Bottom Left Politics

Your daily dose of politics, with a progressive twist.

Desperate For Attention, Republicans Want To Investigate…Muslim Spies

Joseph McCarthyApparently House Republicans in the Congressional Anti-Terrorism Caucus are tired of sitting back and watching President Obama and his team of national security-impaired Democrats kicking ass in counter-terrorism despite the rollback of many Bush-era policies thought to be essential to fighting the terrorists.  So, to feel more important after being kicked out of the majority and then the White House (and then the mainstream of civilized society), these House Republicans are demanding that we investigate the infiltration of Communists Muslims in the government.  Yes, yes, Communists Muslims everywhere!  As we speak, there are Communist Muslim spies on key national security committees, shaping policy and preparing for their endgame of taking over the world.

Sounds pretty serious (and also vaguely familiar…).  So what’s their source?  After all, calling for an investigation into the possibility that the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) has literally planted spies in the government is pretty heavy stuff.  Surely they must be able to back up this claim.  That’s where it goes from 1950s-reminiscent insanity to a special brand of asininity reserved for today’s Republican Party – their “source” is a certain book by anti-Muslim hate-monger P. David Gaubatz (who isn’t even important or well-known enough to have a Wikipedia page that I can link to) called Muslim Mafia:  Inside the Secret Underworld that’s Conspiring to Islamize America.  I swear to freaking God, I’m not making this shit up.  This is not satire.  Truthfully, I couldn’t have made something like this up – I’m not that creative.

After reading this book (which sounds legit, no?), Republican Reps. Sue Myrick (North Carolina), John Shadegg (Arizona), Paul Broun (Georgia), and Trent Franks (Arizona) have demanded that the House sergeant at arms to investigate this very grave concern presented by a book (written by a guy who doesn’t even have a fucking Wikipedia page) that there are Muslims trying to “Islamize” the country by spying on the House Homeland Security Committee, Intelligence Committee, and Judiciary Committee.  Trent Franks admitted in an interview that he’s particularly concerned about the Muslim spies’ influence on the PATRIOT Act.

One of the target policies that they might be concerned about is the Patriot Act itself — those things that give us the greatest tools to be able to surveil those conversations outside of this country … and I think organizations like CAIR would like to diminish that.

On Wednesday morning, P. David Gaubatz (who still doesn’t have a Wikipedia page) wrote:

CAIR will use their routine and expected ‘smear’ campaign to discredit me.  It will not work.  I have one foot on CAIR. I tell the truth. They simply lie and we have the proof.  Please support me in these eforts [sic] to help shut this terror supporting organization down.  donate all weekend.  We need to raise $25,000 to put more research in the field and to bring more intelligence agianst [sic] them…If you want to protect your children and America, then help me now.

This is the guy who wrote the book that inspired the Republicans to demand a full-scale investigation – not just into the possibility of “Muslim spies” infiltrating national security committees, but also into CAIR itself.  Simply incredible.  Just when I think the GOP can’t sink any lower, by God, it finds a new low that even McCarthy might find startling.  The Grand Ole Party ain’t so grand anymore.

The blogger, Kristofer Paul, can be reached at bottomleftpolitics@yahoo.com.

October 15, 2009 Posted by Kristofer Paul | CIA/Torture/Terrorism, GOP/Right Wing | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | No Comments Yet

Cheney’s Pissed Again – This Time Over CIA Investigation

Dick Cheney reminds me of Jason Voorhees…or Michael Myers, perhaps.  No matter how long he’s “dead” to the country – and, thanks to our pathetic mainstream media that keeps pandering to this murderous tyrant, that’s usually not very long – he just keeps coming back, more laughable than ever.  Just when you thought you’ve seen the last of Cheney, he’ll be plastered all over CNN the next day.

