Letters to the Editor
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Also in 1996...
Congressional Republicans blocked tougher anti-terrorism legislation introduced by the Clinton administration.
Republican leaders met with White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta in response to the president's call for "the very best ideas" for fighting terrorism. Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, emerged from the meeting and said, "These are very controversial provisions that the White House wants. Some they're not going to get." Did he want to tortrure people and ignore the Geneva Conventions? No, adding taggants to explosives was too controversial for the GOP then.
http://www.cnn.com/US/9607/30/clinton.terrorism/
Congress passed another anti-terrorism bill that was a watered down version of the administration proposal. Sen. Don Nickles, R-Oklahoma, praised the bill, while complaining "We don't want a police state." This, after the bill "deleted many of the Senate's anti-terrorism provisions because of lawmakers' concerns about increasing federal law enforcement powers."
http://www.cnn.com/US/9604/18/anti.terror.bill/index.html
The concerns of Hatch and Nickles and the rest of the GOP were abandoned, of course -- not on 9/11 but eight months earlier when a Republican moved back into the White House.
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cowards
as senselessly vengeful as this administration is, with its seeming taste for torture, this bill has always been an escape-hatch for people who are probably getting very nervous about just what might happen if, in an investigation by a Dem-controlled congress, they're found guilty of violating the War Crimes act.
It's essentially a bunch of cowards trying to re-write the law so they won't lose their jobs, and worse, for approving the use of methods in clear violation of Federal Law.
Everyone involved in pushing this legislation, from the lowliest House member on up, is a yellow-bellied piece of scum.
I just hope the dems take the house in November, and immediately spend a LOT of taxpayer money investigating this stuff, start grilling CIA and military commanders who will point the finger straight up into the President's and Vice-President's offices..it is my fondest wish that people from those offices end up in Federal prison, and if this bill is defeated, they just might.
The whole thing makes a person want to vomit. That our country is in the hands of these corrupt cowards. How much longer?
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ROOM 101
is just around the corner.
"The worst thing in the world..."
It's waiting for us.
You and me.
Nietzsche was right
about monsters and the abyss.
We're deep in it now.
War is peace.
Freedom is slavery.
Torture is love.
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How far is too far?
The guys at the top want to know how far they can go in degrading a human being making them suffer so that they will disclose information.
The answer is a simple one. As far as you would want an enemy to go on an American prisoner of war. Jessica Lynch as an example.
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Not much "Ambiguity" here, Mr. President
Matthew 7:12
So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.
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But what about the democrats?
What are the democrats doing and saying about this?
Why aren't they making political hay with this?
Will they hold up the legislation in the senate?
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Vague?
"I am asking Congress to list the specific recognizable offenses that would be considered crimes under the War Crimes Act," says Bush. Is that so he can get a de facto list of things that would not be considered crimes because they were not included? That's just a blank check for Bush to get creative in the exact ways he tortures people. Drilling people's joints isn't in there? It's fine then. Hot needles in their eyelids? Well, Congress didn't mention it, so they must be OK with it.
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Re: What about the Democrats
jpincus,
It surely seems, doesn't it, that the Democrats find the ability of Republicans to 'torture logic' in the public conversation so mysterious and damaging that they're dedicated to competing through silence.
We've all seen a lack of plan (and I say, a lack of themes) fail in '02 and '04. Lord knows, as a colleague had said in the Summer '04, we're once again watching a train wreck from a distance in slow motion. The Democrats should be in control the Senate four months from now, but are, as best I can tell, forfeiting the opportunity for fear, individually, of having their characters mercilessly assassinated.
Themes abound.
We all thought 'The World had Changed' after 9/11. This Administration considers the changed world of 9/11 to be one in which we must abandon our roots. They have shown again and again that they consider the Constitution and the Laws of the United States to be inadequate to today's challenges, and we disagree! We consider the challenge of 9/11 be the need for unprecedented vigor, focus and energy in the pursuit of what has always made our society great -- our constitution, our laws, our ability to help the world solve grave problems together as we had throughout most of the 20th century. Does the world have a 'new kind' of enemy? Of course it does. We believe that we must arm ourselves with the full arsenal of foreign policy instruments - not simply the old hammer of conventional warefare. America has tossed aside ernest consensus building, quality one-on-one diplomacy and human intelligence, Let alone pioneering on international standards for the handling of evidence in terrorist cases, or for bringing people, ideas and cultures together. We've been stuck in a centuries-old saw of lashing out with a strong conventional military, while the world -- in its threats and in its unprecedented opportunities for cooperation -- has changed around us.
Bush says "We'll stand down when the Iraqis stand up". We say "The Iraqi's will stand up as we stand down". This month is the 10-year anniversary of our "Changing Welfare as we know it." It's time to show the Iraqi government and people the same kind of tough love we've shown our own citizens when they've been caught in a cycle of dependency..." (I've written about this before. It's a rich theme, and one which polling has shown resonates with many Americans across the political spectrum...)
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For God's Sake, this stuff WRITES ITSELF!!! (forgive me for yelling)
Afraid of Rovian career-ending tactics? Perhaps watching Ann Richards footage and memorials has inspired me some, not that I have a whisker of her wit or her way with words. I can conjure up her cojones, just to sort of play it out... Imagine if Nancy, Harry & Co. collectively sought news ops, and each in their own way raised up a copy of our Constitution and said, in thoughtfully paced words:
"Republicans TV ads may attempt to tear away at the honesty, wisdom and patriotism of Democratic candidates around the country, and assassinating our characters in these difficult times, attempt to win your hearts through fear. But we believe that America has always had what it needs to protect its citizens, to meet new challenges, and to be a great nation. It has always been right here in the constitution, and in the laws of this great land. We do not cast our constitution aside. We embrace the laws and freedoms and checks and balances of our nation as a beacon of hope for struggling populations all around the world.
We've supported changes to make our law enforcement more responsive, but we see no need to throw the baby of our constitution out with the bath water. Rather than tear our nation up with bad choices for changes in our justice system that serve little purpose yet cause great damage to our freedoms, principals and morals, we say "Let us come together, and rally around our great heritage, our constitution, and the rule of law upon which our freedoms are forged day after day. GO AHEAD AND TRY TO ASSASSINATE THIS!!! (you might simply say "Assasinate this!!!", but that's a calculation for the individual, who must be wary of the abuse of sound-bytes) We live in a great Democracy that has been a beacon to the world through more than two centuries, and we - are - not - afraid!
There it is. Controversey, soundbites, wall-to-wall CNBC/Fox/CNN coverage. But through it all, the Democrats are shown to be the purists. The ones who love and defend the roots and foundations of our country. The true patriots. If they believed in themselves, Democrats would do it now, take both houses, and never look back.
Some simple media principles: 1) Democrats wouldn't merely be responding to tactics that Republican have been taking to an extreme in modern times, but in plain speaking, publicly discussing those tactics. Bush has been rising above the frey discussing Dems, the Media, etc. in general terms for years... 2) Whether they understand this or not, Democrats must resort to spectacle in order to break the corporate media buble. 3) You can grade strong political speech like this, and perhaps assign some of it (not too much!!!) to lower-level minions, either electeds or former electeds and pundits.
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In the mean time, we have real Democrats, not imaginary or legendary ones. Work your ass off for worthy candidates, and go to bead early on election night. Take 2 asperin in the morning. Wait until '08 for the next round of punishment.