The NPR onbudswoman is doing exactly what she says she is not doing when she does not call torture torture - being political.

It's pure Owellian.

prisoners were told" Of course you will have a fair trial. THEN we'll hang you" This just set me back a long way in time. Clint Eastwood flicks, anyone?

This is almost too rich for my blood.

All of those pathetic Obama maniacs managed to get another amoral corporatist torture junkie elected, but hey it's okay because he is black! Talk about some first rate PR and third rate thinking. Sheep really do get sheared.

But the best part now is watching them try to defend the latest examples of lawlessness committed by the administration. It would get a hardy belly laugh if it weren't happening in the country in which I currently hold citizenship. It's a straight survival/GTFO gig now as far as I am concerned.

Mi>Obama has reversed the system of abuse, in case you hadn't noticed, by making it illegal. All Obama is arguing is that there is a no-win scenario that Bush has left him that may require specific exemptions to legal due process due to the thuggish nature of the Bush crimes.

This is a viable argument because it is specific, it refers only to a single period of lawlessness prior to Obama's election, and only applies to a specific group tarnished by the Bush crimes.

Holy shit am I glad I didn't vote for the clown and end up forced to say stuff like that.

Obama has reversed the system of abuse, in case you hadn't noticed, by making it illegal. All Obama is arguing is that there is a no-win scenario that Bush has left him that may require specific exemptions to legal due process due to the thuggish nature of the Bush crimes.

This is a viable argument because it is specific, it refers only to a single period of lawlessness prior to Obama's election, and only applies to a specific group tarnished by the Bush crimes.

Holy shit am I glad I didn't vote for the clown and end up forced to say stuff like that.

The LOL part is that you spent the last year worshiping Hillary Clinton, his current Secretary of State, as some kind of alternative. I'm sure things would have been a hundred percent different in that case. Yeah.

You make me think we should do a short parody of an "official" government-sponsored dictionary... taking liberties with all of the euphemisms that we so abhor.

Wouldn't that be fun?! ;(

I just took the initiative and created a blog post for that very effort... anyone may play.

http://language-grammar.blogspot.com/2009/07/let-government-define.html

However, I will delete any trollish comments. Because I can. I am less tolerant than Glenn.

"an Orwellian term (and a Kafka-esque concept)"

You can also work in "a Catch-22 situation" where one is doomed no matter whether one is guilty or innocent. -- Bartolo

Three masters of the dystopia cited in a single comment on a narrowly focused blog post. This does not bode well.

Clinton would be moderately better on this issue, substantially better on the economy, infinitely better on health care and gay rights. We'd get about what we expected, maybe some pleasant surprises. Those of us who didn't predict a difference between Obama and Bush are getting what we expected from an Obama administration. His supporters however are getting a rude awakening.

Exactly what does one do with a person after you have tortured them?

Do you want a person who has been tortured living next to you? Will you ever trust them? Won't they be upset with the American government and its people? If given the means to destroy the US won't they use those means to destroy the US? Wouldn't it be natural that they would want revenge?

For our brave government officials it is just easier to lock them up and throw away the key. Justice, human rights, rule of law, humanity be damned. And look at how far even Obama has fallen.

And the people in power said this "war" would be easy and would be cheap. How much is our "moral" standing worth? I guess exactly jacksh*t. All that stuff on liberty and bravery ... just so much hot air.

And Mr Obama, let me be clear, even though you and your minions won't read this thread. This act of cowardace is all yours ... you own it, congratulations.

'Clinton would be moderately better on this issue, substantially better on the economy, infinitely better on health care and gay rights. We'd get about what we expected, maybe some pleasant surprises. Those of us who didn't predict a difference between Obama and Bush are getting what we expected from an Obama administration. His supporters however are getting a rude awakening.'

-- lolcait

Because she dodged that gunfire in Bosnia? No rude awakening for me, his FISA amendment vote said it all.

However, any remaining candidates that the media hadn't unilaterally disqualified sucked, including Hillary Clinton, whose husband is reported to be associating with some really nasty people such as Gulnara Karimova (daughter of the dictator of Uzbekistan while his wife is Sec State. That's not change I can believe in neither.

http://harpers.org/archive/2009/07/hbc-90005290

I wish I was referring to the classic song by the group Yes. Alas, what we have here is yet another step that brings this country closer to the edge of the abyss of Banana Republic.

it started with the repudiation of the Geneva Convention, then the redefinition of "torture", followed by the ever increasing overreach of presidential powers over any judicial review whenever "National Security" (in capital letters, no less!) is mentioned. While these post-acquittal detentions are right into this alley, History teaches us that it just can't stop here. So, IMHO, we're going to have sooner than later, a set of national security directives about the danger of criticizing the figure of the Commander-in-Chief.

Think about it: he's the One which primary duty is to "keep us safe". Undermining this prime task by "misplaced" and "unhelpful" (an Obama favorite) criticisms can, and shall (not "will") be construed as a potential threat to Nazional Sekurity, as perceived by certain collaborators of the Amerikan Izvestia. (MSM)

No "true" patriot could abide by this defilement, right? Hence, some Komittee will make sure that such dangerous endeavors do not go unpunished. We're talking national Security folks! Can't mess around with that.

Thirteen years ago, when I emigrated to the USA, leaving family and community behind, never in my wildest dreams did I thought I would consider myself lucky to hold more than one passport.