He only comes out of his lair, though, when we start talking about torture.  Could it be that he’s worried?  Nah, surely he knows that the Obama Administration has no intention of prosecuting him for his war crimes.  It makes me wonder why he keeps opening his mouth when, really, he should be cowering in a dark corner somewhere, hoping against hope that the law doesn’t catch up to him.  But, like I said, he must know that the Obama Administration isn’t going to pursue justice, so he feels more than free to taunt us on television and in released statements, daring us to do something about it.  This time, what got Cheney’s attention and took him away from his regular activity (mutilating puppies and eating their mangled remains raw) was the Monday release of the much-anticipated CIA Inspector-General report that outlines (gasp, horror) more torture and abuse perpetrated by the death machine otherwise known as the CIA, as well as the announcement that John Durham would be appointed to investigate the possibility (possibility?  Really?) of CIA wrongdoing.

Well, first of all, most of us – here in the universe of sanity and logic – understand that this is an important first step.  It’s nowhere close to what needs to be carried out, which is a full investigation and likely prosecution of crimes committed by upper-level Bush Administration officials (which Holder apparently does not want), but it’s a very important step in the right direction, and we’re certainly grateful for that.  While we’re investigating the CIA, perhaps we should also investigate the reality that the CIA is responsible for much worse than threatening to sexually assault a detainee’s mother or firing a gun in another room – like annihilating villages, slaughtering children, overthrowing legitimate governments, destabilizing currencies, and the list goes on and on until one is ready to vomit blood.  But, of course, that can never happen, at least not in this “democracy.”  So I’ll take what I can get.  But I’m not satisfied.  This investigation might result in some prosecutions (if we’re lucky), but the blood-soaked despots in the Bush Administration likely won’t be so much as sniffed around, much less investigated.

So what is Dick Cheney so uptight about?  Jeebus only knows.  He has released a statement (as if we all give so much of a shit over what he has to say that he feels compelled to release statements) saying that the recent series of events fuels “doubts about this administration’s ability to be responsible for our nation’s security.”  Son of a bitch.  But wait, there’s more:

The people involved deserve our gratitude.  They do not deserve to be the targets of political investigations or prosecutions.

That’s right.  The people involved – i.e., the animals who got off on torturing and killing detainees, many (probably most) of whom were completely innocent of any wrongdoing – deserve our gratitude.  Got that?  They do not deserve to be the targets of…here’s the kicker…political investigations or prosecutions.  Because, obviously, this has nothing to do with the fact that our own CIA committed war crimes on a gargantuan scale, murdered people, spat upon the rule of law, and denigrated the reputation (if it was possible) of the United States.  Obviously, this is a political witch hunt by the Marxist, Muslim Obama Administration that targets the God-fearing Bush Administration defenders of freedom and democracy.

And he went on to spout his usual bullshit about how the “intelligence” gathered from these harsh interrogation methods thwarted terrorists and saved lives.  You know the drill.

Dick Cheney has to be loving this.  He can defend war crimes, claim responsibility for those war crimes, and even insult the Obama Administration – the same administration that is sparing this filthy bastard from criminal prosecution.  And the Obama Administration won’t do a goddamned thing about it.  He’s got it made in the shade.  I have to wonder why.

The blogger, Kristofer Paul, can be reached at bottomleftpolitics@yahoo.com.

August 25, 2009 Posted by Kristofer Paul | CIA/Torture/Terrorism | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | No Comments Yet

More Chavez-Bashing, Courtesy of “U.S. Intelligence”

The word is out.  Hugo Chavez is Satan.

If you didn’t distrust the brutal, fascist dictator of Venezuela before, just wait until you read about the report from “U.S. intelligence.”  It’s enough to send a chill down your spine and make you thank your lucky stars that you were born in a real democracy (i.e., a country in which one of two corporate-controlled parties that have roughly the same economic agenda is allowed to win).  According to “U.S. intelligence” – and we all know that we can trust U.S. intelligence when it comes to Venezuela (hehe) – Hugo Chavez has emerged from his lair long enough to close down 32 dissenting radio stations, after which he cracked the neck of a kitten and spilled its blood in a sacrifice to Lucifer.  And now he’s seeking to punish (brace yourself) media crimes.  This seals it.  Hugo Chavez is a Nazi.  What’s next? – does he want to turn the media into something that serves the public with unbiased, accurate information?  Goddamnit, that’s not how democracy is supposed to work!

