Trump Gives Defense of Torture Speech Based on Internet Hoax?

Seriously, Republicans, THIS is your guy? Image from source, MSNBC

Seriously, I just can't. I can't figure out how this pompous, hideous-looking creature with the perplexing hair hat, a virtually fact-free Palinesque speaking style, and completely repellent personality is still--STILL--your guy.

He can say or do whatever he wants. It can be a blatant lie. It can be outrageously offensive. It can be completely counter to every one of your bedrock conservative "values." He can curse. He can insult. He is crass and classless. He has a boundless ego. And he has virtually no details on how he would enact an agenda that is far, far deeper into fantasyland than anything Bernie Sanders has put forth. And he's still your guy. His one saving grace (and believe me, "grace" is only being used because it is a time-worn phrase) is that he doesn't appear to be the type to try to put his religious beliefs ahead of the Constitution. No doubt because he either has no real religious beliefs, or is a self-worshipper.

That's not enough, and is still contrary to ordinary conservative principles. I've got to think when this election is over, whether Trump loses, or--horrifyingly--he wins, that Conservatives are going to wake up with a massive hangover.

[Excerpt]

Trump hails torture, mass killings with ‘pigs blood’ ammo in SC

Donald Trump closed his South Carolina campaign on Friday with a rambling speech highlighted by a giddy, almost childlike, enthusiasm for torturing and summarily executing the suspected enemies of America in the name of safety. . .

Read more at: MSNBC

Bush Era Memo Released: They Knew it Was Torture

The Decider and Darth Cheney. Image from
source, Huffington Post

Since President Obama was inaugurated, there have been rumblings from the right about impeaching him. They don't care why (as they didn't with Clinton. . .lying about a blow job?), they just want it done. They haven't gotten very far, but you can bet that if Obama wins a second term, the volume on that idea is going to go way up. Which strikes me as ungrateful, if nothing else.

Ungrateful? Yes. Because Nancy Pelosi long ago took impeachment "off the table," when it came to George W. Bush. And because President Obama declared that he would not seek to investigate the Bush Administration's potential crimes. Bush, Cheney, Rove, Rumsfeld, Rice and the rest got away scot-free! They took a wrecking ball to the country, and other parts of the world, and now they get to comfortably retire, with no worries about repercussions. We're talking war crimes here.

Pffft! War crimes! Why, that's just Bush Derangement Syndrome! Uh, no, it's not. Torture is a war crime, and the just released memo shows that the Bush Administration knew it was torture. Arguably, we should be pissed at the Obama Administration for insisting it won't investigate, and for not stepping cleanly away from all of the "expanded executive powers" created in the Bush Years. The story below does a good enough job pointing out those issues. I'm actually more concerned by the prospect of a future President Ryan or Cantor deciding that torture is cool again.

[Excerpt]


New Bush-Era Torture Memo Released, Raises Questions About What Has Changed And What Hasn't 

A six-year-old memo from within the George W. Bush administration that came to light this week acknowledges that White House-approved interrogation techniques amounted to "war crimes." The memo's release has called attention to what has changed since President Barack Obama took office, but it also raises questions about what hasn't. . .

Read more at: Huffignton Post

Bin Laden's Location Not Revealed by Waterboarding

Image from source, DailyKos

The right-wing world spin of the day is that torture works! But it turns out, not so much. And how disgusting anyway. . .I mean, if on the rare occasion, torture did work, does that make it right? We've usually as a country been on the side of prosecuting torturers, not committing it. It astounds me that we have a huge percentage of Americans who are suddenly for torture.

[Excerpt]

Waterboarding did not reveal Osama bin Laden trail

. . .Marcy Wheeler has much more on the torture timeline that disproves this ongoing effort to credit Bush's torture policies for leading U.S. intelligence to bin Laden. She writes at emptywheel. . .

Read it here: DailyKos

Keith Olbermann on the Very Chatty Dick Cheney

A lot of people complain that Countdown with Keith Olbermann focuses too much on the previous administration. Frankly, I'm glad somebody is. A lot of crap went down there. Stuff that make Watergate and the little blue dress seem rather silly.

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

"Mancow" on Olbermann About Waterboarding Experience

I have very little knowledge about right-wing "shock jock" Erich "Mancow" Muller. I don't even know why a media personality would want to be known by such an odd nickname. But I know that a lot of right-wingers are fans of this dude. And that he's repudiated their notion that waterboarding is not torture. So, he'll probably land in the slag heap with Colin Powell.

