DICK CHENEY IS A LOATHSOME LIAR

Dick Cheney says torture investigation "offends the hell out of me."

With all due respect, Dick Cheney is a vile loathsome liar with the ethics of a Gila monster. His lies helped us get into the Iraq War. "There is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction." Cheney consistently ridiculed dissent, strong-armed opponents, lined the pockets of his Halliburton cronies, and encouraged Gestapo tactics in our military.

It's not surprising that this vicious blowhard opposes the torture investigation. He has been howling against Obama for looking into the matter, though not as loudly as if an army field telephone to his genitals. That's an "enhanced interview technique," after all. Watch this interview.



Should we investigate torture and possible war crimes? Some people don't want to know--and they certainly don't want to be tried for war crimes. We will undoubtedly have more reports of torture if investigations are allowed to proceed. Back in the Vietnam days, the Cheneys of the time also stonewalled attempts for investigations. Sadly, Cheney isn't unique.

Just a few days ago, Lt. William Calley, who was held responsible for the deaths of hundreds of men, women and children at My Lai, made a public apology. At the time, the Cheneys of the day claimed the dead were combatants and stonewalled an investigation.

My Lai, Vietnam

“There is not a day that goes by that I do not feel remorse for what happened that day in My Lai,” William Calley told members of the Kiwanis Club of Greater Columbus today. His voice started to break when he added, “I feel remorse for the Vietnamese who were killed, for their families, for the American soldiers involved and their families. I am very sorry.” From the New York Times, Aug. 24, 2009

My Lai, Vietnam---"Q: And Babies? A: And Babies." From a CBS interview of one of the soldiers who participated in the My Lai massacre.

I remind you all that maybe we aren't aware of something on the level of My Lai in Iraq, but we wouldn't have been aware of My Lai either if the coverup had been successful back then. The Dick Cheneys of that era were also "offended as hell" that anyone would question the US military ops in Vietnam. Thank God some soldiers weren't only brave in battle but brave enough to speak up.

Abu Ghraib, Iraq

Could it be THAT bad? Maybe a little waterboarding, or sleep deprivation, but how bad could that be? According to Glenn Greenwald, writing in Salon, it's much worse then we know. Many deaths by US torture have been kept hidden.

"The interrogation and detention regime implemented by the U.S. resulted in the deaths of over 100 detainees in U.S. custody -- at least," says Greenwald. "While some of those deaths were the result of "rogue" interrogators and agents, many were caused by the methods authorized at the highest levels of the Bush White House, including extreme stress positions, hypothermia, sleep deprivation and others. Aside from the fact that they cause immense pain, that's one reason we've always considered those tactics to be 'torture' when used by others -- because they inflict serious harm, and can even kill people. Those arguing against investigations and prosecutions -- that we Look to the Future, not the Past -- are thus literally advocating that numerous people get away with murder."

Abu Ghraib, Iraq

Read the Salon story on the suppressed deaths by US torture here.
Read the NYT story on Calley here:

TORTURE MEMO AUTHOR PUNKED

John Yoo, formerly of the Department of Justice, played a key role in the Bush administration's justification of torture. He authored the infamous "torture memo," and for his trouble he got "punked."



A man dressed as an Abu Ghraib prisoner disrupted John Yoo's class (he currently lectures at Berkeley and Chapman University). The actor climbed on a desk while Yoo was discussing constitutionality and said, "I've got one question: How long can I be required to stand here 'til it counts as torture?"

Yoo was flustered, but not as much as if he had his balls wired to an army field telephone. When Yoo ended the class, a student yelled at the actor to leave. The actor replied, "I'd love to move but every time I do my balls get buzzed."


Yoo's interview with human rights scholar Doug Cassel is a horrifying moment of candor:

Cassel: If the president deems that he's got to torture somebody, including by crushing the testicles of the person's child, there is no law that can stop him?

Yoo: No treaty

Cassel: Also no law by Congress -- that is what you wrote in the August 2002 memo...

Yoo: I think it depends on why the President thinks he needs to do that.

- John Yoo, interviewed December 1, 2005

DIDN'T YOU GET THE MEMO?

People are furious about torture. Sort of. They're actually upset with Obama for releasing the torture memos. It turns out the CIA was torturing like crazy while President George W. Bush was denying it to the American people--so naturally conservatives are angry with Obama. God forbid we learn what our government is doing in our name. That's bad for security, they say. Of course they should be angry with the CIA for turning into the Gestapo when our backs were turned, but apparently that's too logical for these dunderheads.