Here are the facts, courtesy of the Venezuelan Embassy.  The radio stations that were shut down were in violation of the law according to the current standards of the Venezuelan legal code.  It may or may not be true that some or all of the radio stations were critical of the Venezuelan government, but that does not exclude them from an equal application of the law.  See, but this doesn’t matter to the corporate thugs (not to mention “U.S. intelligence,” which orchestrated the 2002 coup that temporarily toppled Chavez and installed an oppressive, anti-democratic government to serve corporate interests) who pump our news sources full of this bullshit.  Chavez is probably the only leader in the Western Hemisphere who isn’t afraid to take on these sons of bitches in the media corporatocracy – you know, the ones who regularly feed our televisions with information that serves the capitalistic elites and the neoliberal governments rather than the public.  Not only does he call them out on their current crimes, but he seeks to make it a crime to do what our media here in the United States does every single day, when it distorts information and destabilizes society with propaganda.  And, predictably, the real “democracies” (of which the U.S. is king) are wagging their fingers and talking about freedom of expression.

Doesn’t it worry you that our media is going out of its way to portray the democratically-elected (and overwhelmingly popular) leader of Venezuela as some sort of fascistic bogeyman?  It makes one wonder if our next military rendezvous – the sequel to the War For Oil in Iraq – will be in Latin America.

The blogger, Kristofer Paul, can be reached at bottomleftpolitics@yahoo.com.

August 18, 2009 Posted by Kristofer Paul | CIA/Torture/Terrorism, Foreign Affairs | , , , , , , , , , | No Comments Yet

Say It Ain’t So: CIA Misled Congress

WHAT?  You’re KIDDING me!  I’m flabbergasted.

Yes, yes, as difficult as it is to believe, CIA Director Leon Panetta apparently acknowledged in a briefing that the CIA had indeed concealed “significant information” (probably relating to interrogation policy) from members of Congress.  For a “number of years,” in fact.  REALLY?  So wait a second…you mean to tell me that our own red-white-and-blue Central Intelligence Agency MISLED our elected lawmakers?  I never would have guessed.  I just can’t believe it.

But…then…why did Leon Panetta make this statement on May 15?:  “It is not our policy or practice to mislead Congress.  That is against our laws and values.” This is the issue being addressed by seven Congressional Democrats who have written a letter to Panetta and asked him to “publicly correct” his obviously (through his own goddamned admission) FALSE statement.  Seems fair, right?  Right.  So what did the CIA have to say in response?

Well, a certain George Little, the spokesman for the CIA, basically repeated Panetta’s false statement:  “It is not the policy or practice of the CIA to mislead Congress.  This Agency and this Director believe it is vital to keep the Congress fully and currently informed.  Director Panetta’s actions back that up.” Really?  What actions?  You mean…when he made the statement and then contradicted himself and admitted that the CIA had, in fact, misled Congress?  I mean, he said it himself.  George Little goes on:  “As the letter from these six representatives notes, it was the CIA itself that took the initiative to notify the oversight committees.” Oh, WELL!  Why didn’t we think of that?  Duh!  Okay!  Let’s go home now!  Jesus Christ, are you KIDDING me?  Well, you admitted to fucking up, so no harm no foul!  Unbelievable.  And, after this blatant contradiction, the CIA is sticking to its guns and not publicly admitting to ANY wrongdoing.  Leon Panetta’s admission that information was concealed from members of Congress is apparently the closest we’re ever going to get to the CIA revealing itself for what it truly is (and has been for many years).

Understandably, members of Congress want to change the way covert intelligence briefings are delivered.  The Intelligence Authorization Act would expand the number of lawmakers being briefed on covert intelligence beyond the current “Gang of Eight.”  And, suprise suprise, the White House is threatening to VETO it.  Provisions within the Intelligence Authorization Act would apparently “impede the smooth and effective functioning” of the intelligence community, according to the Office of Management and Budget.  Not only that, but the legislation would restrict “an important established means by which the President protects the most sensitive intelligence activities that are carried out in the Nation’s vital national security interests.”  That’s code for:  It’s none of your fucking business.

