Vice President Dick Cheney has confirmed that U.S. interrogators subjected captured senior al Qaida suspects to a controversial interrogation technique called “water-boarding,” which creates a sensation of drowning.
Cheney indicated that the Bush administration doesn’t regard water-boarding as torture and allows the CIA to use it. “It’s a no-brainer for me,” Cheney said at one point in an interview.
Cheney’s comments, in a White House interview on Tuesday with a conservative radio talk show host, appeared to reflect the Bush administration’s view that the president has the constitutional power to do whatever he deems necessary to fight terrorism.
War criminal.
Hate to speak ill of the walking dead, but in my view Cheney personifies the Bush administration even more fully than Bush himself. Of course his comments ‘appear to reflect’ policy! As Cheney’s heart beats (decrepit as it is), so beats the heart of this presidency.
& of course the recent Right Wing Gasbag Summit was meant to assure a continued open bullhorn for all & sundry — even those whose physicality could barely even stand initial waterboard positioning.
The day this man finally meets his maker is the day I may finally blow my sobriety.
Cheney is the Bush administration. He lets Bush be the front man cause he SEEMS less scary!
Now, with this admission, will he put on trial at the Hague?
Apparently nothing short of decapitation is considered torture.
Are you sure they consider decapitation torture — at least if the U.S. does it?
capital s
period
capital s
but criminal(s)…
sheesh
“Cheney’s comments, in a White House interview on Tuesday with a conservative radio talk show host, appeared to reflect the Bush administration’s view that the president has the constitutional power to do whatever he deems necessary to fight terrorism.“
Why wouldn’t Cheney speak like this? On Sept. 28th Torture is Legalized:
Man Eegee gave us the full count of Democrats who have made it possible for the Vice-President of the United States to openly declare the use of “water-boarding” was a “no-brainer.” They were:
The blood stains spread.
Where are the calls to have them all removed from office? How can we say to the world “Not in our name” if we elect them again?
Tampopo,
not in our name, a bizarre position isn’t it? Yes, were going to hold them accountable once we reward them.
Sorry, I’m back again. I find myself seeking out voices like yours that are being increasingly drowned out as the election gets closer and feeling more and more marginalized in an environment where principle is being set aside in the quest for a democratic majority. This is disturbing to me because I don’t see myself as some kind of fantastical dreamer that’s incapable of seeing reality. It’s a strange place to be.
From the front page of dKos, regarding Harold Ford, candidate for the senate from Tennessee and equal protection for gay and lesbian couples:
I’m sorry that I have this terrible habit of holding to my principles. I’m sorry that I believe that elections have been stolen and that nothing has been done to change the possibility that more will be stolen. I’m sorry that I align myself with idiots like Steven D who use lousy sources like former election protection officials. I’m sorry that I fail to see how this
jibes with voting for anti-choice candidates who are hand picked by the democrats.
We have diaries here telling us that election protection and torture and habeus corpus are secondary to winning the the whole series. Stop focusing on the negative because we can’t do anything about it anyway. It’s out of our control.
What an effed up, sorry position to be in.
idiot link is wrong.
http://www.dailykos.com/comments/2006/10/25/163814/10/15#c15
We’re in this effed up postion because enough Americans have abdicated all personal responsibility for holding elected leaders accountable for so long now, that now the foxes literally OWN the freakin hen house.
We’re here because enough Americans have turned OFF their minds and allowed themselves to become propagandized straight into a terminal case of addiction to consumerism that has turned them into corporate slaves totally dependent on “the company store”. And/or have allowed thier minds to become totally controlled by religious fanatics who exploit religion for political gain.
We’re here because enough of us have chosen our material comforts and quick fixes over the hard work of caring for the common good, and because we have elected into office the kind of leaders who will see we are kept comfortable in our own selfish worlds, no matter how they have to do this, including selling off thier own principles.
We’re here in this effin position because enough of us chose to allow unbridled greed and corruption among our elected leaders to go unchallenged for so long it has become become an expected “norm”.
And we’re stuck with it as long as money buys political power, and the money is concentrated at the top, among those who tend to BE there because they HAVE no working principles anymore.
Will a Democratic win Nov 7 truly be the way to start setting all of this right again? Who doesn’t want to believe that, in the very worst way? Nothing would me happier than to see it turn out that way.
But we’re in this effin mess we’re in NOW, BECAUSE OF the process of continuous abdication of principles for political gain. And darned if I can see how our promoting more of it, in order to win the next election, is the way to any permanent solution for the long run. The whole effin system is corrupted, no matter what party gets control.
Until we can stand up and DEMAND a government that cannot be bought off by money and power, I don’t exept to see a whole lot of changes. It will be less destructive, perhaps, if the Dems win control of congress and can hang onto it. But the underlying foundational flaw is governance by money and the power it can buy, rather than one based the Constitutional Principles of Democracy.
We will not have that government, until enough of us want it bad enough to sacrifice enough of our own comforts and fight like hell to fix the broken system itself. IMHO only, of course. 🙂
Now that the VP has declared “water-boarding” a “no-brainer” it is not difficult to imagine the following:
And then “water-boarding” will just be part of the “American way,” most likely replaced by some other fresh horror.
I’m sure Karl Rove thinks admitting that we do waterboarding will help win that swing vote.
Oh, wait…
Sometimes a post is sublimely complete and requires no further comment.
I think one of the very first ways we can show the world that we are not a bunch of arrogant torturers is to prosecute Cheney and eventually all of the Neo-Cons (and all of the senators that backed torture) as war criminals. Sadly, I’m not sure Amurka has to guts to face its crimes.
If it isn’t torture ask him to let his daughter demonstrate the technique. Since it isn’t torture I’m sure she wouldn’t mind.