As always, Republican loyalists introduce abortion to avoid declaring that torture is wrong, and the Republicans who encouraged it in hopes of compelling some sort of made up link between saddam Hussein and the September 11 attacks are evil.

The Democrats who did not object are merely spineless.

Made up stories about ticking time bombs indicate the degree to which Republicans live in the fantasy world as exemplified by the TV show "24".

Valwayne, like all Conservatives, loves the idea that people are tortured. And makes up scenarios where everyone in prison, regardless of the reason, becomes a "terrorist" because those who authorized the torture (Rumsfeld) said so: And no other reason.

How many of those who were tortured by the Bush Administration have been convicted of the September 11 attacks?

And I, for one, do not for one minute believe the Bush Administration claims that 'only a few' were tortured. The Bush team lied repeatedly and consistently. And no one should believe any of their claims about how "few" people were tortured. I guarantee that, as more information is brought out, we will find that the number tortured ran into the hundreds, with little or no connection to terrorists of any kind.

But the Loyal Busies will forever defend torture, because that is what they do.

The "ticking time bomb" is just a smoke screen. The fact is that Conservatives have sworn to protect their hero, George w. Bush, from any accountability forever. In order to do that they have defended federal spending deficits (the Wall Street Journal ran these editorials steadily from 2003 through 2006), incompetence (remember the $11 billion in cash that was shipped into occupied Iraq and “disappeared”), and now torturing prisoners.

As more revelations of Bush Administration crimes and incompetence come out, we will get to watch Conservatives defend things they have condemned in the past and will, of course, condemn again in the future: Just never when Bush did it.

That is what it means to be Loyal Bushies.

Re: " Would it be acceptable to rape a child if there were a ticking bomb under the Empire State Building and you sincerely believed that raping a child was the only way to find it?""

If the Bush Administration did it, you bet your life they would say it was.

The RNC leadership is doing everything in its power to lock in the base. And the word “Socialism” is a magic word among the Radical Right. Count on them to repeat this word every chance they get: From now through the 2010 elections.

The Radical right somehow believes that the rest of America is as reactive to that word as they are.

The risk for Democrats (and hope among Republicans) is that Democrats react to that word and try to “defend socialism”. No one on the Left has taken the bait, going back to the Obama campaign, but the risk is that the media, sheep that they are, will fall into the trap and start asking Democratic politicians, “are you really a socialist?”

FoxNews “reporters” will certainly do this. We will see if the rest of the flock follows.

If Texas were to secede from the United States, certainly it would have to withdraw any Texas National Guard units serving in Iraq or Afghanistan to defend the “homeland”, leaving those areas to the Taliban (Afghanistan) or insurgents (Iraq).

Why aren’t our super patriots referring to an attempt by the Texas governor and Republican Party to destroy the United States during wartime with the word it deserves, “Treason”?

The effectivity of torture had nothing to do with the Bush Administration's policies.

Conservatives just love the idea of people being tortured, for any excuse whatsoever.

Re: "Great post !! It just seems that the left wants to keep stirring up the dust and not get to any resolution. The EIT breifings to Congress(the gang of 8) included Democrat leaders including Nancy Pelosi."

the fact that spineless Democrats went along with it does not make it right.

If there ever is any accountability (doubtful), I can guarantee two things:

1. While it will not be 100%, a large proportion, perhaps more than 50% of Liberals will hold Democrats equally responsible with Republicans for making torture official US policy.

2. There will not be one single Conservative, anywhere in the United States, who will hold a single Republican accountable. Anywhere, any time. That is because Conservatives love torture itself and Conservatives are more loyal to the Republican Party than they are to the United States of America and its honor (just ask the govenor of Texas).

The Republican Party has made it a matter of Party discipline that Republicans must now defend the use of torture, every where that the Bush Administration practiced it. No matter what. At some point in the (near) future, we will learn that even more “enhanced” techniques were used (as always, the truth about the Bush Administration comes out in drips and draps). When that happens, whether it is beatings, or worse, every Republican, everywhere, will defend it. No matter what.

Republicans have traded their loyalty to country for loyalty to party. They also, during the Bush years, traded their soul for political power.

There is no turning back now.

The problem that Barak Obama has is that the Republican party has sworn 100% alegience to everyone in the Bush Administration and will paralyze the government if any Loyal Bushie, any time, is ever help accountable for anything. (Not that they aren't 100% negative on Barak Obama anyway).

President Obama has, apparently made the second-worst choice by trying to get the US out of a Depressoin. It stinks, but I understand why.

But when is anyone going to start holdig Republicans accountable for protecting criminals as part of their official party platform?