the ONLY thing I’ve agreed with so far from that administration.
*Blarney Slobbering Frank is blaming Bush for the current economic financial meltdown in the mortgage industry: “a Bush-era policy to help low-income families become homeowners instead of renters contributed to the sub-prime mortgage crisis and, ultimately, the larger economic crisis now confronting the country.” –Here’s what SLOB said when the Bush administration wanted to INCREASE regs on Fan/Fred in 2003: “These two entities—Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac—are not facing any kind of financial crisis…the more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing.”
Don’t you just LOVE the mindlessness of libtardism? Idiots.
Jim Martin
April 22nd, 2009
1:08 pm
Saxby Chambliss is really like the King family, is he related to Dexter?
Big Bucks GOP
April 22nd, 2009
1:09 pm
In an effort to stave off a bankruptcy filing by MGM Mirage,
controlling investor Kirk Kerkorian is mulling a sale of The Mirage
casino in Las Vegas,
Big Bucks GOP
April 22nd, 2009
1:11 pm
Will the airlines be the next troubled industry to ask for a government
bailout? The industry reported major losses this week for the first
quarter, eating away at their cash cushions.
KISS system
April 22nd, 2009
1:15 pm
Catlady,Realitycheck,&Jefferson- I think one can always come up with situations pro & con. If it came down to saving my/your A*S I’m for it. Remember alot was time related,meaning we did’nt have exact timelines about possible future attacks.
Churchill's MOM
April 22nd, 2009
1:17 pm
Dusty, my father always said “When in a hole quite digging” it’s obvious your father naver gave you any good advice.
William Grove
April 22nd, 2009
1:18 pm
Man for a party that wants limited government and more power and freedom given to the individual you guys sure are quick to sign away your rights given to you by the constitution in the name of protecting the country. There was talk from you Republicans that was actually in support of racial profiling in the airports shortly after 9-11. I though the GOP was the party of individual rights, limited government, and individual responsibility? What happened to you guys? What’s next you gonna let the Feds do warrantless wireapping? Ohh wait we went down that road right….I get it now as long as it isn’t your rights the government tramps on then it is okay with the GOP, right? The law doesn’t have to be broken to carry out an investigation no matter how many time you GOP wacko’s watch Jack Bauer on “24″. If it is Muhammod’s rights one day it’s yours the next. But screw Muhammod and his funny clothes anyways right?
KISS system
April 22nd, 2009
1:30 pm
WmGrove-If you Or Muhammod fit the profile of people that are threating me,my family,or my country,then yes the govnmnt should take precautions to ensure our safety. Profiling has and is still used by law enforcement, It is a strong tool. The very one’s crying about individual rights and constitution are the ones that will cry “how could the govnmnt let this happen”!!! You can’t have it both way’s!! Sometimes it just not a cut/dry situation. Almost like life.
EVIL REPUBLICANS TIME IS UP
April 22nd, 2009
1:34 pm
WHAT`S TODAY WED? AND ALL THESE EVIL REPUBLICANS THAT GO TO CHURCH EVERY SUNDAY ARE SCREAMING KILL ALL THE ARABS DONT MATTER GUILT OR INNOCENT,TORTURE THEM OLD AND YOUNG JUST LIKE WE BOMB THE IRAQI PEOPLE WHO HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH TERROR.
THIS IS WHY MY NAME IS
EVIL REPUBLICANS TIME IS UP! BECAUSE YOUR WICKED EVIL WAY IS COMING TO A END,JESUS WAS ABOUT PEACE NOT WAR,BUT FORGIVENESS ALL OF NORTH AND SOUTH GEORGIA FAKE GOP DIXIE CHRISTIANS ARE JUST THAT FAKE.
suthrnbass
April 22nd, 2009
1:43 pm
Whether laws were broken or not, that is really not relevant. All interrogation techniques were done with approval by the administration in power at the time. They were deemed necessary due to the extreme circumstances we found ourselves in post 9/11.
To prosecute anyone for following directives and orders is immoral. If we do this, then anyone working in difficult roles such as the CIA interrogaters will refuse to follow any orders for fear they will be prosecuted by the next administration to take power. This could include military personnel as well. Do you want our military people taking seconds, minutes, or hours to argue with their superiors and determine if our actions are within legal boundaries? This will result in even more loss of life.
No, the appropriate way to handle this is to simply restate what is and is not allowed, give the appropriate directives, and only prosecute those who do not follow those new directives in the future.
This really is very clearly just another in the long continuing series of attempts to bash and embarrass the Bush administration.
He is not in power, his people are gone, why the liberal left still feels a need to continue on this path is beyond me. Isn’t the economy, nuclear power in Iran and N. Korea, continued military action in Afghanistan and Iraq, peoples lost retirement accounts, the jobless…aren’t these all enough to focus our time and energies on?
Ward
April 22nd, 2009
1:48 pm
The terrorists have always made it clear that they would use our laws and our ‘conscience’ against us, and that they know we don’t have the conviction to fight back, at least not in the long term. It’s an awful quandary when you have to sacrifice principles or sacrifice lives. Now that the Oh So Righteous Left has made it clear how they intend to act, or not react, I’d think it’s time to hunker down and prepare for the worst.
Leon
April 22nd, 2009
1:51 pm
Dusty, behmer, bushwhack, bedwetter et al….. You just don’t get it. Any podunk third world despot can torture, this country stood for something by standing against it! Now we’re no better, nor do we have the moral authority to condemn any sick, sadisitic behavior from anyone. THAT’S what seperated US from THEM you ignorant morons. The fact that our President is trying to salvage the path back to high ground FOR THE SAKE OF OUR COUNTRY is to be commended, not derided you imbecilic twits. Go back to your teabagging.
Dixie Christian
April 22nd, 2009
1:54 pm
You’re right, as ethics and morals become a thing of the past, the democrats certainly stand a chance to be the party of the future.