Post #397,019
12/11/14 8:41:38 AM
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The first Obama fail. Letting this guy and his alleged boss escape justice.
Washington (CNN) -- Former Vice President Dick Cheney called a Senate panel's report on U.S. interrogation tactics during George W. Bush's administration is "deeply flawed" and a "terrible piece of work."
"The report's full of crap," he said in an interview with Fox News on Wednesday evening.
Bush's Republican vice president insisted that the Central Intelligence Agency's rough tactics -- which the report said included mock executions, beatings, "rectal rehydration" and feeding, sleep deprivation and more -- helped the United States "catch the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11."
Asked specifically about the rectal rehydration instance detailed in the report, Cheney said: "I don't know anything about that specific instance -- I can't speak to that."
He also said he hadn't actually read the report. Its full 6,000 pages haven't been released, but a lengthy summary was issued Tuesday. Cheney said he'd "seen parts of it. I read summaries of it."
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He said he has no regrets about the tactics used after the Sept. 11, 2001, al Qaeda attacks.
"I think what needed to be done was done," Cheney said. "I think we were perfectly justified in doing it. And I'd do it again in a minute." http://www.cnn.com/2014/12/10/politics/dick-cheney-the-reports-full-of-crap/index.htmlJeebus. "The report is full of crap" and "No, I haven't read it." I wonder if there was a single Faux News consumer who picked up on that. Why is this man not in prison?
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Post #397,024
12/11/14 11:51:16 AM
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It will always be a stain on his legacy
all that "we can't look back, we must look forward" bullshit. Of course, Obama then continued many of the Bush/Cheney policies, such as NSA spying on Americans.
We voted for a progressive, what we got was a Democrat Lite.
Satan (impatiently) to Newcomer: The trouble with you Chicago people is, that you think you are the best people down here; whereas you are merely the most numerous.
- - - Mark Twain, "Pudd'nhead Wilson's New Calendar" 1897
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Post #397,027
12/11/14 1:25:14 PM
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Democrat Lite?
What we got was a full blown Republican from the early 2000's, late 1990's. He's an embarrassment.
I was going to say that it was better than the alternative, but now "liberals", who he doesn't represent in the slightest, now get to split the blame for all the conservative damage done. Now, I no longer think this system is fixable. There is no resistance to massive corruption anywhere. "Religion, n. A daughter of Hope and Fear, explaining to Ignorance the nature of the Unknowable."
~ AMBROSE BIERCE
(1842-1914)
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Post #397,034
12/11/14 4:27:43 PM
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It all went to hell
when the words "liberal" and "liberal values", standing for respect for the rights of others, standing up for the little guy, social justice (hell, even that has been subverted into a perjorative) were successfully turned into insults.
And as for "socialist" - well.
In the country where people live shorter, unhappier lives than just about anywhere else in the West, it's considered a good thing to "double down" on what you believe in, and damn the fucking facts.
It's just as well I live here. If I lived there, I'd have to leave.
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Post #397,040
12/11/14 6:06:10 PM
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Your lot has perpetrated some disgusting outrages, over the centuries
but, subsequently (well, often-enough..) demonstrated that you are corrigible. (Though I'm still waiting for Her Majesty or someone to sponsor a small statue of Turing.. for visible thus obvious atonement for That premeditated horror: also matching the US's concept of Gratitude, even to those who literally saved-Your-National-Ass.)
Only thing keeping me stationed here is the logistics of liquidation of 'assets' sufficient to glean say, an old caravan? have no permanent address--and maybe walk around the Pennines and similar spots of the Continent--with more leisure than the last times. (New property owner would have to grant perpetual amnesty to the ferals, etc. Imagine trying to 'enforce' that, eh?)
(I've long-ago had-IT with Incorrigibles of all genres, obviously.) Can no longer, however, put all necessaries in a pair of saddle-bags, but I am adaptable to a slightly scaled-up variant. If the New Yahoos perform as I anticipate, by ~'16 it will be time for that scaling. Rumination sez: it could be a genuine Hoot, something in short supply in this sodden zeitgeist. (ordinary Rain is OK, though :-)
..If 'they' are allowing any more Murican ex-Pats in, at that late date. This shit is never simple.
Try not to burn-down your financial- eco- socio- systems in the interim, eh? It doesn't seem there'll be a U.S.E. (-"of Euro") any time soon, which may be just as well.
Ta
PS: Exactly so--when 'liberal' became an epithet--there! was prima facie Evidence of severe mental aberration, quite beyond the deeply-ingrained usuals:
xenophobia, racism, hypocrisy, weapon-masturbation and icky sanctimony.
