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Sunday, January 18, 2009 12:00 AM

Binding U.S. law requires prosecutions for those who authorize torture

The new Attorney General just said that Bush officials authorized torture. A treaty signed in 1988 by Ronald Reagan compels the U.S. to prosecute those who authorize torture. What's the way out of that?

The letters thread is now closed.

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Monday, January 19, 2009 03:02 PM

@Little Brother

Ever done any fishing? Salt water bay-and-inlet bottom fishing?

Ever seen a "bloodworm"?

Monday, January 19, 2009 02:59 PM

Well, you can't be too careful

Not to mention, we have enough around here that may take your jape seriously....

Let me go on record as saying that I'm all for having sane people in the new administration, regardless of their ethnic or religious background.

Monday, January 19, 2009 02:56 PM

Mona re: Beaver Traps

Steve fears we wimmins can insert them, and the, er, loss that would mean for him.

And then there are men like Richard Pryor who lived in awe and went in search of "The Elusive Snappin' Pussy".

http://search.music.aol.com/song/snappin-pussy/1381085

Monday, January 19, 2009 02:56 PM

Steverino, you. are. full. of. shit. -- normbreyfogle

I'm with Norm on this one.

SteveFromHell, you are full of shit.

Monday, January 19, 2009 02:55 PM

@Steele

I need to get a life, and stop posting so much. Thanks for listening everybody

You had one once, didn't you, and we can see pretty clearly, and you've told us, what you've done with it. Okay, buit Jesus Christ Steele, I'm not listening to you. I'm not smart but I don't hate myself enough to give you my attention. I'm against torture, let's put it that way.

I just like watching you dance, especially cause you're so predictable. It's like working with a planaria or something. Poke it this way, and it goes, Shine a light over there, and away it goes. Cut its head in half, it grows two.

See my big problem is that schmendrick as I understand it, implies a degree of likeability which you lack, in spades.

Yeah, Steele, you just keep up that moral foundation. Well, at least you said something true, and in the first sentence, too.

Monday, January 19, 2009 02:55 PM

although that means they're cupping crotch for entirely different reasons. -- Timothy3

Good one.

:-)

Monday, January 19, 2009 02:55 PM

Let's all join in!

"The phrase, 'You're full of shit' doesn't carry much weight when it is written by someone who has posted 4,300 LETTERS ON SALON.COM.

"Just sayin'."

-- steveindallas

How 'bout if we ALL start saying it?

Steverino, you. are. full. of. shit.

Monday, January 19, 2009 02:50 PM

Little Brother

I trust it is not equally off-putting to learn that I find myself scrolling hypervigilantly with one hand, and cupping my crotch with the other.

I suspect others here of doing the same, what with their level of chest-thumping excitement over blood and death, although that means they're cupping crotch for entirely different reasons.

Monday, January 19, 2009 02:49 PM

Shhh...Glenn...

You shouldn't stir this stuff up until AFTER Bush can no longer issue pardons. What if his lawyers see the case you're making and decide he needs to protect himself and those around him? Couldn't this wait 'til day after tomorrow?

Monday, January 19, 2009 02:48 PM

@ Baldie McEagle

I dunno, Arne

[Arne]: Congratulations to Prof. Lederman!

He sounds a little Jewish.

Let's check with Steele before we get too applausative.

It's a matter of personal taste, I guess, but I'd have personally restrained from that jibe at Steele, no matter how warranted. I think we have plenty enough comments of such ilk, even those tongue-in-cheek, around these parts, and here I think it best just to recognise Prof. Lederman's untiring efforts against the lawlessness of the Dubya maladministration, and not detract from recognition of Prof. Lederman's (and our) good fortune by adding such peripheral comments. Not to mention, we have enough around here that may take your jape seriously....

Cheers,

Monday, January 19, 2009 02:45 PM

Mona, Little Brother, and Arne

I might stop laughing in a day or two. Could take longer. Libation of choice now all over the screen, the keyboard, the desk...

That was a trifecta, I tell ya! Any one of them alone would have threatened alcohol sieved through the sinuses, but the three together?

Snort! heeheeheeheeheehee

Monday, January 19, 2009 02:44 PM

I wouldn't pay too much attention to NeoConJob

He's wonderfully annoying, and great fun to kick around. But his posts could hardly be more incoherent.

Monday, January 19, 2009 02:42 PM

Norm

Don't fence him in. This is America, its quite fashionable to be both.

Monday, January 19, 2009 02:42 PM

I dunno, Arne

Congratulations to Prof. Lederman!

He sounds a little Jewish.

Let's check with Steele before we get too applausative.

Monday, January 19, 2009 02:41 PM

@ NeoConCabal

You're either stupid or a liar. Which is it?

Don't bother to answer; whatever you post will be either idiotic or blatantly untrue, and we all know it.

Yes, I'm being pejorative; based on your posts here, you deserve no better.

Monday, January 19, 2009 02:41 PM

Why, they're JUST LIKE WOMEN!

Jews!

Can't live with 'em; can't live without 'em.

Only yiddishier.....or something.

bystander re: langoliers. Exactly!

Monday, January 19, 2009 02:40 PM

Steele, forget the morality until you've hammered down your reasoning skills

"It may be reasonable to assume all Gazans want to kill you, therefore, you can shoot teenage boys and girls in Gaza. That is a rational justification. But can it be justified on moral grounds?"

Its not at all reasonable to assume that. In fact, its highly unlikely that all Gazans want to kill anyone. Its more reasonable to assume that all Gazans DON'T want to kill you, and there may be some that do. I don't assume that ALL Israelis want to kill Palestinians. I can only infer that there are some that do and some that don't and a great many who probably never think about it either way.

Moving from there, in terms of morality, might take you in a number of directions. But you're not there yet. Take care of the simple stuff first, then move on to the more complex. Your fond of exhibiting your lack of experience in logic, and in fact, in real world situations. But keep it to yourself for awhile until you're ready for a comeback. Didn't you see Rocky?

Monday, January 19, 2009 02:37 PM

@ Mona

Steve fears we wimmins can insert them, and the, er, loss that would mean for him.

Talk about irrational fear. Methinks he has little to lose (and even less chance of losing whatever little he has, based on his demeanour here).

Cheers,

Monday, January 19, 2009 02:34 PM

The Vagina Monologue

No one has more respect for the vagina than Your Humble Narrator; still, all this talk about vaginas intersecting with other implements of destruction is beginning to get to me.

The vagina dentata allusions [ http://tinyurl.com/qs44k ] is the broken glass on the cake.

I have no idea if this is true or war-zone myth, but years ago I came across a reference to Vietnamese women inserting razor blades-- blade side outward, of course-- into their vaginas during the Amerikan invasion and occupation.

A more appropriate response to rape cannot be imagined, especially because of the piquant element of surprise attending that first bold penile thrust. Still, every time I think of it I crouch forward and protectively cup my genitalia until the vision recedes.

I trust it is not equally off-putting to learn that I find myself scrolling hypervigilantly with one hand, and cupping my crotch with the other.

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