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Friday, May 22, 2009
Media Matters: Hannity describes those who oppose waterboarding as "moral fool[s]"
This is why we must prosecute these crimes against humanity.
The man obviously does not understand or know what the word morality means.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Obama Vs. Cheney: Truth Vs. Untruth – No Contest!
by Dee Newman
On one side we have an extremely popular and trustworthy sitting President delivering an important speech on U. S. foreign policy at the National Archives with the United States Constitution as a backdrop.
On the other side we have a disgraced former Vice President with a 13 percent approval rating from the American people trying, once gain, to unsuccessfully defend the indefensible for a fee to a small room full of political cronies.
Now, to describe this so-called historic event as NBC’s Chuck Todd did to his colleague, David Gregory, as the “ultimate debate” between “the most credible people you could have arguing each side” seems to be a bit ludicrous.
Dick Cheney, credible? If he is the most credible person the GOP can find to defend their position, they have a major problem.
Here are the two speeches. You decide if this was the “ultimate debate” between the most "credible" people you could have arguing each side?
I had only one concern about the President's speech – "prolonged detention" to prevent future attacks. How could that be Constitutional?
Watch below as Cheney, once again, uses fear, falsehoods and “keeping us safe” from another 9/11 attack to justify torture and other crimes against humanity, while linking the invasion of Iraq and Saddam Hussein to 9/11 and weapons of mass destruction (including nuclear weapons).
In another lame attempt to try to explain and defend their use of “harsh interrogation techniques,” Cheney argues the Bush administration focused on Iraq because al Qaeda was seeking nuclear weapons and since Iraq had nuclear weapons and "known ties" to terrorists, they "might transfer such weapons to terrorists."
It should not be a huge surprise to anyone that Cheney would lie, once more, about Iraq’s ties to al Qaeda and WMD’s, but to tell those lies while trying to defend torture and discredit President Obama’s national defense efforts should, once and for all, render him a pathetic, pathological liar.
For those of you who did not see the Steve Kroft Interview with President Obama on 60 Minutes where he described the former Vice President's policies as essentially a complete and utter failure – view the following:
On one side we have an extremely popular and trustworthy sitting President delivering an important speech on U. S. foreign policy at the National Archives with the United States Constitution as a backdrop.
On the other side we have a disgraced former Vice President with a 13 percent approval rating from the American people trying, once gain, to unsuccessfully defend the indefensible for a fee to a small room full of political cronies.
Now, to describe this so-called historic event as NBC’s Chuck Todd did to his colleague, David Gregory, as the “ultimate debate” between “the most credible people you could have arguing each side” seems to be a bit ludicrous.
Dick Cheney, credible? If he is the most credible person the GOP can find to defend their position, they have a major problem.
Here are the two speeches. You decide if this was the “ultimate debate” between the most "credible" people you could have arguing each side?
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
I had only one concern about the President's speech – "prolonged detention" to prevent future attacks. How could that be Constitutional?
Watch below as Cheney, once again, uses fear, falsehoods and “keeping us safe” from another 9/11 attack to justify torture and other crimes against humanity, while linking the invasion of Iraq and Saddam Hussein to 9/11 and weapons of mass destruction (including nuclear weapons).
In another lame attempt to try to explain and defend their use of “harsh interrogation techniques,” Cheney argues the Bush administration focused on Iraq because al Qaeda was seeking nuclear weapons and since Iraq had nuclear weapons and "known ties" to terrorists, they "might transfer such weapons to terrorists."
It should not be a huge surprise to anyone that Cheney would lie, once more, about Iraq’s ties to al Qaeda and WMD’s, but to tell those lies while trying to defend torture and discredit President Obama’s national defense efforts should, once and for all, render him a pathetic, pathological liar.
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
For those of you who did not see the Steve Kroft Interview with President Obama on 60 Minutes where he described the former Vice President's policies as essentially a complete and utter failure – view the following:
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Hannity Goes Head-To-Head With Ventura
And, Ventura comes out more than a head above Hannity.
Hannity tries to defend Bush with an absurd counter to Ventura's argument that Obama inherited the worst economic disaster since the Great depression. He tells Ventura "George Bush inherited the negative impact of 9/11."
Believe it or not, that's what Hannity asserted. He actually tried to convince his audience that Bush "inherited" the fallout of an event that happened nine months into his term.
Ventura, was stunned! Momentarily, lost for words. But, he recovered quickly.
Hannity then launched into a weird and rambling diatribe about how the Clinton administration's inattention to terrorists had caused 9/11.
Ventura calmly repudiates it:
HANNITY: There were a group of radicals that were at war with the United States and we weren't at war with them. We saw the first Trade Center bombing, the Embassy bombings, the USS Cole, and we think radicals that think God is going to reward them in Heaven with virgins. Jesse, how do you stop them?
VENTURA: Well, you pay attention to memos on August 6 that tell you exactly what bin Laden's gonna do.
Hannity tries to defend Bush with an absurd counter to Ventura's argument that Obama inherited the worst economic disaster since the Great depression. He tells Ventura "George Bush inherited the negative impact of 9/11."
Believe it or not, that's what Hannity asserted. He actually tried to convince his audience that Bush "inherited" the fallout of an event that happened nine months into his term.
Ventura, was stunned! Momentarily, lost for words. But, he recovered quickly.
Hannity then launched into a weird and rambling diatribe about how the Clinton administration's inattention to terrorists had caused 9/11.
Ventura calmly repudiates it:
HANNITY: There were a group of radicals that were at war with the United States and we weren't at war with them. We saw the first Trade Center bombing, the Embassy bombings, the USS Cole, and we think radicals that think God is going to reward them in Heaven with virgins. Jesse, how do you stop them?
