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Torture is here, the Dems couldn't get it together [VIDEO]

Posted by Evan Derkacz at 2:33 PM on September 28, 2006.


America set back 900 years; you can be held indefinitely...

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A rundown on the soon-to-be finalized Bush/McCain Torture Bill... In the video to the right, Hillary gives a history lesson on America's first run-in with the ethics of torture featuring Washington and the vicious Brits...

"Today, the Congress has forever stained its reputation and that of the United States of America," writes mcjoan.

Sisyphus explains:

"on an almost completely party-line vote, the majority in Congress used their position as the majority in Congress to kill an amendment which would have removed from the torture enablement bill Our Fearless Leader's ability to round up and torture - well, pretty much anyone they want to, including United States citizens on United States soil, without judicial review or the need to show any evidence that the disappeared citizens are, in fact, anything more dangerous than political opponents of the party currently in power."

Booman sums it up thusly: "The Democrats didn't prove they are strong on terrorism. They proved they are weak on human rights and defending the Constitution."

According to the Times, what essentially happened is that "The bill’s ultimate passage was assured on Wednesday when Democrats agreed to forgo a filibuster in return for consideration of the amendment."

Arlen Specter, who coauthored the amendment which would have given anyone detained by America the right to judicial review, commented, "What this bill would do is take our civilization back 900 years,” referring to the origins of habeas corpus.

Melissa writes:

"As I’ve said before, I can’t understand the reasoning of Christians who support torture, people who pray to a savior who, when facing certain torture and eventual death, fell to his knees and prayed that he might be spared."

And I also cannot begin to comprehend why anyone supports torture, other than simple hatred, since it doesn’t fucking work."

Paul Kiel asks why it took 10 hours to deliberate on freaking TORTURE but three days on the Marriage Protection Amendment...

Today's Times editorial hits the pathetic and distressing nail on the head:

Here's what happens when this irresponsible Congress railroads a profoundly important bill to serve the mindless politics of a midterm election: The Bush administration uses Republicans' fear of losing their majority to push through ghastly ideas about antiterrorism that will make American troops less safe and do lasting damage to our 217-year-old nation of laws - while actually doing nothing to protect the nation from terrorists. Democrats betray their principles to avoid last-minute attack ads. Our democracy is the big loser.

The only bright spot is the relative ease with which the Daily Show and Colbert Report writers will find themselves working this evening... (Kos, SisyphusShrugged, Booman, Shakespeare'sSister, TPM)

Digg!

Evan Derkacz is a New York-based writer and contributor to AlterNet.


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RIP
Posted by: Lara on Sep 28, 2006 3:57 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Here lies the US Constitution.
It served us well, while it lasted.
Rest in Peace.

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Shame!
Posted by: andyc on Sep 28, 2006 4:09 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
A pox on the cowards, hypocrites and sociopaths who let this one through! They have besmirched your country, and made you a disgrace in the eyes of the rest of the world.

Please vote all of them out in November, try to get them replaced by decent human beings, and lobby hard to get this disgusting piece of crap repealed.

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It's classic Rove politics. Attack fundamental freedom to keep your opposition busy.
Posted by: Sojourner on Sep 28, 2006 6:31 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Surely it will keep the courts busy. Isn't it possible for some judge to block the enforcement of something so contrary to 225 years of civil rights laws? If we are world leaders, we are leading the world in the wrong direction.

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It's Inquisition Time!
Posted by: Plexius on Sep 28, 2006 8:45 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
America, this one's for YOU!

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Time to leave
Posted by: Jeanne on Sep 28, 2006 10:03 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
It's time to leave the country. The USA has become a totalitarian state. No hope that the Supreme Court will overturn this. It is the Spanish Inquisition. And W is now the grand inquisitor. The elections will be stolen, I feel certain. This law is going through now and They know that it'll be 49 to 51% (again) in enough key races to maintain that majority in Congress. There will be no impeachment and there will only be the sound of the American Gestapo knocking on your door if you are foolish enough to stay and speak. I know they say it's for foreigners, but without the right of habeas corpus, they can seize anyone aftee they slap the "terrorist" label on.

