Hey Stephanopolis, Who Said This?

"I'm still mystified by the Clinton paradox: How could a president so intelligent, so compassionate, so public-spirited, and so conscious of his place in history act in such a stupid, selfish, and self-destructive manner? "


After you stellar performance with Giblets moderating the debate last night, I have a question for you:

"How could a president television personality so intelligent, so compassionate, so public-spirited, and so conscious of his place in history the media limelight act debase himself in such a stupid, selfish, and self-destructiveFOX-news-like manner?

Torture's Slippery Slope

In the week in which Diaz received the Ridenhour Prize, another Pentagon “secret” was disclosed. This “secret” was a memorandum made to order for William J. Haynes II, Rumsfeld’s General Counsel, and the man at the apex of the Pentagon’s military justice system that tried, convicted and sentenced Diaz. The memo was authored by John Yoo. This memorandum was designed to authorize the introduction of torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading interrogation techniques to be used upon prisoners held at Guantánamo, and ultimately also used in Afghanistan and Iraq. The memorandum authorized waterboarding, long-time standing, hypothermia, the administration of psychotropic drugs and sleep deprivation in excess of two days in addition to a number of other techniques.
[...]
... it is clear that Haynes had previously authorized the use of the torture techniques, and had secured an order from Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld authorizing them.
Following the implementation of these techniques, more than 108 detainees died in detention. In a large number of these cases, the deaths have been ruled a homicide and connected to torture. These homicides were a forseeable consequence of the advice that Haynes and Yoo gave.

In America, we don't punish or torture accused criminals to elicit confessions. Our previous longstanding mantra of "innocent until proven guilty" has always, for the most part, been used to attempt to guarantee that the right individuals are brought to justice and to prevent the wrongly accused from being punished.

Now we are allowing the torture of "terrorists", while allowing ourself the false comfort of believing it is ok since they are not American citizens.

The question we need to ask ourselves is: how long before torture becomes accepted practice within our own criminal justice system. Where, exactly, do we draw the line?

Our Nation Cannot Survive on Fear Alone

Defending the flag is not neccesary - we can always make more.

Maintaining constant vigil against terrorism is not neccesary - the world is full of people wanting to do harm, and some may succeed in harming americans and destroying property on American soil. But the soil on American land will remain, foundations and buildings and monuments cen be rebuilt, wounds can heal, death will always be overcome by new life.

What America cannot afford to lose is the basic founding principles that define us; that differentiates us from other countries of the world. Our freedom, our basic liberties, and our rights to believe as we wish and to speak our minds and voice our opinions, whether based on fact or belief, is something that we must defend from attack. For if we lose it, we may never recover it again.

A-f&^%ing-men

Ha-ha


"Funny thing about me: I actually fucking know shit! Not like these goombas trying to weasel their way into the White House. I practically wrote the book on collapsing bridges, inflation, and the working poor, fuck-o. I even got a degree in nuclear engineering or some shit. You know how easy I could swoop down right now like a guardian angel and solve all your fucking problems? Snap. Bam. Do it in my fucking sleep. Just fucking try me.
So you want me to run for president again? Yeah, sure, absolutely, I'll do it. I'd be honored to do it—with my fucking dick in your mouth, you worthless scumbags.
You had your chance with Jimmy Carter, and you fucking blew it. So get fucked. Fucking country. "

Riverbend Has A Post From Syria

Go and read.

This will be the legacy of our "Bush and Cheney's Excellent Iraq Adventure"; millions of displaced Iraqis spread out across the globe, with America to thank for their misery.

Its A Mistake

"

Riverbend Forced Out of Iraq

Read it