Different President, same game…same CIA.  Yes, everything is well in Washington.

July 9, 2009 Posted by Kristofer Paul | CIA/Torture/Terrorism | , , , , , , , , , , , | No Comments Yet

Was the coup in Honduras U.S.-backed?

At this point, such a question seems rhetorical.  In fact, the first thing I thought when I read about the military coup and the kidnapping of the democratically-elected president in Honduras was that the stench of Washington must be thick in the Honduran air.

This is a classic U.S.-backed coup, following a lengthy history of violent interference in Latin America (Venezuela, anyone?).  This is nothing new, except – perhaps – to those who actually believe that the United States is the world’s fiercest defender of democracy.  The reality is that the governments that have ruled the United States – yes, even the Obama Administration, as has become abundantly clear in this coup – have tended to see the underdeveloped world and its resources as ripe for the plucking, just pawns on the proverbial chessboard of capitalism and the neoliberal order.  It’s simple to understand, really.  The (democratic) leftist populism found in these Latin American countries is a very real threat to U.S. corporate interests.  So, in the name of freedom (free trade, that is), democracy must be dismantled and replaced with whatever regime will serve the elites, which is, in this case and in others, military dictatorship.  This is the kind of stuff that makes the wealthy elite lick its chops.  Who cares about a people’s government when there’s so much MONEY to be made?  This is capitalism.  But you already knew that.

I doubt the sanity of anyone who doubts – even for a second – the involvement of the United States in this brutal takeover by the military of a country onced ruled by democracy.  President Obama and Hillary Clinton are out in full force condemning the coup, but what was the administration doing while the coup was being engineered (by none other than Romeo Orlando Vasquez Velasquez, graduate of, you guessed it, the School of the Americas)?  With 550 U.S. military personnel stationed in Honduras, wouldn’t you think that the U.S. would catch wind of this somehow?  Of course they did.  And what did they do to stop it?  Next to nothing.  Because this hostile military takeover is in the best interests of the United States and the capitalism that forms its economic system.

If the American people, on the whole, had any idea what kind of carnage their governments have been responsible for, perhaps this activity could have been stopped long ago.  But, as long as Americans are blissfully ignorant when it comes to what the U.S. really stands for abroad (and especially in Latein America), the almighty dollar will continue to rape democracy and repress entire populations.

June 30, 2009 Posted by Kristofer Paul | CIA/Torture/Terrorism, Foreign Affairs | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Happy (?) Memorial Day

There’s no shortage of “Happy Memorial Day” salutations around this date every year, despite the reality that Memorial Day – at least, properly observed – leaves almost nothing to be happy about, nothing to celebrate.  Indeed, it has been passed down to us from previous generations as a day of respect;  it’s a day on which one is supposed to walk up to a veteran and give him (or her, but mostly him) a big ol’ “Thank You” for the service provided to this country.  And I support this.  Even being the pacifist that I am, I genuinely appreciate the dedication of our men and women in uniform – past, present, and certainly future.  Like other patriotic Americans, I support our troops, misguided by the treasonous Bush Administration (and now Obama Administration) as they may be, and I mourn the deaths of our service members.  Who wouldn’t?  So, yes, strange and awkward as it may seem, Happy Memorial Day.  Without coming across as jingoistic, go out and thank a veteran or honor a fallen soldier, because that’s what you’re supposed to do on Memorial Day, especially if you have veterans and/or fallen soldiers from within your family.

But let’s not lose sight on this 2009 Memorial Day of the real victims of war.  The real victims are the innocent civilian men, women and especially children who, from Vietnam to Afghanistan to Iraq and back to Afghanistan, have been bombed, slaughtered, dismembered, disfigured, and even tortured.  It’s easy to wave a miniature flag and shed a tear over a fallen soldier – and you should, because that soldier himself (or herself) was a victim of the imperialistic machine that is the United States and its “Washington Consensus”-minded administrations.  But what about the young boy or girl who is blown to bits when our supposedly sophisticated weaponry hits his or her house, flattening everyone in sight?  What about the truly innocent civilians who are caught in a war of religion and power, Christianity versus Islam, the West versus everybody else, and butchered at the hands of what, really, is nothing more than a product of the sadistic engine that is capitalism?  Are these not victims, fallen “heroes,” if you will, too?  Do they not count?  As we mourn for our dead, should we not give them a second thought?

