Turns out the US does Torture

The Washington Post has confirmed that the United States has used torture at Guantanamo Bay. 

From the Reuters article:

The Pentagon official overseeing the tribunals for Guantanamo Bay detainees has concluded that the U.S. military tortured a Saudi national who allegedly planned to participate in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday.

“We tortured [Mohammed al-] Qahtani,” Susan Crawford said in an interview with the newspaper. “His treatment met the legal definition of torture. And that’s why I did not refer the case” for prosecution.

I can only hope that once Obama gets into office he will look into the activities and punish all who were involved, up to and including George W. Bush.

But, we will need to hold Obama accountable for investigating the former administration.  I am concerned about the possibility that he will attempt to downplay the crimes of the past administration.

From his recent TV interview, Think Progress reports:

Q: The most popular question on your own website is related to this. On change.gov it comes from Bob Fertik of New York City and he asks, ‘Will you appoint a special prosecutor ideally Patrick Fitzgerald to independently investigate the greatest crimes of the Bush administration, including torture and warrantless wiretapping.’

OBAMA:We’re still evaluating how we’re going to approach the whole issue of interrogations, detentions, and so forth. And obviously we’re going to be looking at past practices and I don’t believe that anybody is above the law. On the other hand, I also have a belief that we need to look forward as opposed to looking backwards. … My orientation is going to be moving foward.

As a nation, we need to watch this closely over the next year and let our representatives in Congress know how we feel about the United States committing War Crimes.

Obama as Saviour, Obama as Antichrist

Obama as a symbol of the durability of American democracy? I’ve been a supporter of the Obama presidency since somewhere around January of this year. Prior to that I didn’t believe now was the right time even though, deep down, I yearned for an America that would elect a democrat, a liberal, a young black man with a name so foreign and so easily linked to the Bush definition of terrorist that you’d have to be a masochist to even hope. But even when I didn’t think he could do it, my heart swelled at the thought.

When we elected him Tuesday night, I nearly jumped out of my skin. In one fell swoop, the American people as a whole showed me that Rovian politics is not the achilles heel of our democracy. That ties to radical activists of the ’60s, an undeniably radical period in American history, could be seen less as proof of his anti-American views and more as an indication that those times deserve an intellectual dissection that doesn’t separate the tactics of radicals from their ultimate, some would say patriotic, intent. That being “different” or “unknown” are not in themselves abjectly negative qualities in this country.

Apart from the policies put forth by Barack Obama as part of his bid for the White House, which in any election I hold highly suspect, I revere the American people this time as the true victor in this election. We showed our ability to look past the lies and tactics of 20th century politics. The seemingly unbeatable tactics of the republican “permanent majority” were defeated and my faith in our democracy was restored.

Barack Obama is now subject to all the same standards to which I held Clinton and Bush. He’s got to lead us well or he’ll lose my support and admiration. But this moment in history will always shine for me as the day the American people cured me of my cynicism and despair in the face of what was beginning to look like a permanent fascism in the form of self preservation out of fear of the unknown and blind trust in our leaders.

Sarah Palin takes Prank Phone Call from Fake Nicolas Sarkozy

Montreal’s Masked Avengers phoned Sarah Palin and tricked her into thinking she was speaking with the real French President Sarkozy. 

You’d think that after this part she’d get a clue…

FNS = Fake Nicolas Sarkozy
SP = Sarah Palin

FNS: Well, ah, I hope for you. You know we have a lot in common because personally one of my favorite activities is to hunt too.
SP: [Giggle]o h very good, we should go hunting together.

FNS: Exactly! We could go try hunting by helicopter, like you did, I never did that.
SP: [Giggle]

FNS: Like we say in France, “on pourrait tuer des bébés phoques aussi” [Translation: We could also kill some baby seals.]
SP: [Giggle] Well I think we could have a lot of fun together as we’re getting work done, we can kill two birds with one stone that way.

FNS: I just love killing those animals. Mm, mm. Take away a life, that is so fun!
SP: [Hahahaha]

FNS: I’d really love to go as long as we don’t bring your Vice president Cheney, hahaha.
SP: No, I’ll be a careful shot, yes.

FNS: You know we have a lot in common also except that from my house I can see Belgium. That’s kind of less interesting than you.
SP: Well, see, we’re right next door to other countries that we all need to be working with, yes.

But no…  she didn’t catch on until the end when the fake Sarkozy told her she’d been pranked.

Listen to the whole thing.

via Harper’s, via Daily Kos.

Alaska Senator Ted Stevens: Convicted Felon

For those of you in favor of senatorial term limits, here’s your new poster boy:

Republican Senator Stevens was convicted yesterday on all seven felony counts related to his lying about the $250,000 in gifts and services he received from VECO, Corp., an oil services company, to renovate his Alaska home.

Rather than resign, like most convicted felons would do for the good of their party, Stevens vows to return to Alaska where he’ll restart his campaign for the senate seat he’s held for the past 40 years.

Full story here.

Will Alaskans reelect an eighty-four year old convicted felon to the Senate?  Stay tuned.