It's not like we invented it or anything...waterboarding scene from the Spanish Inquisition.

According to the released memos, CIA interrogators were allowed to choke off prisoners' breathing in the simulated drowning technique called waterboarding; slap them and slam them against walls; confine them in small boxes for hours on end, sometimes with insects; and keep them awake for as many as 11 days. One captive was waterboarded 183 times in a month, another 83 times. Aside from the "intelligence" extracted in these conditions, which most agree is unreliable, moral issues arise from torturing a defenseless captive.

Shocking strangers--the Milgram study

You may remember the series of social psychology experiments conducted by Stanley Milgram to measure the willingness of participants to obey an authority figure who instructed them to commits acts--such as inflicting electric shocks on others--acts that conflicted with their personal conscience.

In a 1974 article, "The Perils of Obedience," Stanley Milgram summarized his experiment:

I set up a simple experiment at Yale University to test how much pain an ordinary citizen would inflict on another person simply because he was ordered to by an experimental scientist. Stark authority was pitted against the subjects' strongest moral imperatives against hurting others, and, with the subjects' ears ringing with the screams of the victims, authority won more often than not. The extreme willingness of adults to go to almost any lengths on the command of an authority constitutes the chief finding of the study and the fact most urgently demanding explanation.

Ordinary people, simply doing their jobs, and without any particular hostility on their part, can become agents in a terrible destructive process. Moreover, even when the destructive effects of their work become patently clear, and they are asked to carry out actions incompatible with fundamental standards of morality, relatively few people have the resources needed to resist authority.

Playboy journalist Mike Guy bet he could undergo "waterboarding" for 15 seconds. How hard could it be? Maybe these guys are just whining.



The New York Times guide to the torture memos is located HERE. Read the actual memos on the ACLU website HERE.

Here is Jon Stewart's take on torture and the Bush apologists:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	M - Th 11p / 10c
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BUSH GIVES FINAL FAREWELL

WASHINGTON — President George W. Bush gave his farewell address to the nation Thursday night, defending his record and showing few regrets. Bush gave a rosy view of his "successes" in Iraq and Afghanistan, and explained how he made tough choices that were good for the economy.

Bush leaves office with the worst presidential approval rate since unindicted co-conspirator Richard M. Nixon. His supporters have dwindled to the ranks of the extremely dumb. Most have jumped ship. Can you blame them?


David Letterman has been collecting "Great Moments in Presidential Speeches." Watch this recent clip regarding Jews and Italians. I say this with all due respect: what an asshole.



Here is a compilation of past "Great Moments." Watch and laugh!

Say goodnight, George.

SAY GOODNIGHT, GEORGE

We're going to be celebrating January 20th when Barack Obama is inaugurated. We're not sure of the schedule, but at some point Obama will raise his sword and the Orcs will leave Mordor.

I'm just kidding.

Republicans are people, too. Dick Cheney may be evil, and Ann Coulter is certainly a heartless shrieking harpie, but they're still people. Technically. Let's be magnanimous enough to sympathize with their plight, just as we sympathize with the thousands of people who died as a result of the war they engineered, lied about, and profited from.

There I go again. Sorry, that's not the spirit of bi-partisanship we'll need in these troubled times. Troubled times the Republicans brought on with their greed and ignorance, I might add. Still, they're welcome to help with the clean-up of the mess they made of things.

Say Goodnight, Dick

After the plague in the 14th Century, survivors donned colorful clothing and danced in the streets. The inauguration will be more like that. The mead will flow and the music will play and people with good hearts will rejoice that the dark years have ended.

Republicans preparing to leave Washington, DC, January 20th.

THE FROST/NIXON INTERVIEWS

Up until very recently, Richard Milhous Nixon was probably the worst president in U.S. history. Before Nixon, you could have argued that Indian killer Jackson was our worst, but then Tricky Dick came waltzing up with a sweating upper lip and a brain squirming with Cold War paranoia and red-baiting anti-communist fear, with secret wiretappings and enemies' lists, with an escalation of the Vietnam war and the secret Christmas bombings of Cambodia, with the crimes of Watergate and the Kent State killings, with the CIA overthrow of Chile's elected government...and plenty more.


