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:

LADIES & GENTLEMEN, THE PRESIDENT

Barack Obama slams Dick Cheney on Sunday's 60 Minutes. Recently, Cheney said we are less safe without torture. In the clip, Obama remains the perfect gentlemen and makes his point without resorting to violence. Still, I'd love to see him punch Cheney in the nose. Cheney's face is just so punchable.

A singularly punchable face

In related news:
Newsweek (March 21, 09) reports that more "torture memos" from the Bush Administration are soon to be released. "Over objections from the U.S. intelligence community, the White House is moving to declassify—and publicly release—three internal memos that will lay out, for the first time, details of the "enhanced" interrogation techniques..."

locked in coffin-size boxes; swung by towels around their necks into plywood walls; and forced to stand naked for days

Newsweek continues: "The debate about torture ramped up again last week with an account in the New York Review of Books about a secret International Red Cross report that was delivered to the CIA in February 2007. The report, according to journalist Mark Danner, quotes detainees describing, often in gruesome detail, how they were locked in coffin-size boxes; swung by towels around their necks into plywood walls; and forced to stand naked for days while their arms were shackled above their heads."

Cheney would have loved these guys: Nazis practicing "enhanced" techniques for a "safer" Germany

SCREW YOUR RIGHTS!

With all due respect, do you remember these bums?

Previously secret memos written by the Bush administration outlined their reasons for why the military had the right to warrantless wiretaps and warrantless search and seizures of people in the U.S. they deemed to be terrorist suspects. The Obama administration released the memos. More secret memos are on their way. Don't be alarmed, but we might have been a doll's hair away from a police state.

Now that most right-minded people have wised up to George W. Bush (with the possible exception of Rush Limbaugh and my cousin Angie who blames liberals for everything including the high cost of cigarettes) it's time for an independent commission to investigate and make public what the Bush administration did in "the global campaign against terrorism." Things like tossing out habeas corpus, burning the Bill of Rights, giving the Geneva Convention the bum's rush, wiretapping citizens without a warrant, and basically setting up the possibility of martial law. Not to mention gutting the economy for personal gain and the enrichment of the already rich.

These bums had no shame!

Republicans, are you embarrassed yet for supporting these fools? You think Bobby Jindal can save you now? Admit you were wrong, and for a limited time only there will be a general amnesty for idiots.



"The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Representative John Conyers Jr., Democrat of Michigan, said the revelations, together with the release of new information about the CIA’s destruction of 92 interrogation videotapes, had underscored the need for a commission that would have the power to subpoena documents and testimony." -Huffington Post

Read the secret documents here.

FAKE SMILES FOR THE HOLIDAYS

Being an election year -- and the holiday season -- you'll be seeing plenty of fake smiles. With any luck, you'll also see some warm genuine smiles as well, and I hope you do. Genuine smiles come from the heart, express feelings of joy and delight, and are much rarer and special.


Many people don't seem to know the difference. To them, any baring of the teeth qualifies. Technically, they are correct. Physiologically, a smile is just a facial expression created by flexing the muscles at both ends of the mouth, which may remain open or closed. Yet, without the honest emotion to back it up, a smile is an empty pose at best, and at worst a grimace, a contortion, a hideous rictus.


Look at Ann Coulter. She exhibits what is often referred to as "dead fish eyes." Zero warmth here. This is typical of the fake smile. Strolling through the Pike Place Market, past an arrangement of pollack on shaved ice, I was reminded of nothing so much as a formal group photograph. All they needed were sweaters, and you'd have your standard holiday shot.


Fake or real, some people can't smile whatever they do. Dick Cheney, for example. He has a great sneer, but can't seem to work out the technical aspects of a smile. He moves his mouth this way and that, and only manages to scare the children.


Donald Rumseld also has difficulty smiling. For him, a smile is extremely hard work. Rumsfeld has that pinched, constipated look common among powerful Republicans. He could use an emotional laxative. In all fairness, I've seen him give a warm, genuine smile one time. He was discussing waterboarding. His eyes even twinkled.

YOUR TIME IS UP

What's wrong with me? I'm sick of these idiots. I should just chill and enjoy being an apathetic, slacker hipster -- make art, listen to music, watch suitably ironic shows on my flat screen, stop and smell the artificial roses. In the greater scheme of things, after all, we're just a speck in the cosmos.

What does it matter if these monkeys in suits drop bombs, trash the woods, shred the constitution, destroy the planet? Look at them. They drive me insane with their arrogance and greed, their stupidity, their sense of superiority, their imaginary inside track with God. I guess enlightenment will have to wait. I can't seem to transcend the bullshit.

I've always rooted for the underdog. It started on the playground, back in first grade. I can't help it (lowly evolved creature that I am) when some little David gives a hulking Goliath a good crack in the mouth. I'm a monkey, too, I guess. I may never get that placid, glazed third eye look of those smug seventh level vegans smoking cigarettes out on the Ave. The know-it-alls, world weary at twenty two. Maybe someday a good mortician will fix me up with a smile like that. In the meantime, all the joy and rage will be real -- including my rage against this ugly war machine. To help get through it, here are some soulful troubadours on the dark edge of the empire.

A Veterans' Day Jukebox:
First, a cry of love from a psychedelic ex-paratrooper from Seattle named Hendrix called "Machine Gun."


Next up, old man Dylan plays a song about a soldier named "John Brown."


Finally, the Roots perform "Masters of War," setting the lyrics to a familar tune. Check it out:

SPRINGSTEEN CALLS BUSH OUT

In case you missed Bruce Springsteen's appearance on the Today Show, you'll want to watch this clip. The E Street Band is in fine form, and Springsteen gives a great little introduction before kicking into a spirited "Living in the Future."

"Woke up Election Day, skies gunpowder and shades of gray..."

In related news, demonstrators marched on Washington DC, protesting the war and the Bush/Cheney regime. Maybe you'll hear about that on the news, maybe not.
President Bush, predictably, requested more of our money today -- 196 billion dollars, in fact-- to continue his senseless, tragic war. Someday we'll be living in the future...if we can only make it through the present. Keep your fingers crossed.