Even George W. Bush called torture abhorrent.
“Freedom from torture is an inalienable human right, and we are committed to building a world where human rights are respected and protected by the rule of law,” he wrote on the UN International Day in Support of Victims of Torture in 2004.
Bush’s words were outrageously insincere and hypocritical, considering that his administration brutally tortured hundreds of captives in the war on terror, referring to it euphemistically as “enhanced interrogation.”
But in his first week as president, Donald Trump won’t stop telling the world that he approves of torture, thumbing his nose at a basic international norm of legality and decency.
What is entirely unprecedented is his willingness to use the word “torture” — a crime by definition — while openly defending it.
Trump conceded on Friday that he will defer to his defense secretary, retired Gen. James Mattis, who holds a contrary opinion. But in doing so, he reiterated his personal support for torture.
Mattis “has stated publicly that he does not necessarily believe in torture or waterboarding or however you want to define it — enhanced interrogation I guess would be a word that a lot of — words that a lot of people would like to use,” Trump said at a joint press conference with U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May. “I don’t necessarily agree, but I would tell you that he will override because I’m giving him that power.”
Trump continued: “I happen to feel that it does work. I’ve been open about that for a long period of time. But I am going with our leaders. And we’re going to — we’re going to win with or without, but I do disagree.”
Trump told ABC News Wednesday that he asked “people at the highest levels of intelligence” whether torture works. “I asked them the question, “Does it work? Does torture work,” said Trump. “And the answer was, “Yes, absolutely.”
Multiple federal laws establish “torture” as a punishable crime. The 1996 War Crimes Act punishes any “grave breach” of the Geneva conventions, including “torture.” The 1994 U.S. anti-torture statute says that someone who “commits or attempts to commit torture” can be punished by a 20-year prison sentence. And the UN Convention Against Torture, which the U.S. ratified in 1994, says “no exceptional circumstances whatsoever … may be invoked as a justification of torture.” The charter for the International Criminal Court calls it a “crime against humanity” when conducted on civilians, and a “war crime” in the context of war.
Bush and former Vice President Dick Cheney went to outrageous lengths to deny that what they practiced amounted to torture. In one widely-discredited memo, for example, the Bush Justice Department argued that in order to constitute torture, pain inflicted on captives had to rise “to the level of death, organ failure, or the permanent impairment of a significant body function” — a standard that they argued allowed for keeping detainees naked in near-freezing temperatures, handcuffing them in an uncomfortable standing position for up to 40 hours; prolonged sleep deprivation; and waterboarding — an iconic form of torture since the Spanish Inquisition.
President Reagan — sanctified by today’s Republicans — signed and advocated for the UN Convention Against Torture. In his letter to Congress urging its ratification, Reagan described “torture” as “an abhorrent practice unfortunately still prevalent in the world today.”
Trump has said that he will defer to Mattis. But on Wednesday the New York Times and Washington Post published a draft executive order that would pave the way for reopening the CIA’s secret prisons, or “black sites.” The draft order was widely interpreted as a precursor to possibly restarting torture, and senators from both parties condemned it.
Trump’s statements are certainly having one effect: They hurt the global effort to combat torture, which relies on international pressure from credible nations. Leaders from monarchies, dictatorships, and human rights violators will quickly realize they can practice torture without drawing condemnation from the leader of the free world.
Top photo: Donald Trump speaks to guests during a rally at Macomb Community College on March 4, 2016, in Warren, Mich.
Willy-
“My father was waterboarded and branded to join his fraternity in the 1950s”
Your dad is one sick puppy. And I am pretty sure that having his co-conspirators do the job is a bit different than a CIA contractor, assisted by a psychological profile, deprivation tactics, and daily routine of other assorted tortures.
I am laughing at how suddenly the DemoRats are all concerned about human rights again- they sure didn’t seem to care when they built the rape factories that are American prisons; or when they consigned fathers to indentured servitude so that their cherished “domestic violence” and “social services” industries were built, one disenfranchised male at a time.
How easily the women’s lobby stood up for privilege, and built the police state- how easily the laid down for fascists and gender lesbian ideology.
Payback is Donald Trump. I hope he uses the DHS “if you’re a rat, say something” program the way the DemoRats did.
But women can take solace in the fact that he at least kept their fascism alive, and the police unions ike him.
Stay safe girls! Bad weaponized weiner’s are everywhere!
My father was waterboarded and branded to join his fraternity in the 1950s. I guess the stupid libs think you can just give die hard enemies candy and handjobs and all will be well. Spineless and stupid. Stress positions are fine and so is waterboarding. they lead to physiological breaking. Torture is anything that leads to permanent physical damage. I would hate to see these libs in charge should we ever get into another serious war. We would lose with these weak morons in charge. they are unique to history. Have never read nor heard of a more foolish emotional shortsighted and ignorant group of self-righteous idiots existing in the entirety of recorded civilization.