Right-wing Radio Host Endures Waterboarding: It's Torture

Keith Olbermann proclaimed Sean Hannity irrelevant yesterday. As though we didn't already know that. But Hannity's agreement to be waterboarded for charity--now nearly one month old--has gone unheeded. At least by Hannity himself. Fellow right-wing radio host "Mancow" underwent the procedure, lasted a whopping 6 seconds under controlled conditions, and declared the procedure "torture." Hannity remains a coward, and Olbermann will be sending his charity money to someone else. Damn, I'd have like to seen Hannity in any sort of duress.

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

Lawrence O'Donnell vs. Phil Musser on Torture

As more and more information spills out on Bush Era "Enhanced Interrogation" (torture), I'm more and more amazed at the Republican response to it, even from friends. As George W. Bush himself said, "America doesn't torture." So, let's call it something else. Give it a Frank Luntzian/Karl Rovian name, and it magically becomes something else.

But water boarding is torture, as defined by international and federal law. I heard a local right-wing radio host today (I forget her name, KXNT has an interchangeable roster of female hosts, like FOX "News"), comparing water boarding to "a little water in your face, boo, hoo." She and others keep trying to muddy the waters by making the definition of torture open to interpretation. And if it's defined as torture, it's a liberal definition! Anyway, so what if we torture, they say, these are terrorists! And the information got us information to protect us from their evil plots!

So it's not torture, but it might be torture, but it's OK because it works. Forget that these prisoners were suspected terrorists, not confirmed. And they were allowed no counsel, not even told what they were picked up for. It's all so un-American, and yet the conservatives have no problem whatsoever with it. So we broke a few laws, the ends justify the means! But do they?

Sean Hannity Volunteers to be Waterboarded

Charles Grodin got the manatee (™John Cleese), Sean Hannity, to agree to be waterboarded of all things. See, Seanny seems to think that waterboarding is no big whoop. After all, Ollie North had it done to him, and look what a great guy he turned out to be. It's actually quite amusing when Hannity throws out "Ollie North did it!," due to an almost adenoidal squeak in his voice.

Many--including me--have doubted the legitimacy of North's and Hannity's "Freedom Concerts." But Hannity may have unwittingly hit upon the most guaranteed successful charity event in history. Who wouldn't pay to watch that man suffer. . .and maybe learn something in the process?

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

Truth About Bush Torture Tapes & Memos Revealed

There were revelations about the Bush Administration's policies on torture today, and I wanted to write about them. But, I've been fighting a cold off and on for three weeks, and I'm pooped. So, why not get an opinion on it from Rachel Maddow while I sit back for a while? Thanks much!

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

Bush Breaks Out Veto Pen: Waterboarding OK!

The last seven-plus years has been strange and surreal, hasn't it? The so-called conservative party has tossed all of their alleged principles in order to "feel safe," letting George W. Bush and his administration do whatever the heck they wanted, even if it meant letting Bush become a mini-dictator. The formerly Republican-controlled Congress did so little oversight of The Decider, he barely ever needed to break out his veto pen.

Now that we have a (nominally) Democratic Congress, the Commander Guy has deigned to use the pen a little more often. Sometimes he only has to threaten to. But the things he vetoes are so odd. Stem cell research to cure diseases? Children's health care? And he threatened to veto extending the (supposedly vital) Protect America AT&T Bush's Ass Act, because it didn't contain retroactive immunity for telecoms? Now there's this:

[Excerpt]

Bush vetoes bill outlawing CIA waterboarding

President George W. Bush on Saturday vetoed legislation passed by Congress that would have banned the CIA from using waterboarding and other controversial interrogation techniques. [snip]

"Because the danger remains, we need to ensure our intelligence officials have all the tools they need to stop the terrorists," Bush said in his weekly radio address. He added that the vetoed legislation "would diminish these vital tools."

Read more at: Raw Story

John McCain Casts a Vote for Torture

Photo from source, Think Progress

The headline is not meant to mislead. McCain voted against declaring waterboarding torture. This is in effect a vote for legalized torture.

Now that I've cleared that up, I've just got to wonder what other weirdness this Presidential campaign has in store for us. John McCain, quite famously, was a victim of torture. He has previously been quite vocal against torture under any circumstances. But McCain is desperately unpopular among the conservative base. So, he essentially flip-flops. So much for the "straight talk express."

