McCain takes a bold stand against torture — of Americans
ABC News reported a few days ago that a group of so-called “Principals” — including Vice President Dick Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Colin Powell, CIA Director George Tenet, Attorney General John Ashcroft, and National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice — met dozens of times in the White House to “discuss and approve” specific interrogation techniques to be used against suspected terrorists.
Initial reports indicated that Bush was “insulated” from the “series of meetings where CIA interrogation methods, including waterboarding, which simulates drowning, were discussed and ultimately approved.” Bush eventually dispelled the notion that he was out of the loop, though, and said — arguably, bragged — that he endorsed the Principals’ work from the outset. The president told ABC News White House correspondent Martha Raddatz. “I’m aware our national security team met on this issue. And I approved.”
I realize that Barack Obama’s making some clumsy comments about economic blight and the culture war may be mildly interesting, but this is a fairly big deal. Torture is, you know, illegal, immoral, un-American, etc. As Dan Froomkin noted today, “If you consider what the government did to be torture, which is a crime according to U.S. and international law, Bush’s statement shifts his role from being an accessory after the fact to being part of a conspiracy to commit.”
And yet, major news outlets have decided not to bother mentioning these revelations to the public at all. Froomkin observed, “There was no mention of Bush’s admission in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal or the Los Angeles Times. There was nothing on the major wire services. And nothing on CNN, CBS or NBC.”
Media negligence notwithstanding, John McCain, addressing the Associated Press’ national conference today, did field a question on the subject. It didn’t go well.
TP noted that a journalist asked McCain about torturing detainees, saying, “Don’t we stand for something better?” McCain responded:
“I’ve made it very clear, I’ve made it very clear in my statements and in my support of the Detainee Treatment Act, the Geneva Conventions, etc., that there may be some additional techniques to be used, but none of those would violate the Geneva Conventions, the Detainee Treatment Act…. And we cannot ever, in my view, torture any American, that includes waterboarding.”
Well, there’s a bold declaration for Mr. Straight Talk. He does not believe that the U.S. government should torture U.S. citizens. What a relief.
Now, it’s possible that McCain just got confused (again), and didn’t mean to include torture of Americans in his response. Even if we give him the benefit of the doubt, though, and ignore the face value of his remarks, he’s been anything but “very clear” on the issue of torture policy.
Given the media blackout on the revelations surrounding Bush and torture, maybe this could get some attention?
Reading his comments charitably, he probably had people like Padilla in mind– regrettably, arguing against waterboarding Padilla is a controversial position in some circles.
McSame will be another Bush - only older and meaner. He left his wife on her death bed to marry a rich lady. Does that sound like somebody we should be considering electing? Of course not. And, BTW, I don’t think McSame was kidding about torture and Americans. He said it the way he said it because there are plans in place when Bush declares the 09 elections suspended. Lots of loyal Americans will need to be arrested, imprisoned, and tortured. Don’t believe me? Then watch your back! Cheney will not let Bush go quietly.
C’mon, CB. You really think the media will treat this with anything other than apathy? I mean, McCain makes damn good ribs — don’t you realize that’s more important than, say, violating federal and international law?
/snark
I keep thinking the media will do its job at some point. But the odds of that happening are growing less likely each and every day.
You will not see this comment in my local newspaper, the Star Tribune, as it is owned by the Avista Capital Partners. Look at the picture on their website and you will know why. http://www.avistacap.com/
mccain: “And we cannot ever, in my view, torture any American, that includes waterboarding.”
morality as defined by nationality — niiiice.
I think we’ve come across the real reason Obama’s “bitter” remarks have gotten blown out of proportion. Maybe a citizen blogger did note some clumsy statements from Obama and posted them on a site. They weren’t half as clumsy as most of McCain’s comments. So why did they get echoed and taken to such extreme limit? To distract from what is a very scary development: President Bush and his immediate advisors sanctioned toture of humans, against all international treaties and the Geneva Conventions.
Anytime a friend or a blogger makes note of Obama’s debatably clumsy statements, we need to respond with “Who Cares? The President of the United States has sanctioned torture.” That is infinitely more important then what Obama said at some fundraiser.
Steve (4): I clicked on your avista link a few times. It seems to be going back and forth between the picture of a doctor with a face mask and three people reading at an airport. I’m not sure what I’m supposed to see, or if there was a third picture that would make your point.
Never mind, there is also a third picture with an oil rig.
