Why Cheney Approved Of Torture

post from TalkLeft on 21 May 2009 01:53:00 PM. © TalkLeft

So that he could keep saying this:

We decided to confront the regimes that sponsored terrorists . . . We turned special attention to regimes that had the capacity to build weapons of mass destruction, and might transfer such weapons to terrorists. . . .

We had the training camps of Afghanistan, and dictators like Saddam Hussein with known ties to Mideast terrorists.

(Emphasis supplied.) Cheney approved of torture not because it helped to combat terrorism - it not only does not work, it foments terrorism - he approves of it because it allowed him to foment the Iraq Debacle. Funny how the Iraq Debacle was not mentioned in his speech today.

Speaking for me only

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Maxed Out

post from Talking Points Memo on 21 May 2009 01:52:00 PM. © Talking Points Memo

Setting aside the truly ludicrous idea that imprisoned terrorists are going to break out of prison like something out of an old Jimmy Cagney movie, I have heard from a number of readers who say we should be worried that these terrorist prisoners will[...]

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TIME: Pelosi's Probably Right

post from AMERICAblog News| A great nation deserves the truth on 21 May 2009 01:49:00 PM. © AMERICAblog News| A great nation deserves the truth

You mean GOP leader Newt Gingrich was wrong?

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ight.html

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Obama: Gitmo and the torture regime were
'misguided experiments'

post from Crooks and Liars on 21 May 2009 01:45:50 PM. © Crooks and Liars

Coming Soon

President Obama displayed this morning exactly why he won the confidence of voters last year:

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama forcefully defended his plans to close the Guantanamo detention camp Thursday and said some of the terror suspects held there would be brought to top-security prisons in the United States despite fierce opposition in Congress.
Obama spoke one day after the Senate voted resoundingly to deny him money to close the prison, and he decried "fear-mongering" that he said had led to such opposition.
He insisted the transfer would not endanger Americans and promised to work with lawmakers to develop a system for holding detainees who can't be tried and can't be turned loose from the Navy-run prison in Cuba.
"There are no neat or easy answers here," Obama said in a speech in which he pledged anew to clean up what he said was "quite simply a mess, a misguided experiment" at Guantanamo that he had inherited from the Bush administration.

Partial transcript here:

I stand here, today, as someone whose own life was made possible by these documents. My father came to our shores in search of the promise that they offered. My mother made me rise before dawn to learn their truths when I lived as a child in a foreign land. My own American journey was paved by generations of citizens who gave meaning to those simple words ? "to form a more perfect union." I have studied the Constitution as a student; I have taught it as a teacher; I have been bound by it as a lawyer and legislator. I took an oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution as Commander-in-Chief. And as a citizen, I know that we must never ? ever ? turn our back on its enduring principles for expedience sake.
I make this claim not simply as a matter of idealism. We uphold our most cherished values not only because doing so is right, but because it strengthens our country and keeps us safe. Time and again, our values have been our best national security asset ? in war and peace; in times of ease and in eras of upheaval.
Fidelity to our values is the reason why the United States of America grew from a small string of colonies under the writ of an empire to the strongest nation in the world.
It is the reason why enemy soldiers have surrendered to us in battle, knowing they?d receive better treatment from America?s armed forces than from their own government.
It is the reason why America has benefited from strong alliances that amplified our power, and drawn a sharp and moral contrast with our adversaries.
It is the reason why we?ve been able to overpower the iron fist of fascism, and outlast the iron curtain of communism, and enlist free nations and free peoples everywhere in common cause and common effort.
... And during this season of fear, too many of us ? Democrats and Republicans; politicians, journalists and citizens ? fell silent.
In other words, we went off course. And this is not my assessment alone. It was an assessment that was shared by the American people, who nominated candidates for President from both major parties who, despite our many differences, called for a new approach ? one that rejected torture, and one that recognized the imperative of closing the prison at Guantanamo Bay.

We'll have Dick~~head~~ Cheney's response up shortly.

