Brad

WTF? Newsweek Says We Should Pardon Officials Who Sanctioned Torture

So I tried to escape the toxic levels of wingnuttery this evening by flipping through my roommate's copy of Newsweek. Amazingly, I flipped to page 36 and found this:

The Truth About Torture

To get a full accounting of how U.S. interrogation methods were used, the president should give those accused of 'war crimes' a pass.

By Stuart Taylor Jr. | NEWSWEEK

Dark deeds have been conducted in the name of the United States government in recent years: the gruesome, late-night circus at Abu Ghraib, the beating to death of captives in Afghanistan, and the officially sanctioned waterboarding and brutalization of high-value Qaeda prisoners. Now demands are growing for senior administration officials to be held accountable and punished. Congressional liberals, human-rights groups and other activists are urging a criminal investigation into high-level "war crimes," including the Bush administration's approval of interrogation methods considered by many to be torture.

It's a bad idea. In fact, President George W. Bush ought to pardon any official from cabinet secretary on down who might plausibly face prosecution for interrogation methods approved by administration lawyers.

Question: why did we ever develop the Geneva Conventions in the first place? Why does the Constitution ban cruel and unusual punishment? Hell, for that matter, why did we ever sign the goddamn Magna Carta*? Because what Stuart Taylor, Jr. is telling us is that government officials should simply be able to break the fucking law. And not just the laws against lying about blowjobs under oath -- we're talking about laws against goddamn torture. We're talking about laws that for years have prohibited the government from performing cruel and heinous acts on prisoners. This is important shit. But to Stuart Taylor? Pfffffft, yeah it's bad, but so what? We'll only learn the truth about this stuff if we just pardon everyone beforehand. Because fuck it, laws are only meant to be obeyed by the little people.

Americans Life Expectancy Goes Down

I’m so glad America provides the best health care in the world:

For the first time since the Spanish influenza of 1918, life expectancy is falling for a significant number of American women.

In nearly 1,000 counties that together are home to about 12 percent of the nation’s women, life expectancy is now shorter than it was in the early 1980s, according to a study published today.

The downward trend is evident in places in the Deep South, Appalachia, the lower Midwest and in one county in Maine. It is not limited to one race or ethnicity but it is more common in rural and low-income areas. The most dramatic change occurred in two areas in southwestern Virginia (Radford City and Pulaski County), where women’s life expectancy has decreased by more than five years since 1983.

But hey, Hillary Clinton is a closeted lesbian with a scary laugh and Barack Obama is a stealth Muslim who can’t bowl, so there’s no way they can fix this stuff.

More:

The phenomenon appears to be not only new but distinctly American.

“If you look in Western Europe, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, we don’t see this,” Murray said.

Yeah, but I bet people in those dumb countries don’t have as many iPods as we do.

The next time some wingnut says to us, “What, do ya want socialized medicine like they got in YURP???” everything in this country should answer “Hells yes we do!” Because after another eight or so years of Bushian policies, we’re going to officially become a third-world nation.

Will Somebody Please Tell Bush to Stop Trying to Talk About the US Economy?

It cost JP Morgan less money to purchase Bear Stearns than it would have cost them to purchase Alex Rodriguez’s contract from the New York Yankees. And between you and me, I think A-Rod would have been a far better investment.

On a related note, aren’t you glad now that Bush didn’t succeed in privatizing Social Security?

UPDATE: Oh yummy:

As feared, foreign bond holders have begun to exercise a collective vote of no confidence in the devaluation policies of the US government. The Federal Reserve faces a potential veto of its rescue measures.

Asian, Mid East and European investors stood aside at last week’s auction of 10-year US Treasury notes. “It was a disaster,” said Ray Attrill from 4castweb. “We may be close to the point where the uglier consequences of benign neglect towards the currency are revealed.”

The share of foreign buyers (”indirect bidders”) plummeted to 5.8pc, from an average 25pc over the last eight weeks. On the Richter Scale of unfolding dramas, this matches the death of Bear Stearns.

Maybe I should take advantage of plummeting home prices and purchase a shack somewhere in rural Idaho. After society collapses, I’ll move out there with my telepathic dog and invite you guys over for a big-ass post-apocalyptic party. Sound like a plan?

Gavin adds: How will you keep up the payments on your immortal robot body?

…Oh, and by the way, “the uglier consequences of benign neglect” is totally my phrase of the day. Just this morning, I was very near a point where the uglier consequences of my benign neglect toward looking both ways before crossing the street were, you know, revealed.

UPDATE II: Will somebody please, please, please tell Bush to stop talking?

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WTF? Newsweek Says We Should Pardon Officials Who Sanctioned Torture

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Americans Life Expectancy Goes Down

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Will Somebody Please Tell Bush to Stop Trying to Talk About the US Economy?

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