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» RE: Time to leave Posted by: Plexius
» RE: Time to leave Posted by: undomiel42
900 years ago this continent was sane
Posted by: caru on Sep 29, 2006 12:00 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
ever since whitey arrived ... is not this whole country based on thievery and lies -- we did not even invent the consitution but stole the justice and equality inherent in the IROQUOIS NATION. how could this ship of fools ever survive on it own agenda. we must change the DREAM.

PEACE PILGRIM PRAY
http://www.jubileeinitiative.org/Sacred.htm
'As much as we are not accustomed to thinking of sacred places residing in North America we are similarly not accustomed to thinking that Native American government profoundly influenced the founders of the USA.'

sorry writers, but i am getting a bit flabergasted that hardly anyone has their facts straight. most fat white racist americcccccacccas think they started freedom and democracy. can we please start telling the truth about this continent?

'Modern democracy was first established here, and is not the evolutionary result of European political theories. The modern age of democracy had its origin in the vast recesses of this continent, and from here it spread throughout the world. American democracy owes its distinctive character of debate and compromise to the principles and structure of American Indian civil government.' - Bruce Barton

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» Iroquois canard Posted by: brunowe
» reeducation required Posted by: caru
So I heard we're fucked.
Posted by: RoffleTheWaffle on Sep 29, 2006 5:21 AM   
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I know this has been run into the ground here, but... I thought the guiding principle of the 'war on terror' was to preserve our freedom and our way of life, instead of destroying both. I guess the idea is that if the terrorists don't have anything else to take away from us, they won't want to attack us anymore.

To echo another reader here, it was nice knowing you, America. It sure was fun while it lasted.

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hillary
Posted by: mike1997 on Sep 29, 2006 6:00 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
i am not a Hillary fan and I hope she does not run in '08. However, I must admit that this speech was excellent. I have new respect for her.

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Torture bill.
Posted by: Willy on Sep 29, 2006 6:57 AM   
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It all comes down to the fact that "you get the kind of government you deserve." If there weren't so many people believing that Bush and his henchmen are doing a good job, we wouldn't have this bunch of psychopaths ruling our country. The world had the Inquisition because a lot of people believed in absurdities. Same with the Crusades, the 30 year war and other events in history.

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» RE: Torture bill. Posted by: Lazare44
Country under siege
Posted by: pingoo on Sep 29, 2006 9:17 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
A vote to legalise torture? Allowing the president to be judge and jury on how to define the Geneva Convention? Without a doubt this is further proof that the United States is becoming a Fascist nation.

Next thing that will happen will be rigged elections to prolong this period of insanity. After that perhaps another false flag attack on the United States to ensure the state of fear amongst its citzens persists and to give the administration a reason to yet again alter the constitution so that George Bush can remain in power - as most would consider it an inconvenence to change the 'commander in chief' in a country that is at 'war'.

Your time is truly running out. I have neve been more glad to be European. Long live the European Union - a true beacon of democracy.

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Write your senators and representative
Posted by: badkitty on Sep 29, 2006 10:52 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I'm not joking, I've started writing all the senators and telling them I no longer have any loyalty to this (their) government. Yesterday I even wrote that to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. We don't need to be loyal to a government that sanctions torture, and we need to speak out to make sure we won't be lumped in with the "good Germans" who said, "Oh no, we didn't know, or we didn't understand." We don't need to support a military which engages in these activities in Afghanistan, Guantanamo and Iraq. I started sending these emails last week, but I'm not going to stop until I get every government department and senator. What else can I do besides minimize my federal taxes or emigrate? I want them to not to underestimate how angry I am. Have I gotten any response? Except for a canned response from Biden, of course not...

