Consequences of Republicanism

America: Land of Torture

2008-03-09T10:27:00.001-05:00

As previously threatened, President Bush vetoed a bill which would have prevented the CIA from using waterboarding and other methods of torture on detainees. I think this makes it official that America has lost any claimed moral high ground. The next time we scold China or some other country for human rights violations, they can simply remind us that we torture at will.

The good news is that all is not lost just yet. The American people are going to have a chance to correct this horrific blunder in November. We can hand team McBush another term and stand idly by while they continue to remake America into a nation of scientifically illiterate Christian extremists who shiver in fear from imaginary threats and turn over our sacred liberties to what is rapidly become a fascist regime, or we can say enough is enough and embark on the long road to restoring all that makes our country worthwhile in the first place.

Tags: America, torture, Bush, veto, McCain, McBush, politics, election, CIA

Bush To Veto Torture Ban

2008-02-17T13:38:00.002-06:00

According to CBS News and the Associated Press, President Bush announced Friday that he plans to veto a bill passed by both the House and Senate preventing the CIA from torturing terror suspects. Every time I think that Bush cannot sink any lower, he manages to surprise me. He seems determined to go down in flames, taking America's reputation with him.

No matter how the administration tries to spin this one (choosing "enhanced interrogation techniques" instead of "torture" to describe the atrocities they want to inflict), it still stinks. Worst of all, they are holding it out as a choice for Americans between torture and terrorism on American soil.

White House press secretary Dana Perino characterized the confrontation in partisan terms, saying Americans will have to choose between supporting a ban on waterboarding and protecting national security: "They’ll have to ask themselves, 'Do you trust the intelligence community more than you trust Democrats who are beholden to their left wing?' And that’s the debate that this country is going to have."

Ms. Perino should be ashamed, as should her bosses. And then there is John McCain, the likely GOP candidate who has taken pandering to unimaginable levels by adopting a pro-torture position.

Still, what is becoming increasingly clear to this observer is that President Bush needs to be impeached and then tried for war crimes.

Although President Bush has stated that the United States has not and will not torture people, it has been learned that Mr. Bush himself has authorized the use of waterboarding on detainees (a practice previously prosecuted by the United States as a war crime), and has claimed the authority to do so again in certain circumstances.

Waterboarding is torture. The president authorized waterboarding. The president authorized torture. This is not a complicated matter. Mr. Bush is guilty of war crimes and should be held accountable.

H/T to ReligionNewsBlog

Tags: President Bush, torture, waterboarding, CIA, Senate, House, Congress, Bush, veto

Dems to Cave on Mukasey

2007-11-03T11:46:00.000-05:00

The American people are growing increasingly sick of Washington politics as usual. Bush and Cheney still have not been held accountable in any way for their repeated violations of both American and international law. Despite some laudable exceptions, Congressional Democrats are unwilling to hold these criminals accountable or to end the war in Iraq, fearing a backlash against cutting funding. Now it appears that they are similarly unwilling to stand up to the Bush administration on torture.

Late yesterday, Sens. Feinstein (D-CA) and Schumer (D-NY) announced that they would support Bush's candidate for Attorney General, Michael Mukasey. It appears that this will essentially guarantee Mukasey's confirmation.

If you've been following the Mukasey story at all, you know that the source of Democratic opposition to his nomination is his refusal to agree that waterboarding is torture or even to condemn the method. Of course, to do so would imperil his masters. But it is equally obvious that there is no defensible alternative. Waterboarding is torture.

Evidently, Feinstein and Schumer are willing to permit our representatives to continue to torture detainees in our name. This is very disturbing. How much longer are we going to stand for this before demanding meaningful representation?

Tags: Michael Mukasey, Bush, Diane Feinstein, Chuck Schumer, politics, torture, America, Congress, waterboarding