NotOrbitBoy,

Considering that there is no evidence currently available, other than claims by Bush officials that torture saved us, I'm surprised that you aren't calling for an investigation into the torture program. After all, having an investigation is the only hope for you to prove your theory about whether torture works. Don't you want to see if there is any REAL documentation to back up these claims or do you think faith in what these Bush officials tell us and not actual evidence is sufficient?

fairtrialforw, thanks for the link to the NATO story.

Lets see, you'd rather one non-American be protected from discomfort and 4,000 Americans die, just so you can take a moral stand. That's really interesting. -- Vacca

Vacca, you are a cowardly piece of scum.

You argue that you support others torturing people so you can sleep at night. Fuck you --- take pills.

-- heru-ur

[Read heru-ur's other letters]

Permalink Friday, March 27, 2009 02:08 PM PDT

LOL. Thanks heru-ur. You just made me spit out my drink when I read your comment about the pills.

And my thanks to so many of you for providing such equally wonderful responses to Vacca. I'm sure you've helped him/her out enormously in learning how to deal with his/her superiority complex. It's going to take a long time to help cure him/her but you guys have really laid an excellent foundation.

Waterboarding Works...

...according to this ex-CIA agent.

Abu Zubayda was waterboarded at Gitmo, and; "..reportedly gave up information that indirectly led to the the 2003 raid in Pakistan yielding the arrest of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed..." - source below

KSM masterminded 911.

Waterboarding ("torture") worked. It's success will no doubt be questioned by the salonistas, as they try to unwind their undies, entangled in a bundy.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/12/11/agent.tapes/index.html#cnnSTCText

Hey NotOrbitBoy, In addition to the information from Newsweek and Jane Mayer's book The Darkside that I already posted to refute this claim, looks like The Washington Post also refutes it. This is from Sunday's Post.

Detainee's Harsh Treatment Foiled No Plots

Abu Zubaida Was a Low-Level Player Whose Interrogation Produced False Leads, Officials Say

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/28/AR2009032802066.html?hpid=topnews

Amazing! Great catch, Glenn.

So now that Evan Thomas has admitted that he has an "establishment persuasion" mindset (something we already knew) and that "by definition, establishments believe in propping up the existing order" how can he honestly believe that he or any of his fellow establishment journalists are capable of fulfilling the primary role of a journalist - that of serving as the watchdog for the people?

"By definition, establishments believe in propping up the existing order. Members of the ruling class have a vested interest in keeping things pretty much the way they are. Safeguarding the status quo, protecting traditional institutions, can be healthy and useful, stabilizing and reassuring. But sometimes, beneath the pleasant murmur and tinkle of cocktails, the old guard cannot hear the sound of ice cracking."

"Healthy and useful", "stabilizing and reassuring" for whom, Mr. Thomas - certainly not the people and certainly not for the journalism profession.

When "journalists" believe that their role is to safeguard the status quo and protect traditional institutions, like our current "establishment" journalists believe, then they're no longer journalists, they're faux journalists - mere propaganda mouthpieces for the ruling class. And that, Mr. Thomas is why the public views "establishment journalists" with such utter contempt.

This is not good news.

Bill Would Federalize Cybersecurity

Senate Proposal Would Affect Even Some Private Networks

[snip]

Addressing what intelligence officials describe as a gaping vulnerability, the legislation also calls for the appointment of a White House cybersecurity “czar” with unprecedented authority to shut down computer networks, including private ones, if a cyberattack is underway, the officials said.

And look who introduced the legislation

[snip]

The legislation, co-sponsored by Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.) and Sen. Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine), was drafted with White House input. While the White House indicated it supported some key concepts of the bill, there has been no official endorsement.

Many of the proposals were based on recommendations of a landmark study last year by the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Yeah, Jay Rockefeller - AT&T’s best friend in the Senate and someone whose demonstrated over and over that he doesn't give a hoot about American’s privacy. GAWD!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/31/AR2009033103684.html

It was so weird tonight. I'd just gotten done reading the Horton blog and went to WaPo to see if there were any interesting stories before going to bed and then I saw the cybersecurity story. Amazing.

Here's another piece about the scary new Rockefeller/Snowe cybersecurity bill. Within the article is a link to the working draft on this bill.

Cybersecurity law would give feds unprecedented net control

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/04/01/federal_cybersecurity_legislation/

I just finished watching the cspan video. You did a great job Glenn! I only wish that you were on TV more often so that a wider audience could benefit from hearing your views.

That was the best Moyer show yet! First we have William Black detailing this wholesale fraud and then we have Glenn and Amy talking about how the traditional media has failed the American people. Wow!

We've really got to start searching for reasonable conservative groups so that we can start making alliances with them to hit these politicians from both sides of the aisle. The same thing is happening with torture. Politicians on both sides want the story to just go away and the media is doing their best to help make it so.

That's exactly what I just did. I had just finished when I saw your post. LOL