Cheney, Ridge Pioneered Miranda Attack On Obama

[kpete]

Source: Talking Points Memo

Cheney, Ridge Pioneered Miranda Attack On Obama
Justin Elliott | February 9, 2010, 3:43PM

It turns out that the criticism surrounding the decision to read Miranda rights to the attempted Christmas bombing suspect didn't originally come from any office-holding Republican.

Rather, it was pioneered by Tom Ridge and Dick Cheney in the days after Christmas, and only later picked up by members of Congress like Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI) and Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO).

With the heated Obama-GOP back-and-forth this week over the Mirandizing of Umar Abdulmutallab, we decided to look back at the facts of what happened, and when critics pounced on the issue.

Here's what we found:

Read more: http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/02/cheney_ridge_pioneered_miranda_attack_on_obama.php#more

[PuraVidaDreamin]

1. Why doesn't Obama go after this weasel for war crimes?

That would shut him up once and for all.

[Demeter]

7. Because that Wouldn't Be BiPartisan!

Which must be the political equivalent of bipolar.

[lsewpershad]

19. You betcha

[DonCoquixote]

25. Because

The minute we do that, the media will cry "GOP MARTYR" and make this a narrative about how scary black man is trying to do a Stalinist purge.

Yes, we should go after them, but how do we do it where we do not hand them the martyr's halo?

[Arkana]

2. And now they look stupid

because the guy is spilling his guts and we didn't even torture him.

I've noticed Dicko the Sicko has been oddly quiet on the subject.

[SnakeEyes]

6. This guy was low hanging fruit

I doubt anything he is saying this far afterward is of much use.

[Zoeisright]

13. Dicko the Sicko - I love it.

Perfect for that creepy little asshole.

[SpiralHawk]

34. Talking without being tortured!!!! Well, that ruins the Republicon wet dream

The republicons just luv them the whole needless, useless torture cruelty thing...

[Lil Missy]

3. What a shock.

:eyes:

[earthboundmisfit]

4. John Murtha dies, and fucking Cheney stays above ground continuing his evil

I know one is not related to the other, but it pisses me off.

[av8rdave]

29. They are not related. They are nearly polar opposites.

One is honorable, the other isn't.

One served his country, the other is a %$#@ing chickenhawk!

The list goes on and on.

[earthboundmisfit]

31. Of course - I didn't word it well - but we agree :)

I only meant it gets to me that Dick Cheney still walks the earth, while someone who has been GOOD to our country friggin' has to die.

[av8rdave]

35. I understand what you were saying and agree....I was simply piling on.

Great post!

[EFerrari]

5. Has Tom Ridge ever been right about anything?

Good grief.

[ginnyinWI]

8. why can't cheney just retire already??

What is wrong with that guy??

[JDPriestly]

11. He is scared -- of his own criminal past.

[ginnyinWI]

14. he's a paranoid, I say. n/t

[Mari333]

9. why oh why do dems continue to suck the butts of the GOP..just stop

those two should have been tried and convicted years ago..
Im tired. fuck bipartisanshit.

[deminks]

10. We may be looking forward, Deadeye, but some of the "old Europe" is looking back.

And they are not liking what they see.

[JDPriestly]

12. The events in Europe are quickly leaving Obama's policy of looking forward behind.

Europeans will eventually force the Obama administration to look back or be labeled as an accomplice.

[90-percent]

24. Will Europe do it?

It seems like they are just going to seal any cases that could prove the war was bogus for 70 or 80 years. And it seems that England is in the process of doing just that:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=7556391&mesg_id=7556391

Now off to watch Keith's coverage of the British inquiry that's inviting people in the Bush White House over to testify.

-90% jimmy

[felinetta]

15. I kept telling people that Cheney was too quiet and must be up to something.

[Name removed]

16. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[SpiralHawk]

17. "Sneer." - xVP Dickie 'Five-Military-Deferments' Cheney (R)

"Chickenhawkery and backstabbery are republicon traditions. Sneer."

- xVP Dickie 'Five-Military-Deferments' Cheney (R)

[SlingBlade]

18. Looking Backwards Again ?

[mike_c]

20. I've heard some of the noise about this-- what's the basis for the complaint...?

The suspect's rights did not derive from Miranda-izing him. That is, he did not acquire them when they were recited to him. He had them all along. More to the point, law enforcement had a responsibility to respect his right to not testify against himself whether they read him his Miranda statement or not.