VENTURA: Well, you pay attention to memos on August 6 that tell you exactly what bin Laden's gonna do.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
New York Times: Credit Card Industry Aims to Profit From Sterling Payers
An article written by Andrew Martin quotes Edward L. Yingling, the chief executive of the American Bankers Association, “It will be a different business,” said Mr. Yingling, “Those that manage their credit well will in some degree subsidize those that have credit problems.” The American Bankers Association has been lobbying Congress for more lenient legislation on behalf of the nation’s biggest banks.
Click here to read the entire New York Times article.
Click here to read the entire New York Times article.
Groups Seek Disbarment for Bush's Top Lawyers
From: CNN POLITICS.com
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A coalition of progressive groups sought Monday to have 12 Bush administration lawyers disbarred for their roles in crafting the legal rationale for so-called enhanced interrogation techniques that many view as torture.
"It is time to hold these lawyers accountable for violating their legal oath," Kevin Zeese, an attorney for the coalition, said in a written statement.
"Just as the bar would suspend an attorney who advised a police officer to torture and brutalize a detained immigrant or criminal defendant, the bar must suspend these attorneys for advocating and causing the torture of war detainees. The disciplinary boards that hear these complaints must act or they will be seen as complicit in the use of torture."
Zeese called disbarment "an important step toward the ultimate accountability of criminal prosecution."
The group registered formal complaints against David Addington, John Ashcroft, Stephen Bradbury, Jay Bybee, Michael Chertoff, Douglas Feith, Alice Fisher, Timothy Flanigan, Alberto Gonzales, William Haynes II, Michael Mukasey and John Yoo.
Ashcroft, Gonzales and Mukasey served as attorney general in former President George W. Bush's administration. Chertoff served as homeland security secretary.
The complaints, filed with the bars in California, the District of Columbia, New York, Pennsylvania and Texas, also seek other forms of disciplinary action in addition to disbarment.
A preliminary internal report on the Justice Department investigation into the authors of the Bush administration's "torture memos" indicated that the federal government might also urge state bar associations to take sanctions against the memo writers, according to two government sources.
The draft, which has been sent to Attorney General Eric Holder for approval or revisions, reportedly does not call for criminal prosecutions.
Sources said investigators for the Justice Department's ethics unit, the Office of Professional Responsibility, have focused heavily on internal communications involving Bradbury, Bybee and Yoo.
The three former Office of Legal Counsel lawyers were top officials who provided legal guidance, including permissible interrogation procedures to the CIA and other executive branch agencies. Guidance written by Bybee and Yoo in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks allowed for harsh interrogation techniques that later were withdrawn.
The draft report is said to be critical of Yoo and Bybee in particular.
_____________
Yesterday I received an email from VELVETREVOLUTION.US: The DisbarTortureLawyers Campaign asking me to sign a petion to disbar a number of Bush Administration lawyers including John Yoo, Jay Bybee, Stephen Bradbury, Alberto Gonzales, John Ashcroft, Michael Chertoff, Alice Fisher, William Haynes II, Douglas Feith, Michael Mukasey, Timothy Flanigan, and David Addington.
To learn more about DisbarTortureLawyers.com click here.
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A coalition of progressive groups sought Monday to have 12 Bush administration lawyers disbarred for their roles in crafting the legal rationale for so-called enhanced interrogation techniques that many view as torture.
"It is time to hold these lawyers accountable for violating their legal oath," Kevin Zeese, an attorney for the coalition, said in a written statement.
"Just as the bar would suspend an attorney who advised a police officer to torture and brutalize a detained immigrant or criminal defendant, the bar must suspend these attorneys for advocating and causing the torture of war detainees. The disciplinary boards that hear these complaints must act or they will be seen as complicit in the use of torture."
Zeese called disbarment "an important step toward the ultimate accountability of criminal prosecution."
The group registered formal complaints against David Addington, John Ashcroft, Stephen Bradbury, Jay Bybee, Michael Chertoff, Douglas Feith, Alice Fisher, Timothy Flanigan, Alberto Gonzales, William Haynes II, Michael Mukasey and John Yoo.
Ashcroft, Gonzales and Mukasey served as attorney general in former President George W. Bush's administration. Chertoff served as homeland security secretary.
The complaints, filed with the bars in California, the District of Columbia, New York, Pennsylvania and Texas, also seek other forms of disciplinary action in addition to disbarment.
A preliminary internal report on the Justice Department investigation into the authors of the Bush administration's "torture memos" indicated that the federal government might also urge state bar associations to take sanctions against the memo writers, according to two government sources.
The draft, which has been sent to Attorney General Eric Holder for approval or revisions, reportedly does not call for criminal prosecutions.
Sources said investigators for the Justice Department's ethics unit, the Office of Professional Responsibility, have focused heavily on internal communications involving Bradbury, Bybee and Yoo.
The three former Office of Legal Counsel lawyers were top officials who provided legal guidance, including permissible interrogation procedures to the CIA and other executive branch agencies. Guidance written by Bybee and Yoo in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks allowed for harsh interrogation techniques that later were withdrawn.
The draft report is said to be critical of Yoo and Bybee in particular.
_____________
Yesterday I received an email from VELVETREVOLUTION.US: The DisbarTortureLawyers Campaign asking me to sign a petion to disbar a number of Bush Administration lawyers including John Yoo, Jay Bybee, Stephen Bradbury, Alberto Gonzales, John Ashcroft, Michael Chertoff, Alice Fisher, William Haynes II, Douglas Feith, Michael Mukasey, Timothy Flanigan, and David Addington.
To learn more about DisbarTortureLawyers.com click here.
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