How can we honestly observe Memorial Day if we don’t give a rat’s ass about the dead civilians, or, furthermore, those who suffered – like the now-famous taxi driver – under U.S. torture?  As our newly-elected President refuses to live up to his promises of transparency by releasing detainee abuse photos, starts up the Bush-era “military commissions” system again, supports indefinite detention, and is blocked by his fellow Democrats from closing Gitmo because of an irrational fear of terrorists stirring up trouble in this country if they’re left to our conventional penal system…as all of this is happening around us, how can we say that we’re observing Memorial Day?  Our veterans fought the Nazis for THIS?  For conservatives and “liberals” (AKA “Obamabots”) alike to stamp their muddy feet upon our flag and upon our professed principles and upon our Declaration of Independence and Constitution?  For one President to set up a semi-fascist police state and then the next President to continue down the same path at a slower speed?  For MORE innocent civilians – men, women, and (for God’s sake) CHILDREN – to die in Afghanistan because of our unnecessary, unjustified military escalation?

Yes, “Happy Memorial Day” indeed.  Thank a veteran.  Better yet, apologize to a veteran if you’ve ever voted for a Republican or a Democrat.

May 25, 2009 Posted by Kristofer Paul | CIA/Torture/Terrorism, Iraq/Afghanistan | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | No Comments Yet

Yeah…About Gitmo…

It’s interesting that, now that Obama is in office rather than Bush, the Democrats in Congress are NOW deciding to play hardball, to give the White House a tough time.  Years and years of unnecessary war – both in Afghanistan AND in Iraq – waged by the Bush Administration, and did Congress have the collective spine to stop funding the killing of innocent civilians and the destabilization of countries?  It seems to me that the Bush Administration just received a blank check to do whatever it wanted to do, plunder whomever it wanted to plunder, and say whatever it wanted to say.  More and more money was pumped – under the guise of patriotism – into the war effort, and Bush and his neoconservative cronies never had to worry for a second that Congress might actually grow a backbone and do anything about it.

But now…NOW it’s time to be hawkish.  The Obama Administration requested $80 million to close down Gitmo – you know, that stain upon our flag, our history (muddied in atrocities as it may be), and our Constitution down there in Cuba, where THE WORST OF THE WORST were held without legal rights, without charges, without a trial.  That Gitmo.  $80 million.  That’s a fraction of what Congress approved for the wealthy banking elite.  But, see, this is something good that’s going on;  this is something that is simply, out of principle, RIGHT.  So, naturally, Congressional Democrats (and, of course, Republicans, but that goes without saying) denied the request and demanded that President Obama submit a plan as to how he plans to close Gitmo (specifically, what he wants to do with the detainees).  WHAT?  Obama has to submit a PLAN?  I seem to remember a certain war in a certain non-threatening country that toppled a certain leader who had nothing to do with 9/11 and posed absolutely no threat to the United States…I seem to remember this war being funded by our Congress with almost nothing in regard to a “plan.”  No exit strategy, not even a basic understanding of the culture or what the war was going to entail.  But THIS…this is DIFFERENT!  Obama’s about to close GITMO, where all the EVIL TERRORISTS live!  AAAGGGHHH!!!  QUICK!  LET’S DENY THE FUNDING!

But why?  Why would Congress reject a request for $80 million to close a torture-ridden cess pool that has done so much to damage our country and its institutions?  Well, it’s simple…Congress is afraid that the terrorists (or, I should say, to be more accurate…terror SUSPECTS) will be living in their backyards, stealing vegetables out of their gardens, sneaking into their houses and watching Pay-Per-View.  Who knows what could happen?  Or maybe…maybe…OH MY GOD, maybe they could receive a FAIR TRIAL!  AAAGGGHHH!!!  We can’t let this happen!  We can’t let the terror suspects into the country!  (nevermind the reality that many of the detainees at Gitmo aren’t even terrorists)  QUICK!  DENY THE FUNDING!  Let’s show this Constitution-conscious President who’s in charge here in the United States Congress.