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DNC Going to Bat for Arlen Specter

post from MyDD on 21 May 2009 01:37:07 PM. © MyDD

Ben Smith passes on an email sent to the Democratic National Committee's Organizing for America email list under the pen of Vice President Joe Biden. For more than 25 years, [Arlen Specter and I have] ridden the train together back to Wilmington and[...]

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Dick Cheney: Nothing is More Consistent with
American Values than Torture

post from Firedoglake on 21 May 2009 01:30:26 PM. © Firedoglake

Anything is permissible in defense of the Fatherland.[...]

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American Idol: Bland Central Station

post from My Left Wing - Front Page on 21 May 2009 01:30:22 PM. © My Left Wing - Front Page

Here's the deal...

They're both immensely talented. Kris Allen really IS, honestly, quite talented enough to genuinely deserve to have won. EXCEPT for the fact that Adam Lambert BLEW HIM AWAY every single night.

So, is there NO other explanation for this than that hundreds of thousands of pseudo-Christians voted multiple times AGAINST the GAY GUY?

Or, maybe, MAYBE... that Lambert's flamboyant style was simply a massive turn-off to thousands of people who simply preferred the vanilla stylings of the Jack Johnsonesque Kris Allen?

That's a vastly unfair characterisation, really. Allen isn't remotely Johnsonesque, except when compared to Lambert. As I said, Allen is beautifully talented. And deserving. But the nagging feeling that this win turned on the homophobic vote seems inescapable.

The only true consolation in this entire sad affair is the fact that Lambert has a faaaaabulous, superstar career ahead of him, regardless. In fact, he's probably better off without the American Idol title.

And Allen definitely needed the title more. Whilst Lambert would have soared no matter what, Allen might not have; watching Simon Cowell's shocked and even sullen and slightly angry response to the results last night, I got the feeling that the Brit, feeling snubbed by the American public's repudiation of his confident season-long prediction, will likely make it his life's work to ensure Adam Lambert's stardom. On the other hand, had Lambert won, Kris Allen's stardom would not have been an absolute sure thing.

Elsewhere on the internets, it's been suggested, however, that Cowell was secretly THRILLED that Lambert lost, because now he can take the young man in hand without the anvil of the American Idol contract around their necks -- and they can go off and make pots of money their own way. A nifty idea, and quite possibly true; I tend to think Cowell's ego is bigger than his greed, though, and his refusal to stand with the rest of the judges in the ovation for Allen gives lie to that theory.

So. There it is. We'll probably be seeing them both for a long time, if things go the way I think they will, and both these young men receive the proper guidance -- and get some good songwriting help.

Of course, that's never a guarantee; just listen to that EXECRABLE song co-written by this season's new judge, Kara DioGuardi... Ms. DioGuardi, who thinks FAR too highly of herself and her ability to judge "artistry," for the love of GOD, should be dragged through the streets for that song. ARTISTRY??? Okay... This woman hammered on the concept of ever-lovin' artistry throughout the ENTIRE season... and THESE were the lyrics of the -- pardon the expression -- SONG she and her partner in crime, whoever it was, forced the two finalists to sing in the finale (and now the hapless Kris Allen will be forced to present this as his debut single, may his Christian god help him -- and he is going to need all the help he can get to be forgiven it):

Seconds hours so many days
You know what you want but how long can you wait
Every moment last forever if you feel you've lost your way
What if your chances are already gone
Started believing that I could be wrong
But you give me one good reason
to fight and never walk away
'cause here I am - still holding on!
Every step you climb another mountain
Every breath it's harder to believe
You'll make it through the pain
(or through all your aches and pains)
Weather the hurricane
To get to that one thing
When you think the road is going nowhere
Just when you almost gave up on your dreams
Then take it by the hand and show you that you can
You can go higher
You can go deeper
There are no boundaries
Above and beneath you
Break every rule 'cause there's nothing between you
and your dreams
Every step you climb another mountain
Every breath it's harder to believe

I don't think anything more need be said about that song and its... artistry. I will simply say, about American Idol and its finale songs in general...

WHY can they NEVER dredge up a decent fucking song for the winner's single? Seriously -- this show has EVERYTHING at its disposal, and every damned season they offer up the most putrid sludge imaginable for the poor schmuck who wins this goddamned contest. It's unbearable.