I am against all forms of torture. But (there is always a “But”) what would you do if:
1. There is credible evidence that a Terrorist Cell has successfully obtained and brought a Nuclear Suitcase Bomb into New York City.
2. You (Homeland Security) have captured a member of the Cell who you believe has knowledge of the bomb’s location.
To what extent do you interrogate him knowing the catastrophic consequences in loss of life if the bomb is is exploded in the City?
John-
“To what extent do you interrogate him knowing the catastrophic consequences in loss of life if the bomb is is exploded in the City”
I dunno, maybe we should just have the cops call you- because the only place this entirely bogus scenario has ever played out is with those who parrot it, and on tv.
What world of war porn do you live in anyways? The ticking time bomb scenario has been the holy grail of all police states since forever, and in the 16 years since 9/11, it has never happened.
A better scenario would be to call the Mossad, the CIA, or the FBI when this happens, because most of the time, they are the ones who created the terrorists, and provided the bombs.
Mossad, the CIA, and the FBI created the terrorist, and provided the bombs? Please give me one example where one of these agencies provided the bombs in a terrorist attack?
Impeach him NOW!
A scathing truth about the christians who elected him.
Trump’s very existence is a crime against humanity.
This was Donald’s first week……
Make Democracy Great Again
Another attempt from the republicans to launder the US. war-crimes including state-sanctioned torture committed by the G.W. Bush regime.
Of course torture works! Look how many people confessed to being witches or otherwise consorting with the devil. That could never have been accomplished without torture. Without torture, it is nearly impossible to convince people to falsely accuse those who the government wishes to discredit of sufficiently immoral acts. Torture is also useful when the investigation is going badly and you need somebody to confess right now so everybody will get off your back. Whether you want to demonstrate your success at convincing people to publicly announce their conversion from their bad religion to your good religion, get somebody to give you a list of names so you can show everyone how good you are at purging traitors, or testify falsely about WMDs to justify justify the invasion you have your heart set on, nothing gets you what you want to hear like torture.
Flagships in the Night.
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2017/01/rachel-maddow-want-russia-bombed.html
Here’s why I ask. Maddow devotes many minutes on MSNBC stirring up hatred of Russia in order to establish that there is a vague possibility that President Donald Trump might be corrupted by a foreign government.
But that’s already established beyond any doubt. China’s state-owned Industrial and Commercial Bank of China is the largest tenant in Trump Tower. It is also a major lender to Trump. Its rent payments and its loans put Trump in violation of the U.S. Constitution. Every building approval, extension of credit, tax break, subsidy, or waiver of normal rules that Trump’s businesses get from numerous foreign governments, state governments, and the U.S. government define him as quintessentially impeachable.
Maddow says, is this: Rex Tillerson got a friendship award from Russia. Think about that. Here’s a guy setting about rendering the earth’s climate uninhabitable for his short-term greed, and Maddow wants to demonize him for getting a “friendship award.” Then she attacks the idea of lifting sanctions on Russia and suggests the only possible explanation for that would have to be that Russia stole the election for Trump. As if lifting the sanctions were not needed in order for Tillerson’s corporation to plunder Russia’s oil and render the earth unlivable for our species and many others! The sanctions are needed, Maddow claims, because Russia “unilaterally annexed part of another country and took their land.” As if Crimea didn’t vote. As if a non-unilateral annexation would be one where the people do not get to vote?!
As usual theIntercept working their “ethical” wordings. So, the actual issue with Trump is that he is saying it openly instead letting the deep state deal with those “issues” in a covert, “secret interpretations” way, while putting a smile to the cameras?
I would bet one of my balls Trump will start less wars, kill less people than Obama did, but well, … at the end of the day, this is not what matters to them!
TRUMP: … I asked them the question, “Does it work? Does torture work?” And the answer was, “Yes, absolutely.”
… and, of course, Mr. “Yes we can”, “it turns out I was better at killing than I could have imagined”; would not ever have the “indecency” and “lack of prudence” to speak about such matters openly citing concrete facts, names and issues at play, and, of course, no “freedom-loving” President had ever even thought of asking that question to our glorious “Intelligence ‘community’ working hard at keeping our country safe” (TM), and, of course, “the School of the Americas” was not training the arm forces and police of Latin American dictators about “enhanced interrogation techniques”. In some cases, “very enhanced” … They actually offered to University Professor, author and social justice activist Roxanne-Dunbar-Ortiz:
https://www.amazon.com/Roxanne-Dunbar-Ortiz/e/B00P28WOO0/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roxanne_Dunbar-Ortiz
the options to be killed by the contras or a US agency just for questioning their abuses and excesses in Central America:
http://www.nytimes.com/1989/01/22/opinion/l-air-terrorist-list-omits-contra-bomb-in-mexico-947789.html
RCL
When will the CIA torturers be identified and hopefully later be brought to justice?