This ambitious, vindictive, petty crook from Yorba Linda went far--to the very top--and he nearly took the country down with him when he fell. Later, Republicans canonized him, rewriting history with a zeal that would have made Soviet revisionists seem like slackers. Fitzgerald said there are no second acts in American lives, but Fitzgerald was wrong in this case. In later years, after memory of his crimes had receded, Nixon playing the role of a respected elder statesman, bringing to mind the line from "Chinatown" spoken by the incestuous tycoon Noah Cross:

"'Course I'm respectable. I'm old. Politicians, ugly buildings, and whores all get respectable if they last long enough."

Two years after his resignation, Nixon was interviewed by British television journalist David Frost. These historic interviews are the subject of a recent film, "Frost/Nixon" (2008). Here are the original interviews.

Old school politics: Richard Nixon and Prescott Bush--two bastards in better days


For extra credit, click button to hear "Richard Nixon Died Today" by Negativland:

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE BUSH FAMILY

This is what you've been waiting for: the official White House Christmas video--the very last video starring Barney the dog. Who says Bush hasn't been busy lately? The man is a dynamo. And not a half bad actor. (In fact, I suggest he quit his day job immediately).

So pull up a chair, and enjoy the holiday with the Bush Family. I suspect Barney's dream sequence has been doctored by subversives, but the film would be unwatchable without a little tampering. Even so, the warmth and blandness of the First Family shines through, and I guarantee your Christmas spirit will flare up like treacle in a cavity.

Can we go now?

TAKE THAT, IMPERIALIST DOG!

What really happened on George Bush's last trip abroad? The arrested man, Curly Howard, is being held at the headquarters of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, said one official who wished to remain anonymous.

Curly was immediately subdued, and remains in Iraqi custody.

Gif courtesy of the great blog Automatic Daddy.

HOW WE GOT INTO THIS MESS IN IRAQ

This is an excerpt from "Bush's War," an excellent documentary that aired earlier this year on Frontline. This segment concerns itself with the pretext to war, and how it was pitched to the American public. This should be required viewing for all voters--especially the undecided.

As we watch the Republicans rewrite history in their pro-McCain convention speeches, and give their candidate credit for supporting Bush's war from the start, and continuously, it's good to remind ourselves what really happened back then.

The rest of the documentary is available here.

McCAIN FINDS PERFECT RUNNING MATE

Rumors are circulating that John McCain has found the perfect running mate. We knew that. We expect an announcement soon. You can't hide a love so strong.

Some say he is trying to steal the thunder from the historic nomination of Barack Obama and his selection of Joe Biden. Some say he is a damaged and angry man who sold his soul for power. Some say he did it all for George, the love of his life, and George tossed him aside like a used Kleenex.

Not counting George W. Bush, possible McCain running mates being discussed have included Mitt Romney, Condoleeza Rice, and Republicrat Joe Lieberman, who will be speaking at the Republican National Convention to be held next week on the seventh level of Hell.

GEORGIA ON MY MIND

Ray Charles, the genius, performs a song about the conflict between Russia and Georgia over South Ossetia.

The U.S. corporate media keeps framing this battle in Cold War terms, and setting black hats or white hats on the actors involved depending on whether they are allied with Moscow or Washington, but it doesn't seem to be that simple. In fact, it's not simple at all, and the media isn't helping.

According to some, Georgia, the former Soviet republic and darling of the West, was encouraged to move into the breakaway pro-Russian enclave called South Ossetia and take back what is legally Georgia’s. But the plan failed. Instead, Russian forces invaded Georgia last week and crushed Georgian resistance. According to U.S. military officials, Russia is out to decimate the U.S.-trained Georgian armed forces. According to the military, it's pretty simple.

The Los Angeles Times (8/13/08): “Russia has itched to strike at southern neighbor Georgia’s brash, Western-oriented leader, President Mikheil Saakashvili. And Saakashvili gave the Kremlin an opportunity when he sent troops into the separatist region of South Ossetia last week in an effort to reassert Georgia’s sovereignty.”

A few media outlets reminded readers of Saakashvili’s crackdowns on dissent and independent media outlets, but for the most part, the conflict was presented as black-and-white struggle between Moscow’s aggression and Georgia’s pro-Western democracy.