"Congratulations! It's the biggest night of your life so far -- now hang this giant stinking turd around your neck for five minutes!!!"

There are professional songwriters DYING FOR A CHANCE all over this fucking town! WHAT THE FUCKING FUCK???.

Back to the finale itself and the result: They're both terrific singers, that's inarguable.

But Lambert deserved to win the "Idol" title, and I guess the voting public once again did not fail to do its job and be as predictable as ever in its banality. Vote for George W. Bush twice in 8 years... send Britney Spears to the top of the charts over and over and over... give the title to forgettable Ruben Studdard, Jordin Sparks and the clownish Taylor Hicks? It's frankly shocking the winner is EVER the right person; which, let us give credit where it's due, it has been -- at least twice: the very first American Idol was Kelly Clarkson, who has turned out to be one hell of an artist -- and Carrie Underwood, while certainly not to everyone's taste, is a powerhouse of a country artist, and an excruciatingly talented singer. As for last year's winner, David Cook, the jury is still out on his songwriting talent and/or ability to choose songs -- but there has never been any doubt as to his singing. So when it comes to the American Idol voting pool, the results have definitely been a mixed bag. Truthfully, I think the winners who've turned out to be superstars were just blind luck. If the people who voted them the winners had KNOWN they'd turn out to be such original artists, they'd take back those phone votes and choose the blander of the two.

As for the most successful American Idol contestant of all time? That would be Chris Daughtry. He's sold over 5 million records -- and that's just his first album. He came in fourth place the season he competed. And I'd be willing to bet the people buying his records aren't the American Idol demographic. Sure, he got his jumpstart on the show... But if he were to come on next season, a total unknown? He'd probably come in fourth again.

"No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people..."

Or their taste.

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Rightist Bloggers Crying About Cornyn & The NRSC
Again

First deranged Georgia extremist Erick Erickson started a Facebook page called Not one penny to the National Republican Senatorial Committee and started sending out anti GOP messages:

First they supported Chafee.

Then they supported Specter.

Now they support Crist.

I pledge to give no money, no support, no aid, and no help at all to the efforts of the NRSC.

There are scores of messages from angry and disallusioned Republicans threatening to join millions of normal Americans in dropping their GOP registrations. Then Erickson teamed up with another lunatic fringe wingnut, John Hawkins to send a petition to Cornyn demanding he rescind the NRSC's endorsement of the Republican Party's one outreach to a gay candidate. And when they got on a conference call with him yesterday he refused to respond to any political questions, pissing them off even more. Maybe that's why Erickson sent me this today:

Subject: Charlie Crist admits he'll be just like Arlen Specter

Florida media is reporting that, having taking [sic] the "no tax" pledge from American for Tax Reform last week, Governor Crist will not use his veto pen to stop the Florida Legislature from raising taxes to balance the state's budget.

More troubling, Governor Crist himself said yesterday that were he in the United States Senate, he would have voted with Arlen Specter to support Barack Obama's +$1 trillion stimulus bill.

Senator Mel Martinez voted against the bill. Crist's Republican primary challenger, Marco Rubio, also opposed the stimulus.

Nonetheless, Senator John Cornyn, the NRSC, and the Senate Republican leadership have lined up behind the tax hiking, Obama supporting Florida Governor.

Call John Cornyn at 202-224-2934 and ask him if his endorsement of Charlie Crist is an admission the GOP should stand for nothing in order to win.

It sure seems that way.

Erick

On top of all that this video is driving the nutroots ~~crazy~~ crazier:

video details and more

I wish them all the success in the world-- and was delighted that they managed to scare off the Republican Party of Florida from continuing to back Crist and that they attack him at every opportunity-- and we should all do everything we can to make sure Marco Rubio is the GOP candidate for the Florida Senate seat, something that would make all the wingers happy as clams-- until the inevitable Election Day vote count. Rubio is widely viewed as unelectable to any statewide office, although it is the very self-righteous extremism which so turns off mainstream voters that gets the lunatic fringe wet in their panties.

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