Is the republican/conservative position that if he were not told his rights, we could have violated them with impunity? Is that the kind of country they want? Holy shit.

[Frank Cannon]

38. Because he should have just been summarily thrown in a cell with no rights

Because, you know, Stalinist Russia is our new model for doing things in this country. Didn't you get the memo?

[liberal N proud]

21. Cheney needs his miranda rights read to him

Oh fuck that, lets imprison him as an enemy combatant.

Wonder how he would like that?

[mbperrin]

22. He wouldn't, but I would. nt

[Grassy Knoll]

23. No surprise here........

Ridge was forced to raise the threat level of our country by Darth in '04 to reelect an ASSHOLE .

[Jefferson23]

26. Cheney is the most contemptible bastard alive....and the most paranoid.

[cbdo2007]

27. Good thing Kit Bond is leaving at the end of this year. Mr "I don't agree with Obama's

stimulus even though I requested $60 Billion for highway spending in 2003"

He's a major tool.

[stevedeshazer]

28. That is astonishing.

These bastards should be shot by firing squad for war crimes.

[Wilms]

30. Obama has battered spouse syndrome.

Kucinich has a proven track record standing up to thugs and it wouldn't surprise to find out he's a lousy basketball player.

Priorities.

[No Elephants]

32. Why Rendell called Ridge honorable is beyond me. He participated in, or invented,

that ludicrous color alert system.

Is it red yet? OMIGOD, OMIGOD, OMIGOD. What? It's back down to yellow now? Oh, thank God. I can relax now.

Are you kidding me or what?


ETA: Oh, and let's not forget "chatter." Ooooo, there's chatter. Change the alert color again.

[Lasher]

33. Miranda Talking Point Debunked

This talking point was repeated by Sarah Palin at the Tea Party convention in Nashville:

Palin, National Tea Party address, Feb. 6:

What followed was equally disturbing after he was captured. He was questioned for only 50 minutes. We have a choice in how to do this. The choice was only question him for 50 minutes and then read his Miranda rights. The administration says then there are no downsides or upsides to treating terrorists like civilian criminal defendants. But a lot of us would beg to differ. For example, there are questions we would have liked this foreign terrorist to answer before he lawyered up and invoked our U.S. constitutional right to remain silent. …

There are questions that we would have liked answered before he lawyered up, like where exactly were you trained and by whom. You are bragging about all these other terrorists just like you, who are they? When and where will they try to strike next?

According to a recent Associated Press account of the Christmas Day handling of the bombing suspect, the FBI questioned Abdulmutallab in the hospital in Detroit, where the plane landed, for about 50 minutes before he went into surgery. The suspect also spoke to federal officials who were guarding him and medical personnel. According to this account and others, he spoke freely about what he’d done, how it was planned, where he was trained and his al-Qaeda contacts. The FBI interview ended after Abdulmutallab was given medication; intelligence personnel decided to let the drugs wear off before questioning him further. He then went into surgery. Hours later, the FBI decided to send a "clean team" of interrogators in. They read him his Miranda rights, since his statements likely could not be used in federal court otherwise, and he stopped talking.

But that wasn’t the end of the story.

A senior administration official told reporters last week that Abdulmutallab has been cooperating for weeks, thanks to the presence of two family members who were convinced by counterterrorism officials to come to the U.S. to aid the investigation. The relatives met with the suspect for several days and persuaded him to cooperate. According to FBI Director Robert Mueller and others, Abdulmutallab has provided valuable intelligence.

Official Says Terrorism Suspect Is Cooperating

“He’s retracing his activities over there,” said the official, who would discuss the case only on the condition of anonymity. “You run to ground what he tells you, validate it and follow up. You build a relationship. It’s a pretty standard process.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/03/us/03terror.html?hp

And one that would allow the suspect to be prosecuted, if that is the path the administration decides to take.

Hat tip to PolitiFact.org

[DisgustedInMN]

36. Gee, what a surpirize!

Darth Cheney and Tom Ridge doing something evil?


Whodda thunk it?

:shrug:

:sarcasm:

[randr]

37. My respose to an earlier thread

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=433&topic_id=177406&mesg_id=177464