[Excerpt]

Maverick Fails The Test: McCain Votes Against Waterboarding Ban

Today, the Senate brought the Intelligence Authorization Bill to the floor, which contained a provision from Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) establishing one interrogation standard across the government. The bill requires the intelligence community to abide by the same standards as articulated in the Army Field Manual and bans waterboarding. [snip]

Mr. McCain voted “no” on Wednesday afternoon. . .

Read more at: Think Progress

OK, So We Waterboarded. . .

Photo from source, Times Online

It's now out there, officially--finally--it has been admitted that the United States used waterboarding as an "interrogation" technique. And virtually everyone knows that waterboarding is torture. Is impeachment still off the table?

[Excerpt]

CIA admits waterboarding of terror suspects

It was a good day to bury bad news. As millions of Americans were glued to the most exciting presidential race in living memory, the Bush Administration admitted publicly for the first time that it had used the simulated drowning technique of waterboarding on terror suspects in its custody. . .

Read more at: Times Online

Dick Durbin Wants Investigations Into Waterboarding

Photo from source, TPM Muckraker

Finally! What the hell took so long? Seriously, dude, I'm glad you're calling for it, but where have you been?

[Excerpt]

Durbin Calls for Investigation of Waterboarding

Earlier today, CIA Director Michael Hayden confirmed that the U.S. had subjected three detainees to waterboarding.

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) thinks that’s worth exploring. And in a letter today, he called on Attorney General Michael Mukasey to open an investigation. . .

Read more at: TPM Muckraker

We STILL Don't Know if Waterboarding is Torture?

Image from Boston.com

The headline is of course misleading. We do know that waterboarding is torture. But Mukasey can't say that, because we've done it. Bush (or others in his administration) has ordered it. If Mukasey says so, then Bush is guilty of a crime. So, he has to pussy-foot around it. This is all so stupid.

[Excerpt]

Mukasey: ‘I Don’t Know’ Whether Bush Has Violated FISA

In today’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Attorney General Mike Mukasey refused to answer whether Bush had violated the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act under the Terrorist Surveillance Program. . .

Read more (with video) at: Think Progress

Guantanamo Advisor Won't Call Waterboarding "Torture"

Photo from AndyWorthington.co.uk

We all know that waterboarding is torture, don't we? It was considered so in World War II, so why not now? The easy answer is, if we declare it to be torture, the Bush Administration is ipso facto guilty of war crimes. So they can't say it. In my opinion, those who deny that waterboarding is torture should be forced to endure it. That's putting your money where your mouth is.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Though the man in this article is named "Thomas Hartmann," he's a completely different guy from Air America Radio host Thom Hartmann. Just thought I'd clear that up!

[Excerpt]

Guantanamo Legal Adviser Refuses To Say Iranians Waterboarding Americans Would Be Torture

During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on “The Legal Rights of Guantanamo Detainees” this morning, Brigadier General Thomas W. Hartmann, the legal adviser at Guantanamo Bay, repeatedly refused to call the hypothetical waterboarding of an American pilot by the Iranian military torture. “I’m not equipped to answer that question,” said Hartmann. . .

Read more (with video) at: Think Progress

Harry Reid Wants Us to Say "NO" to Mukasey

Image from source, a letter from Harry Reid

While everyone has been writing about Chuck Schumer and Diane Feinstein's capitulation on the Attorney General nomination, I'll be honest, I had no idea what Senate Majority Leader (and my Senator) Harry Reid's position was.

Thanks to an email from the Senator, now I know. And thank you, Sen. Reid, for restoring a little of my faith in you. Here's an excerpt:

Waterboarding is torture.

Because Michael Mukasey cannot admit to this basic fact, I will vote against his nomination.

I respect Michael Mukasey and believe he is an intelligent and capable man. However, given our recent history, it is important that our next attorney general be able to stand up to the President and for the rule of law. I am not confident that Michael Mukasey will.

Send the message: If he can't say no to torture - we say no to Mukasey.

Keith Olbermann's Special Comment: Waterboarding

As mentioned earlier, Keith Olbermann presented one of his more spectacular "Special Comments" this evening (Nov. 5, 2007) on Countdown with Keith Olbermann. The topic, George W. Bush, his administration, torture, and specifically, waterboarding.

I couldn't possibly add to this, except to say it should be required viewing by every member of Congress, not to mention American Citizens. Watch.

UPDATE: These videos have already been pulled once. I've replaced them with working copies. Mea culpa if they disappear again.

(In 2 Parts)