We are just over 15 months away from congressional elections and I think it’s time to really put the Bush Administration on defense regarding torture.  We have all the proof to show that the Republicans have condoned the blurring of lines for interrogation techniques that have directly lead to the horrors committed at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo.

Let’s use some LBJ politicking and nail these apologetic piles of rat turd with this issue.

Gasoline for the fire below the fold…
From Reuters:

The White House on Thursday threatened to veto a massive Senate bill for $442 billion in next year’s defense programs if it moves to regulate the Pentagon’s treatment of detainees or sets up a commission to investigate operations at Guantanamo Bay prison and elsewhere.

The Bush administration, under fire for the indefinite detention of enemy combatants at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba and questions over whether its policies led to horrendous abuses at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, put lawmakers on notice it did not want them legislating on the matter.

In a statement, the White House said such amendments would “interfere with the protection of Americans from terrorism by diverting resources from the war.”

“If legislation is presented that would restrict the president’s authority to protect Americans effectively from terrorist attack and bring terrorists to justice,” the bill could be vetoed, the statement said. (emphasis mine)

It’s time for us to fight dirty on this issue.  The Bushistas are already juggling plenty of issues with Traitorgate, eroding poll numbers, Iraq, North Korea, Gaza, SCOTUS, etc.  It’s only a matter of time before we force them to lose their concentration and watch their farcical government come crashing down.

If the Democrats can form a united front against torture, in a commanding way, then Bush will be forced to deal with the mishandling of this issue.

Like I said before, it’s time we start playing the game like LBJ:

In his heyday, nobody was better at gettin’ down politically than Lone Star Lyndon. In 1948, after 11 years in the House of Representatives where he proved to be a formidable, power-hungry campaigner, LBJ hit fellow Democrat and popular former Texas governor Coke Stevenson with everything he had as they squared off for a run at the Senate.

Legend has it Johnson told one of his aides — “Go out there and tell ’em Coke was caught having sex with a farm animal.”

“But, Lyndon,” the aide protested, “you know that’s not true!”

“Of course it’s not true!” Johnson responded impatiently. “That’s not the point. Tell it anyway — and make him deny it…”

Democratic Underground.com

Make these sick bastards deny that they condone torture (again), then let the soon-to-be-released photos make their rounds around the world to embarrass the hell out of them.

Update [2005-7-22 17:3:55 by Man Eegee]: Susanhu has posted a front-page story with breaking news that Bush has blocked the release of the Abu Ghraib photos in the 11th hour.

Also, the Washington Post reported on July 14th that the tactics of Abu Ghraib were first used at Guantanamo Bay. This defeats the Republican soundbite that these were a few bad apples committing the crimes. We now have proof that these techniques were sanctioned by our government. I want Rumsfeld’s head on a platter.

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