Confucius got that part about language-murder and its consequences spot-on. Incorrigibles, by definition.
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Post #397,042
12/11/14 10:21:43 PM
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It's been a problem for a while...
CAP: What do our opponents mean when they apply to us the label "Liberal?" If by "Liberal" they mean, as they want people to believe, someone who is soft in his policies abroad, who is against local government, and who is unconcerned with the taxpayer’s dollar, then … we are not that kind of "Liberal." But if by a "Liberal" they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people — their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties — someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a "Liberal," then I’m proud to say I’m a "Liberal."
- John F. Kennedy, September 14, 1960 Of course, "liberal" used to mean something good in this country... AddictingInfo: “Of all the animosities which have existed among mankind, those which are caused by a difference of sentiments in religion appear to be the most inveterate and distressing, and ought to be deprecated. I was in hopes that the enlightened and liberal policy, which has marked the present age, would at least have reconciled Christians of every denomination so far that we should never again see the religious disputes carried to such a pitch as to endanger the peace of society.”
~Founding Father George Washington, letter to Edward Newenham, October 20, 1792 Words matter, a lot. Democrats not being able to find a way to keep control of the memes and the argument has caused lots of problems. It's just as well I live here. If I lived there, I'd have to leave. The press loves conflict. Things aren't quite as bleak as they seem in a lot of ways. Over there, too. ;-) Cheers, Scott.
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Post #397,059
12/12/14 10:28:54 AM
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Re: It's been a problem for a while...
Republicans approve of the American farmer, but they are willing to help him go broke. They stand four-square for the American home–but not for housing. They are strong for labor–but they are stronger for restricting labor’s rights. They favor minimum wage–the smaller the minimum wage the better. They endorse educational opportunity for all–but they won’t spend money for teachers or for schools. They think modern medical care and hospitals are fine–for people who can afford them. They consider electrical power a great blessing–but only when the private power companies get their rake-off. They think American standard of living is a fine thing–so long as it doesn’t spread to all the people. And they admire the Government of the United States so much that they would like to buy it.
-- Harry S. Truman
http://samuel-warde.com/2012/07/20-famous-liberal-quotes/
Satan (impatiently) to Newcomer: The trouble with you Chicago people is, that you think you are the best people down here; whereas you are merely the most numerous.
- - - Mark Twain, "Pudd'nhead Wilson's New Calendar" 1897
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Post #397,056
12/12/14 9:11:32 AM
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It usually takes a while to find out how bad a President was.
In this case, Obama is getting a headstart. As Udall put it in his remarks:
“Director Brennan and the CIA today are continuing to willfully provide inaccurate information and misrepresent the efficacy of torture. In other words, the CIA is lying.”
Yet, Brennan remains in his job. And Udall did not spare President Obama for this fact:
To date, there has been no accountability for the CIA’s actions or for Director Brennan’s failure of leadership. Despite the facts presented, the president has expressed his “full confidence” in Director Brennan, and demonstrated that trust by making no effort at all to rein him in. The president stated that it wasn’t “appropriate” for him to wade into the issues between the Committee and the CIA.[…]
The White House has not led on this issue in the manner we expected when we heard the president’s campaign speeches in 2008 and read the executive order he issued in January 2009. To CIA employees in April 2009, President Obama said, “What makes the United States special, and what makes you special, is precisely the fact that we are willing to uphold our values and ideals even when it’s hard—not just when it’s easy; even when we are afraid and under threat—not just when it’s expedient to do so. That’s what makes us different.”
This tough, principled talk set an important tone for the beginning of his presidency. However, fast forward to this year, after so much has come to light about the CIA’s barbaric programs, and President Obama’s response was that we “crossed a line” as a nation, and that, quote, “hopefully, we don’t do it again in the future.”
That’s not good enough. We need to be better than that. There can be no cover-up. There can be no excuses. If there is no moral leadership from the White House helping the public understand that the CIA’s torture program wasn’t necessary and didn’t save lives or disrupt terrorist plots, then what’s to stop the next White House and CIA Director from supporting torture?
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Finally, Udall drew attention to the fact that not only have people who participated in the torture program not been prosecuted—but they still have jobs. “The president needs to purge his administration of high-level officials who were instrumental to the development and running of this program,” Udall said. “He needs to force a cultural change at the CIA.” http://www.thenation.com/blog/192505/senator-udall-discloses-cia-findings-torture-blasts-obamas-inactionI think everybody's job is still safe for the next two years, you?
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