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Torture has a hidden agenda
Posted by: mateys on Sep 29, 2006 2:58 PM   
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The intention behind torture is not to retrieve reliable information for that has been proven time over to be false by both the tortured and torturer, rather the purpose of torture is to confess to crimes one did not commit in order to justify a hidden agenda, in the case with the Iraq occupation it is to justify and confirm the Bush administration for being there by inflicting pain to confirm whatever it is they want the victim to confess to. When in pain you will say what the torturer demands you to say to relieve the pain, it is that simple. The hypothetical “ticking bomb” scenarios utilizing a literary illusion strait from Hollywood that if a bomb were to blow up a million people and the suspect is caught then is not torture justified as purported by the utilitarian’s whereas the end justifies the means? This is a mere distraction from the overwhelming evidence that torture is not an effective tool to derive the truth rather a tool used to obtain false confessions and thus serve a higher agenda. In deontological ethics Emmanuel Kant stated and I am recalling from memory that no praiseworthy goals can ever justify immoral actions. I see America ruled under elite fascist who are above the law while all of us are subject to their whims, we have no freedom when what we say can be interpreted by these elite and subject to torture, death or imprisonment without Habeus corpus, we are officially slaves!

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In Our Name
Posted by: ccluelessfl60 on Sep 29, 2006 10:32 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Congress has no right to vote to make torture acceptable or wipe out habeas corpus's The president has no right to jail combatants forever .Both violated the laws of the land yesterday. That leaves the judicial branch but we have seen the republican attitude towards the judiciary. Every Senator and Representative who voted for this bill is a criminal. How we respond to it will tell how complicit we all are in this crime against humanity. And as you try to get to sleep. remember somewhere, someone is being tortured to in your name.

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Say goodbye to America. . .
Posted by: monkeywrench on Sep 29, 2006 11:44 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
. . .it's over.

After the torture bill is signed, it will be just a matter of time. . .

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don't bring a knife to a gun fight
Posted by: via on Sep 30, 2006 6:51 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
"Democrats agreed to forgo a filibuster in return for consideration of the amendment."

#1 They must have known that the amendment would be defeated on party lines. Did they just use that for cover?

#2 They should have filibustered anyway. They are in a fight to the death, and they still don't know it.

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cool t-shirts
Posted by: lonpine on Sep 30, 2006 7:37 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Well, until the First Amendment is stripped out of the Bill of Rights, we'll have pretty good t-shirts for the time being.

Who would Jesus torture?

Torture: it's the American Way.

Need anything? Try Torture.

My middle school kid can out-torture your middle school kid.

Fight Terrorism. Go out and torture someone.

Got Torture?

Torture: good for the mind, good for the body.

Lose weight fast: try torture.

Just Torture (with a swoosh)

Torture- America at its best.

Protect Our Troops. Torture someone today.

Remember 911. Torture someone today.

Reach out and torture someone.

And ringtones- we'll have plenty of sounds of agony from american torture victims. Just in time for Halloween.

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» RE: cool t-shirts Posted by: NataleFish
last chance for Democrats
Posted by: LDavistrueblue on Oct 1, 2006 2:27 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Despite some signs of life lately from NPelosi et al, Democrat leadership (read 2008 pres candidates) have hidden like rats behind the Delhi Fried Takeout when it comes to standing tall against the apparent Bush plan to devastate Iran with attacks from air and sea. All I know of this is from viewing C-SPAN and a few foreign news outlets but it does appear likely that such action is coming soon. If Democrats don't have the guts to stop this nonsense in its tracks, they are not fit for public service.
And a gentle reminder to Evan that the "Christian" training camps arranged to perpetuate Republican attacks on the Constitution and on impoverished nations, have nothing to do with the teachings of Christ. This superbly decent being never endorsed such inhumane behavior. The Republican insiders, in fact, appear to hate the core principles preached by Christ in his time.

