What have we become?

[ElsewheresDaughter]

Cenk Uygur: The real indictment of Dick Cheney

The Vice President of the United States is actively lobbying for torture right now. Not in the 1800's. Not in the 1950's. Right now. And the sick thing is -- he has an excellent chance of winning.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/25/AR2005102501388.html?referrer=emailarticle

We look back at things like the McCarthy Hearings or Japanese internment camps and shake our heads in disbelief.
Can you believe what happened in America back then? After seeing what's happening right now, the answer is -- absolutely, I see exactly how it happened.

There is a defense spending bill that is in conference committee right now with an amendment attached to it that says the US must follow the Army Field Manual when dealing with detainees and must not treat people it captures with "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment." Can you imagine anything less debatable?

Of course, we are now debating it. And we might lose. The Vice President went down personally to the Senate to try to kill this amendment earlier in the process. The Senate showed rare courage and independence by voting against him 90-9. The nine Senators who voted in favor of "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment" should never be allowed to walk into our Congress again. They soil the ground they walk on. That is hallowed ground. All those patriots didn't die so these men could say America stands for darkness.

EDITED BY ADMIN: COPYRIGHT

More...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cenk-uygur/the-real-indictment-of-di_b_9599.html

[babylonsister]

1. Breaks my heart. Nom. nt

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

2. Well said! nt.

[indepat]

3. We have become a nation which allowed an extreme RW cabal

with a corporatist agenda seize control of all levers of power and take this nation to pre-emptive war, that's who we have become.

[orpupilofnature57]

4. An extension of Crawford, Kkkarl, and Friendly Fascism, Moral High road?

They've used the lord, for everything from fear to fraud.

[philly_bob]

5. Torture on American Television

Frequent torture on the series "24" -- even of our own people.

Sipowitz beating up prisoners on "NYPD Blue".

[Ksec]

6. What have we become?

Evil.

Torture is evil, and those who push or condone torture are evil. I would love to see those like Cheney who push torture actually tortured themselves to show them the true meaning of the evil they push.

[suffragette]

7. You speak to the heart of the issue.

And you say exactly what needs to be said.

You should consider submitting this as a guest editorial to your local newspaper.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

10. omg ...i forgot to post the link...this Huffington blog.....

after i posted this i had to go pick up the kids and was in a hurry...i am so sorry i forgot in my haste.

[suffragette]

15. In that case, thanks for posting the item and now the link.

No need to be sorry. It's as important to point out important items as to write them.

[Martin Eden]

8. Who Would Jesus Torture?

Where is the Christian Right on this issue?

[Hollow Shells]

19. Jesus on torture and violence in general.

Mathew 5:38-44

Repubs need to use the Old Testament to justify their horrors.

[newyawker99]

24. Hi Holloween!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Larissa238]

25. Hi!

And welcome to DU, too! :toast:

[acmejack]

9. I wish I knew the answer.

I like to think that I stand against this administration at every possible turn. I know that I do not endorse the policies this Country is pursuing and I know there are many more who share my sentiments.

The question is what will they be willing to do about it?

[NRaleighLiberal]

11. Well put....a few other thoughts..

"We've" become greedy, fat, lazy, stupid....blindly trusting, stupidly following. No healthy cynicism. No ability to see through the pure bullshit. Just incredibly depressing!

We are also seeing the remarkably short attention span in action - when criminal activity (Plamegate) can go from front page to last page with another news dump (SCOTUS), abetted by a lazy, bought-off media.

Seems like Rover has stumbled onto something - just keep the bad news coming at such a rate that it is simply not to be believed, too quickly to be able to process - it all becomes white noise. The true believers then just circle the wagons and deny it all.

This is certainly a time for the ages - only I wish we didn't have to live through it!

[orpupilofnature57]

12. Don't worry dude Aeon Flux will save u.s, I agree about he power of..

White noise and confusion.

[Burried News]

14. From the other side of North Carolina - I couldn't agree more.

"Seems like Rover has stumbled onto something - just keep the bad news coming at such a rate that it is simply not to be believed, too quickly to be able to process - it all becomes white noise."

What they do is worse than lying.

NeoCONs - By the CONfusion you will know them.

[Arkham House]

13. Torture Is As American As Apple Pie

I wish I could say this is some anomaly that we've just allowed to happen in the Bush years...but it isn't so. Torture has deep roots in this country, officially and unofficially. Police torture, until well within living memory, was utterly widespread and accepted. It was known as the "third degree"--of interrogation--and nobody lifted a finger to stop it until the terrible era of the "activist judges" in the 1960s...in fact, I've always believed that one of the mainsprings of right-wing hatred of liberal judges is that they--the judges--*did* force police departments to end their torture tactics. (Officially, that is...unofficially, the NYPD Blue treatment is widespread, one of our many national Dirty Little Secrets.) It probably isn't too inaccurate to suggest that at least until the war started in 1939, the Gestapo's treatment of prisoners wasn't all that different from how city police departments worked in the US... And unoficially, of course, torture has often been used as a method of social control, especially in the South during slavery and Jim Crow days. The hard fact is that what's happening now is very definitely in the grain of our national history--which is why fighting it is going to be so difficult...

[BeFree]

17. Yeah, well

I guess what they need to vote on, and make it official, is that the scumbag Libby be tortured. Think of all the time and money we can save!
***************

While torture has been condoned, it is illegal. What we now face is making torture legal, and that is the issue. The issue is not what we USED to do, but what WILL we do.

[progressoid]

16. Who are the nine that voted with Dicky?

[ROH]

26. Read the comments at...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cenk-uygur/the-real-indictment-of-di_b_9599.html

The nine were:
Allard (R-CO)
Bond (R-MO)
Coburn (R-OK)
Cochran (R-MS)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Roberts (R-KS)
Sessions (R-AL)
Stevens (R-AK)

[KansDem]

27. Yep, there's Roberts again...

Voted for torture and obstructed phase 2 of the report Sen. Reid spoke about today regarding misused intelligence to lie us into war.

A real role model for my children :sarcasm:

[mmonk]

18. We definitely aren't the "hope of the free world".

We are an international beligerent that no one can bring down through warfare. So when we go rogue, the world becomes worried. I take great pride in that my dad as a World War II vet was a part of the attempts to end beligerent states that wage aggressive war and torture people. His memory and sacrifice have been spat on and defiled by this republican party. They are my enemy for life for they wage war on my country and my constitution.

[EC]

20. This should be posted at the door of every church... n/t

[Douglas Carpenter]

21. Cheney: The one who's name must not be spoken

[Patiod]

22. It would be sick enough if it WORKED

but it's been shown time and time again that it DOESN'T work. Just extracts false "confessions". So he's fighting for something that doesn't work. Why? Some sick Wyoming Cowboy macho thing?

[RedEarth]

23. This is f.......... sickening... these bastards have to be impeached

..all of them....they are destroying our country. What in God's name has happened to our country?

[KoKo]

28. Thanks for this post...this should not be allowed to "stand." n/t

[Catfight]

29. Who are the EVIL 9 that condone 18th century torture? nt