According to Human Rights Watch, (8/14/08) Georgia’s military actions involved intensive shelling of civilian areas–reportedly caused many noncombatant deaths and prompted a large proportion of the South Ossetian population to seek safety in Russia.

This morning, NATO said regular contacts with Russia were impossible until its troops had been fully withdrawn from Georgia, and said they were "seriously considering" the implications of Moscow's actions. The White House had called on NATO nations to consider at least suspending ministerial meetings with Russia, but Britain and others said it would be counter-productive to cut channels of communication with Moscow now.

An alternate to the mainstream U.S. viewpoint can be found at the Guardian.

Some information from Peter Hart, who writes for the national media watchdog group FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting)

GREAT MOMENTS IN PRESIDENTIAL SPEECHES

Say goodnight, George.

FIDEL CASTRO RESIGNS

After surviving invasions, assassination attempts, and embargoes, old age has forced Fidel Castro to announce his retirement. For nearly fifty years, the tiny island ninety miles off the coast of Florida has remained a socialist country, ever since a small band of rebels led by Castro overthrew the US-supported dictator, Fulgencia Battista, on New Years Day, 1959.


President Bush predictably called for "democracy," a word he doesn't seem to fully understand worldwide (since the US picks and chooses which dictators to support) and certainly doesn't understand in regard to Cuba, where the US controls Guantanamo military prison (see map); in "our" Cuba, prisoners wait years for secret "trials," experience torture at secret CIA "black sites," and systematically lose rights guaranteed by the Geneva Convention.

I'm just saying, if you live in a glass house...

Photograph: Castro and friend, Ernesto "Che" Guevara, who was killed by the Bolivian Rangers directed by the CIA in 1967.

SMIRKING BUSH STAYS MUM FOR CHRISTMAS

Wouldn't it be nice to have a democracy for Christmas? My disappointment and anger with the Bush administration could be focused on one moment in this news clip from Reuters: when Bush smirks as he says "It's pretty clear." It's pretty clear he's lying, but he's lying the way a spoiled rich kid who's never been held accountable for anything in his life might lie. "What of it?" he could be saying. "So what?"

BUSH SAYS TORTURE NOT TORTURE

President George Bush explains that torture is not torture. We don't like that word. Besides, we don't torture people. But if we did, we'd have a good reason to. But we don't. But if we did, we wouldn't have to tell you about it, either. But we don't. Period. Okay?



For more, see NYTimes story below.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/06/us/nationalspecial3/06interrogate.html?ref=us

WAR NOT GOING SO WELL

"A majority of Americans say the United States made a mistake getting involved in the war in Iraq, and the increased numbers of troops in recent months has either made things worse or had no impact at all, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll."
-NY Times, Sept., 9, 2007

Let's face it. The war is a disaster. The only people benefiting are politicians and private contractors. But you know that.

It's an old story. War profiteers cashing in on death didn't start with Haliburton. Read a history book, America. Do your homework.

This Iraq War was a con job from the start, since the initial "lying" period of WMDs, yellow-cake uranium, and the Afghanistan bait-and-switch. The "plan" isn't working. The "surge" hasn't helped. Troops have been stuck over there three, four, five tours, unable to come home. Even the president isn't smirking so much anymore, and he sure hasn't put on that photo-op flight suit again. No "Mission Accomplished" banners this time. The rats are leaving the sinking ship, or being thrown off. Goodbye Rumsfeld, Rove, "Scooter," Alberto. It took the people long enough, but they aren't buying it anymore. History has shown that eventually people catch on to a con job...at least until the next war.

Police State Put on Hold

Never a watchdog, always a lapdog, little yipper Alberto Gonzales resigned today in a two minute prepared statement. One minute forty, actually. The Attorney General gave no explanation, nor did he respond to accusations of criminal misconduct – perjury, violations of the Hatch Act, misrepresentations to Congress, suborning perjury and obstruction of justice. Not to mention the political firings of eight judges.

For nearly seven years, Gonzales, an old friend and ardent supporter of the President from his Texas days, helped push the Bush agenda first as White House counsel and then as Attorney General. The prime legal architect behind the Bush torture policy, he dismissed the Geneva Convention as "quaint" and "obsolete." On the homefront, he helped whittle away civil liberties and opened doors to wiretapping and other invasions of privacy of the American citizen.

For more on the case against Gonzales, check out this video from Robert Greenwald.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hk7Sluyzqr0

War Minus Zero (No Limit)