| Topic: |
Politics > Politics-USA |
| User: |
"Defendario" |
| Date: |
01 Mar 2006 08:07:16 PM |
| Object: |
What to Do When the Emperor Has No Clothes |
by Garrison Keillor
These are troubling times for all of us who love this country, as surely =
we all do, even the satirists. You may poke fun at your mother, but if=20
she is belittled by others it burns your bacon. A blowhard French=20
journalist writes a book about America that is full of arrogant=20
stupidity, and you want to let the air out of him and mail him home=20
flat. And then you read the paper and realize the country is led by a=20
man who isn't paying attention, and you hope that somebody will poke=20
him. Or put a sign on his desk that says, "Try much harder."
Do we need to impeach him to bring some focus to this man's life? The=20
Feb. 27 issue of The New Yorker carries an article by Jane Mayer about a =
loyal conservative Republican and U.S. Navy lawyer, Albert Mora, and his =
resistance to the torture of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. From within=20
the Pentagon bureaucracy, he did battle against Defense Secretary Donald =
Rumsfeld and John Yoo, who then was at the Justice Department, and=20
shadowy figures taking orders from Vice President ***** "Gunner" Cheney,=20
arguing America had ratified the Geneva Convention that forbids cruel,=20
inhumane and degrading treatment of prisoners, and so it has the force=20
of law. They seemed to be arguing that President Bush has the right to=20
order prisoners to be tortured.
One such prisoner, Mohamed al-Qahtani, was held naked in isolation under =
bright lights for months, threatened by dogs, subjected to unbearable=20
noise volumes and otherwise abused, so that he begged to be allowed to=20
kill himself. When the Senate approved the Torture Convention in 1994,=20
it defined torture as an act "specifically intended to inflict severe=20
physical or mental pain or suffering."
Is the law a law or is it a piece of toast?
Wiretap surveillance of Americans without a warrant? Great. Go for it.=20
How about turning over American ports to a country more closely tied to=20
Sept. 11, 2001, than Saddam Hussein was? Fine by me. No problem. And=20
what about the war in Iraq? Hey, you're doing a heck of a job. No need=20
to tweak a thing. And your blue button-down shirt--it's you.
But torture is something else. Most people agree with this, and in a=20
democracy that puts the torturers in a delicate position. They must make =
sure to destroy their e-mails and have subordinates who will take the=20
fall. Because it is impossible to keep torture secret. It goes against=20
the American grain and it eats at the conscience of even the most=20
disciplined, and in the end the truth will come out. It is coming out now=
=2E
Our adventure in Iraq, at a cost of billions, has brought that country=20
to the verge of civil war while earning us more enemies than ever=20
before. And tax money earmarked for security is being dumped into=20
pork-barrel projects anywhere somebody wants their own SWAT team.=20
Detonation of a nuclear bomb within our borders--pick any big city--is a =
real possibility, as much so now as five years ago. Meanwhile, many=20
Democrats have conceded the very subject of security and positioned=20
themselves as Guardians of Our Forests and Benefactors of Waifs and=20
Owls, neglecting the most basic job of government, which is to defend=20
this country. The peaceful lagoon that is the White House is designed=20
for the comfort of a vulnerable man. Perfectly understandable, but not=20
what is needed now. The U.S. Constitution provides a simple, ultimate=20
way to hold him to account for war crimes and the failure to attend to=20
the country's defense. Impeach him and let the Senate hear the evidence.
Garrison Keillor is an author and the radio host of "A Prairie Home=20
Companion."
=A9 2006 Chicago Tribune
###
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0301-34.htm
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| User: "dapra" |
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| Title: Re: What to Do When the Emperor Has No Clothes |
01 Mar 2006 09:24:42 PM |
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Defendario wrote:
by Garrison Keillor
[snip]
"What to Do When the Emperor Has No Clothes?"
Isn't it obvious? You close your eyes. Or you may never see!
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| User: "Defendario" |
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| Title: Re: What to Do When the Emperor Has No Clothes |
01 Mar 2006 09:37:59 PM |
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dapra wrote:
Defendario wrote:
by Garrison Keillor
[snip]
"What to Do When the Emperor Has No Clothes?"
Isn't it obvious? You close your eyes. Or you may never see!
That is what the 'Pugroids want us to do. Everyone must be distracted
by American Idol and the missing blonde du jour, so as not to notice
that the nation has become a Fascist police state (and an incompetent
one at that!)
;D
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| User: "princeandy" |
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| Title: Re: What to Do When the Emperor Has No Clothes |
02 Mar 2006 02:48:45 AM |
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"Defendario" <Defendario@netscape.com> wrote in message
news:46n7l6Fc3jr4U1@individual.net...
dapra wrote:
Defendario wrote:
by Garrison Keillor
[snip]
"What to Do When the Emperor Has No Clothes?"
Isn't it obvious? You close your eyes. Or you may never see!
That is what the 'Pugroids want us to do. Everyone must be distracted
by American Idol and the missing blonde du jour, so as not to notice
that the nation has become a Fascist police state (and an incompetent
one at that!)
;D
Complaints, complaints - who was just complaining that he wasnt doin
anything for the mentally ill?You people are never satisfied.
He now has taken care of those sadists and twisted individuals that might
have ended up serial killers.
Now gainfully employed, I mean it takes a special person to run a torture
chamber.
And all those masochists and sycophants, all usefully employed besides those
others working hand in hand.
Hell it takes a special type of person to work with dangerous physcos.
Yes you and yours would certainly be misfits.
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| User: "Defendario" |
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| Title: Re: What to Do When the Emperor Has No Clothes |
02 Mar 2006 02:40:27 PM |
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princeandy wrote:
"Defendario" <Defendario@netscape.com> wrote in message
news:46n7l6Fc3jr4U1@individual.net...
dapra wrote:
Defendario wrote:
by Garrison Keillor
[snip]
"What to Do When the Emperor Has No Clothes?"
Isn't it obvious? You close your eyes. Or you may never see!
That is what the 'Pugroids want us to do. Everyone must be distracted
by American Idol and the missing blonde du jour, so as not to notice
that the nation has become a Fascist police state (and an incompetent
one at that!)
;D
Complaints, complaints - who was just complaining that he wasnt doin
anything for the mentally ill?You people are never satisfied.
The Armed Forces and Law Enforcement are no place for the mentally ill,
you sick *****.
He now has taken care of those sadists and twisted individuals that might
have ended up serial killers.
I suppose you supported Herr Hitler's program to utilize *his* criminal
insane sociopaths -- by turning them loose on jooz & various untermenschen.
Now gainfully employed, I mean it takes a special person to run a torture
chamber.
Yes. But who would claim responsibility? Not me, pal (using the term
loosely) You can have your sick ***** on your own dime -- leave the
decent Americans out of it.
And all those masochists and sycophants, all usefully employed besides those
others working hand in hand.
Sick minded freak. You probably think that the little Iraqi boize
ENJOYED being sodomized.
Hell it takes a special type of person to work with dangerous physcos.
Yes you and yours would certainly be misfits.
Sorry freak. I don't walk that walk.
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