The same corporate media creeps who ignored the president admitting that he broke the law regarding surveillance will ignore this admission of criminality as well. The editors and people on camera make too much money to tell us the truth, and the people they’re afraid of don’t want us to know what the truth is, they just want us to keep voting for whoever will keep this charade going. I’m pretty sure they know it’s not going to end well, but they made their millions and there will be plenty of poor slobs who will be willing to guard their palaces when the food riots break out.
I just keep reminding myself that at Nuremberg even the propagandists were punished. Writers, editors and owners of the media. Keep your eyes on the prize, people. Neither Barack nor Hillary are our enemies. These illegal, immoral cretins in the executive branch are.
And I’m crinkly tin-foil hatted with Tom @#2, there won’t be an election, unless they are sure McCain will win. And Mr Benen, the guy who writes 260 blogs will for sure earn a spot at a re-education gulag.
U.S. Rep. Geoff Davis, a Hebron Republican, compared Obama and his message for change similar to a “snake oil salesman.”
He said in his remarks at the GOP dinner that he also recently participated in a “highly classified, national security simulation” with Obama. “I’m going to tell you something: That boy’s finger does not need to be on the button,” Davis said. “He could not make a decision in that simulation that related to a nuclear threat to this country.”
So they’re calling Obama “boy” now? Really? I mean, really?
At first, I thought, OK, benefit of the doubt now, maybe this is some sort of weird generational difference being awkwardly expressed. Maybe Davis is just as old as Methuselah McCain and still thinks of people thirty years younger than him as still children.
Nope. Davis is two-and-a-half years older than Obama. It’s not about age.
http://polwatchers.typepad.com/pol_watchers/2008/04/republicans-tal.html
Oh, apologies for the OT post. Nowhere else to put it yet.
God Bless America…
We’ve crossed every line in the sand at this point. And while i’d like to think that if we can just make it to Jan ‘09, then things will get better. But, realistically, there are lines that are difficult to recross.
I’m not sure that an election, or even a few elections, can save us now. The only thing that i’m sure can save us would be the American people taking back their country. Unfortunately, 30% of us think that things are great and we should be torturing people. 30% of us know what’s going on, but only a lesser percentage of that number really care. And the remaining 40% probably don’t even know, because the “journalists” aren’t telling them.
It might be time for liberals to rethink their stance on gun rights…
How in the world, if judgment is SO important, is it that nobody calls this weasel worded namby pambiness for the poor judgment it is? Same on “recession” as “torture”, can’t exactly explain it, can’t rationally discuss it, can’t even SEEM truthful about it; and that’s McCain and Bush.
Since Bush has had such success with the press and his admission of authorizing torture, look for the next casual offhand revelation to be, “The war? It is and was always about oil. I thought you guys knew that.”
Or in usual Bush form, it will sound like this: “The war? Just about oil, yuh know, whut did YOU think?”
2. Tom said: He left his wife on her death bed to marry a rich lady.
Carol McCain is still alive and the car accident where she was seriously injured was in 1969 while John McCain was a prisoner of war, she couldn’t possibly have been on her deathbed from it during their 1980 divorce. The story reflects horribly enough on McCain, there is no reason to falsify the details to make it sound worse.
It was Gingrinch who ditched his first wife while on her deathbed.
Yeah, Gingrich didn’t just dump his wife when she was IN THE HOSPITAL with cancer, but all the time he was railing on Clinton’s getting, gasp! blow jobs, he was getting his own hummers.
Priceless piece of shit that one is (the man, the hypocrisy, and husbandly act).
Well, it looks like Mr Double-talk Express has some acquaintance with Polish saws… One of them goes: “the shirt is the closest to the body”. It’s interpreted to mean that one’s concerns move concentrically — from the family, out to the world at large. McSame hasn’t progressed yet to the world but it’s nice to see that he’s willing to extend his concerns to all *Americans*. And, quite frankly… I think this is, probably, perfectly in tune with the sentiments of his base. Who the eff cares about anyone beyond the native-born whites?
Why is anyone surprised that the mainstream media pays no attention to this? Have any of you looked latedly at who owns Viacom News (CBS), General Electric News (NBC), and Disney News(ABC)??? Then there’s Tribune, which owns the Chicago Tribune, LA Times and a ton of TV stations… not to mention the others.
They all got great treatment as corporations from these thugs, which is why they want McSame to be back in there, letting them feed from the trought while they destroy independent media and make the First Amendment meaningless.
And the “reporters” have their marching orders, which they violate on pain of losing their six-figure incomes.
We’re already well into a corporate-fascist state, with the “people” sitting stunned in front of their TVs, entertained by American Idol and professional sports.
when will America’s testicles drop and we man up and put those criminals behind bars?