Astonishing.  And we’re supposed to be a nation of laws, an example of justice to the world.  We won’t let terror suspects into the United States to stand, knowledgeable of their charges, able to defend themselves, in a fair trial guaranteed by the spirit of our Constitution…and we’ll deny the funding of the closure of a ghastly, abhorrent mar upon our nation’s values because of that refusal to live up to our professed principle.  Simply astonishing.  God, Democrats disgust me.

May 20, 2009 Posted by Kristofer Paul | CIA/Torture/Terrorism | , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

MORE Microwaved Bush Leftovers

Holy shit.  What a headline to wake up and read on the CNN website:  “Obama to resurrect military commissions for terror suspects.”  Say what?  What’s that, Mr. President?  You mean those things you suspended in your first week of office because they’re, um, unconstitutional?  Those little fake trials set up to ensure a conviction at the expense of due process and a fair trial, basic principles upon which this nation was founded?  THOSE “military commissions”?  Huh?

Well, I guess it was a natural step, since the last microwaved Bush leftovers Obama handed us was his blatant refusal to cooperate in a court order to release detainee abuse photos.  Why stop there?  Let’s start the unconstitutional, unconscionable military commission system back up again to “try” terror suspects.  Hey, while we’re at it, why don’t we just keep Gitmo open and…oh, I don’t know…lift the ban on torture?  That seems like the next logical step.  I mean, as long as we’re going back on our word and ignoring our principle, what’s stopping us?

Oh, but wait!  In an effort to quell liberal dissent (say…wasn’t Obama the most liberal Senator in 2007?), the Obama Administration has made clear that this is not the same system that existed under the Bush Administration, a system that (the Obama Administration has also made perfectly clear) Obama opposed as a Senator.  No, no, no.  This military commission system has expanded the whole “due process” thing, making these tribunals much more like fair trials (of course, that begs the question…why don’t we just use…um…fair trials?).  So stuff your constitutional concerns in a sack, you ACLU liberals, the President is apparently saying.  Trust the White House on this.  It’s constitutional.  Remember? – Obama’s a constitutional scholar.

Change we can believe in…hope…hope and change…change…change we can believe in.  Maybe if we chant it enough, the nasty Bush remnants will disappear.  Hope…hope and change…

May 15, 2009 Posted by Kristofer Paul | Barack Obama, CIA/Torture/Terrorism | , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Microwaved Bush Leftovers

Well, it finally happened.  After weeks of Darth Cheney and his minions (AKA his daughter) making their case for torture to right-wing talk radio, mainstream television, and, well, anybody else who would listen, President Obama has finally buckled under the pressure, granting legitimacy to Cheney and his neoconservative school of thought.  In a shocking, revolting about-face on transparency, Obama has declared that he will, indeed, stand in the way of a court order to release a myriad of detainee abuse photos – photos that are probably so egregious, so heinous, that they would likely make the Abu Ghraib photos seem scrapbook-worthy.  Photo after photo after photo, detailing the torture-ridden atrocities committed at the hands of the United States, and each and every one of them are going to be locked up, if the White House has its way.  We can’t endanger our military or our country’s standing in the world, the President explains.  The photos would inflame our situation in the Middle East, an argument stemming from the common right-wing belief that the release of detainee abuse photos would cause deaths of Americans.  We need to move on, the President keeps saying, but we’ll just have to move on without seeing these photos.

Well, there’s a problem with that.  Several, actually, the most obvious of which is that our nation’s standing in the world cannot be any more damaged than it already is.  The world knows.  We Americans know.  Everybody knows, deep down, what has been going on and what has been done to the detainees of the United States.  And thousands of Americans are okay with it, according to polls, because they’re either (a) stupid or (b) still under the Bush-Cheney spell of 9/11 fear.  Think back to Abu Ghraib;  outrage would have been non-existent had those photos not been released, because it’s one thing to read about the shit our military does, but it’s another thing altogether to see it with one’s own two eyes.  So many Americans think that torture is acceptable because they don’t understand torture – they understand the definition of the word, perhaps, but they don’t truly grasp the concept, and they won’t, until those photos are released to the American people and to the world.  The President doesn’t want to damage America, but he’s doing a pretty damned good job at it by reverting to a Bush stance on transparency and hiding what the previous administration did from the entire world.  Does that make us look better, Mr. President?

