I can't remember if I said anything about this or not
Have been kinda preoccupied lately. But I figure most of you did hear about this despite the rather minimal mainstream news coverage and do have some thoughts, one way or the other, with regard to what solarbird said here:
http://solarbird.livejournal.com/879618.html?view=4753922#t4753922
To quote: the torture obscenities of the US government. I'm still processing that - as well as the near-total lack of reaction to it.
You are all aware that it is now a matter of public record that the Bush administration tortured someone they knew was innocent to get him to make a confession they knew was false,, and the Obama administration, upon learning of this, wanted to keep the dude locked up so . . . . well, I'm not quite sure what the motives were, since any possible assigned motive is not just evil but so obviously stupid from any point of view whatsoever (this does not help fight terrorism; it hurts our credibility abroad with everyone and keeps us from having any moral high ground whatsoever if any of our people are ever arrested for not doing anything, there's no revolt in the streets to prosecute anyone for anything and most Obama fans don't want to know he is continuing Bush administration torture policies and most Republicans are all for it, so, really, there is nothing to lose by letting the guy go with a written apology saying "sorry we tortured you for bullshit reasons" on the doorstep of the local Al Jazeera office (letting him go on the doorstep of the NYT or the WP might actually get the guy killed, so eager are these people to support a police state, thus my reach for a media outlet that would give him due attention).
I've kind of given up expecting anything from anybody, see my comments in her journal, but her stray comment has shamed me into thinking maybe I could contribute to a trickle down effect that would otherwise' run dry before it got the avalanche rolling (metaphors are made to be mixed), so, well, here.
If you aren't upset about this, I don't know why. If you still think this administration is doing a good job, I don't know why, I can think of a few reasons to want them to succeed however much they clearly deserve the same sort of vitriol heaped uon the Bush administration (which also deserved it, if not a helluva lot worse), but blind acquiescence is thus far not helping them to succeed. If left to their own devices, the goal seems to be Bush/Cheney, term 3, with better rhetoric. Yeah, I know, the despicable deluded nutjob teabagger crowd hates Obama and I don't want to be lumped in with them either, but really, all your support is doing is letting these guys provide cover for him to do stuff they would be cheering if Bush had done it. Not good.
eta: See comment for more important details about this!
Also, Leahy, Dodd and some other folks have introduced a bill trying to do away with retroactive immunity for telecom spying for the Bushies. Please your call/write local congresspeople and let them know you favor this.
I might horrify you all by doing more politics later, but it's been a tiring morning following a tiring day and night and I gotta go back to sleep.
http://solarbird.livejournal.com/879618.html?view=4753922#t4753922
To quote: the torture obscenities of the US government. I'm still processing that - as well as the near-total lack of reaction to it.
You are all aware that it is now a matter of public record that the Bush administration tortured someone they knew was innocent to get him to make a confession they knew was false,, and the Obama administration, upon learning of this, wanted to keep the dude locked up so . . . . well, I'm not quite sure what the motives were, since any possible assigned motive is not just evil but so obviously stupid from any point of view whatsoever (this does not help fight terrorism; it hurts our credibility abroad with everyone and keeps us from having any moral high ground whatsoever if any of our people are ever arrested for not doing anything, there's no revolt in the streets to prosecute anyone for anything and most Obama fans don't want to know he is continuing Bush administration torture policies and most Republicans are all for it, so, really, there is nothing to lose by letting the guy go with a written apology saying "sorry we tortured you for bullshit reasons" on the doorstep of the local Al Jazeera office (letting him go on the doorstep of the NYT or the WP might actually get the guy killed, so eager are these people to support a police state, thus my reach for a media outlet that would give him due attention).
I've kind of given up expecting anything from anybody, see my comments in her journal, but her stray comment has shamed me into thinking maybe I could contribute to a trickle down effect that would otherwise' run dry before it got the avalanche rolling (metaphors are made to be mixed), so, well, here.
If you aren't upset about this, I don't know why. If you still think this administration is doing a good job, I don't know why, I can think of a few reasons to want them to succeed however much they clearly deserve the same sort of vitriol heaped uon the Bush administration (which also deserved it, if not a helluva lot worse), but blind acquiescence is thus far not helping them to succeed. If left to their own devices, the goal seems to be Bush/Cheney, term 3, with better rhetoric. Yeah, I know, the despicable deluded nutjob teabagger crowd hates Obama and I don't want to be lumped in with them either, but really, all your support is doing is letting these guys provide cover for him to do stuff they would be cheering if Bush had done it. Not good.
eta: See comment for more important details about this!
Also, Leahy, Dodd and some other folks have introduced a bill trying to do away with retroactive immunity for telecom spying for the Bushies. Please your call/write local congresspeople and let them know you favor this.
I might horrify you all by doing more politics later, but it's been a tiring morning following a tiring day and night and I gotta go back to sleep.