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DO UNTO OTHERS
Posted by: Burtonger on Oct 1, 2006 3:02 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
America is begging for trouble with the direction these immoral unethical laws are going.
All the illegal shit crimes that are committed by the government and it's buddy businesses are going to be returned with interest and it will be well deserved.Who could try to deny this common universal law ? Yes EL DIABLOCO denies all these truths ,these sadist better learn to be masochists, because KARMA will definitely pay up this debt.
Unfortunately it's not always instant KARMA, too bad.
These soulless arrogant worms deserve more than jail or execution.

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America is dead.
Posted by: coyote on Oct 1, 2006 3:13 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
America is dead. Liberty is dead. Freedom is dead. It was all for nothing.

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This administration is pure torture!
Posted by: kablooie on Oct 1, 2006 8:33 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
A filibuster would have been nice, thanks for NOTHING spineless elected representatives of the people you are torturing with all your crap.

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Party-line?
Posted by: oregoncharles on Oct 1, 2006 11:04 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
That was NOT a "party-line" vote. 11 Democrat senators voted FOR it. Enough to rule out a filibuster.

That is total betrayal. How long will you let them do this to you?

I almost forgot: 34 Reps, too. Enough. Always enough.

Again: why should we support these traitors? Just so they can shaft us again?

Some of you have a real option, because there are Greens running in your state. I wish there were a lot more.

It's up to you: what do you do, now that you know?

Also: worldcantwait.net, Oct 5 in a city near you. We need you - every last one of you.

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Just in time for Columbus Day...
Posted by: NataleFish on Oct 2, 2006 4:32 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
TORTURE as a means to "cleanse" the United States of potential terrorists...Our powers that be have taken a cue from Columbus and many of the other "explorers" in elementary US History classes...which conveniently bypassed the truth about early "heroes" who swept in and annihilated every non-Christian in sight unless they could be convinced to convert to Chrisitianity and offer their food, farming techniques, hunting skills, labor--to GIVE wives and children to the invaders who used them as sex slaves & evidentiary trophies to shuttle back to European monarchies eagerly awaiting news of the latest conquest.

Now our own "civilized" nation is going to do essentially the same thing...and we'll turn on our own, too. Remember the Salem Witch Trials? In 1692, 200+ people were accused, and at least 100 languished in jail for several months awaiting trial--some already convicted and awaiting execution--including a 4-year-old girl named Dorcas. 20 people were actually put to death because they refused to "admit" their guilt to save their lives. It was the habit of the judges to conduct trials wherein the accused was browbeaten into confessing their sins and admitting they had signed a covenant with the Devil, and repent, thereby sparing themselves from execution. Anyone could claim they had been bewitched by another person, citing 'spectral evidence' ("I saw her spirit staring at me in the middle of the night" "she cursed my cattle and they died") and claiming to hear voices or feel pinches and pinpricks which the accused supposedly inflicted--from across the room or even when they were not present! Any accused person who claimed innocence was interrogated, humiliated (women were stripped so judges could look for the legendary 'witch's teat' that was supposed to be proof that the woman suckled demonic 'familiars' like cats and chickens or even the Devil himself!), and when jailed they were frequently chained to the walls in dark, damp, filthy, rat-infested quarters and otherwise physically tortured.

Giles Corey, an elderly man whose wife Martha was convicted and executed, was tortured over several days by lying outside in a shallow pit with a board placed on top of him and stones set upon it, one after the other, until he was literally crushed to death in the attempt to convince him to confess. His last words were reported as, "more weight!" He died for telling the TRUTH. He died because he would rather let his God judge him than the magistrates who thought they knew better. He died because the governing body of his community was more interested in digging up evidence to support their fear-inspired actions than assessing the situation rationally and allowing the truth to show itself.

Should we make an example of GWB by giving him the Giles Corey treatment? Or do you think we could go back to honoring the Constitution?????

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