I, like so many others, want to put this torture shit behind us;  it’s repulsive to think about, morose to talk about.  I want to move on with the business of pursuing a progressive domestic agenda for the United States.  But we can’t do that until we face up to what the Bush Administration did – which includes complying with the court order and releasing the detainee abuse photos – investigate and prosecute those responsible, and imprint the horrors of torture upon the collective mind of an entire generation of Americans.  Until we do that, until we salvage the text and spirit of the Constitution, which has been reduced to little more than toilet paper over the past eight years, we’ll never be able to move on.  Worse still, we’ll be empowering future Presidents, Vice Presidents, and Defense Secretaries with the ability to torture – and maybe more – and get away with it.  Do we want that?  Is that better for America, Mr. President?

I voted for Barack Obama partly because I believed in his dedication to the United States Constitution.  So don’t give me microwaved Bush leftovers.

May 14, 2009 Posted by Kristofer Paul | Barack Obama, CIA/Torture/Terrorism | , , , , , , , , , , , | No Comments Yet

Free-For-All Friday: Trying to Forget

Just a little note before I begin today’s blog entry – I’m obviously starting something new here at Bottom Left Politics called “Free-For-All Friday.”  Of course, it used to be “Film Friday,” but that didn’t work out so well, so, instead, Friday’s blog entry can be about anything – politics, religion, film, books, random crap, whatever.  Enjoy.

Simulated drowning.  Slapping.  Insects.  Liquid diets.  “Shock,” “surprise,” and “humiliation.”  Wearing a diaper.  Being struck in the abdomen.  Sleep deprivation.  Forced nudity.  These are some of the techniques used by the former administration in the “War on Terror” that supposedly made us so much safer after 9/11.  Crazy stuff, like exploiting a fear of insects, stuff that one might find in a cheap horror film.  This is what our government was doing under the Cheney-Bush regime, this is the type of crap that was taking place right under our collective nose, out of sight and out of mind.  Our country did this.  Not North Korea or some other totalitarian state – the United States of America.  And, of course, we know what was going on, but now we see it, right in front of our faces.  This is what Cheney and Bush and the rest of the neoconservative bastards who infested the executive branch did.

Torture, without the intent to cause “severe pain,” was permitted.  But wait – it’s okay – the same techniques are used in training exercises, while it’s still acknowledged that “there are obvious differences between training exercises and actual interrogations.”  Really?  Is that so?  These scum.  And there are people in the right-wing fringe who still support these thugs, who still think they acted heroically, defending the homeland from the evil terrorists.  And, if it takes a few simulated drownings, well, by God, it’s worth it, right?  Maybe a few slaps to the abdomen, maybe an insect here and there.  What the hell is wrong with these people?

And then there’s Obama, who, to his credit, allowed the torture memos to be revealed to the public.  One problem.  He’s not gonna do a damned thing about it except say, “No more.”  What else?  What about prosecutions?  Nope.  Not in the Obama White House, we’re not gonna go after these bastards.  The CIA personnel involved in the “enhanced interrogation” will not face repercussions for their actions, sending a message to the world that, while the United States regrets having tortured, it doesn’t give a big enough damn to actually do anything about it.  What’s it going to take?  Is it going to take international influence?  Oh, I forgot, the United States is oblivious to the importance of the international community.

And all the phony liberals, the ones who backed Obama and have been spewing White House talking points ever since Inauguration Day, don’t have a damned word to say.

God bless America.  After all, we’re the shining city on the hill, the beacon of freedom to the world.

April 17, 2009 Posted by Kristofer Paul | CIA/Torture/Terrorism | , , , , , , , , | No Comments Yet

« Previous Entries