Never, and rightfully so!
Thank you for this article. Accepting the unacceptable is the end of civilization, and no one is left with any dignity nor quality of life. What fools these sheeple be :-
To be saved, i suggest you die with a smile on your face and God [or Allah, Yahweh, Christian God, Jesus] seeing a smile on a corpse for the first time ever, will reward you with either an instantaneous resurrection or send you to heaven, but not [Paul claims] as flesh and blood, but by a new spirit or spiritual body.
That is the only way to become free from religions and US system of rule and the iniquitous structure of its society.
This is not fake news; this 100% true.
Remember how Trump told Hannity that waterboarding was “just short of torture”?
Interesting. Throughout the election Trump kept claiming that “I would bring back a hell of a lot worse than waterboarding.”
Uh, if it’s “just short,” then wouldn’t Trump’s “hell of a lot worse” go into the torture area?!
I know I’m not supposed to be shocked, but holy #%@*!!!!!!!!!!!!
Another evil Trumpian statement, which Barack Obama made possible. If Prezzy Peace had prosecuted the Bush torturers, as he was required to do under law, Trump could not say it works. But that’s a “liberal” Democrat for you – all feel-good talk, while evil walks.
“Freeing” Chelsea Manning and stopping the Keystone and Standing Rock pipelines at late dates is another classic Obama move, leaving Trump space to walk them all back.
People seem to entirely miss or ignore a point that I think is incredibly telling: the “intelligence” personnel Trump consulted about torture told him torture works. Why?? They said that even though there is no evidence to support that. The only reason I can think of is that those people (the “intelligence” community) want to do it, and so they will make a case howsoever to justify or warrant it. It is a deeper problem that people in our intelligence agencies, those high enough up the chain to be consulted by the president, are advocating for torturing people for the simple reason that THAT IS WHAT THEY WANT TO DO. What have we learned from the intelligence agencies over the past 2 decades? Have we learned that these people will do whatever they want to do, regardless of evidence or logic or ethics?
Face it, even Obama endorsed torture. Just not out loud.
Disgusted with the lot of you.
why? I think they reported fairly about Obama as well.
I smell a Confidence Man.
Whole new meaning to “Feelin’ the love……”
“Opposing torture, that’s PC gawn maaad, innit?”
Yes , Geert. Look,in the mirror and repeat ‘i will make the world a better place’
I agree that supporting or promoting torture is stupid and wrong.
To his partial, like maybe 5% credit, Trump stated at his press conference with T. May yesterday that, while he believes that waterboarding of terrorists is a good thing, he will follow his Secy of Def advice and NOT do torture.
Waterboarding ISN’T torture?
No Waterboarding is getting water up your nose. Torture is when ISIL boils people to death in oil.
The Dutch populist at it again !
The Intercept recently did an interview with Seymour Hersh. I wonder how he would go about investigating a story like the Black Site Prison story. It might be worth consulting Hersh on this matter since he has been around a while and can probably access resources a younger person like Mr. Emmons can’t.
Maybe he could give some insight into the process of how Black Site Prisons came into being.
Towards the close of the interview Hirsch said albeit in a collegial manner inseeking to bring the interview to a close “…we’ve been doing this for three days.” While his tone conveyed genuine appreciation for Jeremys passionate normative entreaties he advised patience, restraint and good old fashioned hard nosed journalism. The stuff we like Jeremy and Glenn most for.
Unless you are a Bernie voter, there is little room for protest from any (neo)liberal when it comes to ANY ethics violations. Obama droned thousands of people, expanded wars into 5 additional countries, left Guantanamo open despite promises to shut it down, and had a TWO YEAR window of a democratic filibuster proof congress. Where was the outrage?
We have to protest to be sure but consistently goddammit, not just when the pretty face on the surface of things disappears.
Uh- huh.
So, just like Obama and Bush, Bernie was gonna use those magical drones and wizard-level targeting procedures that only kill bad guys.
Uh-huh.
:-)
If even only 1% of the seal team 6 article published by the Intercept is true, it is impossible to believe we stopped torturing under Obama.
We should not be judged by the morality we impose on our enemies, but the morality we impose on our friends.
Those that see morality as a punishment impose it on their enemies. Those that see morality as a gift impose it on their friends.
The best reason to love everyone is so that they may all be morally judged.
Morality against an enemy is always corrupted.
Far too many see morality as a punishment. Ask yourself how you turned your greatest gift into a punishment. Morality as torture.
Exactly right.
“If even only 1% of the seal team 6 article published by the Intercept is true, it is impossible to believe we stopped torturing under Obama.”
Immediately after taking office, Obama signed an order continuing the “extraordinary rendition” program, which is a torture program. Our operatives abduct a foreign national from wherever they are in the world, transport the abductee to a country with which the U.S. has an arrangement. The victim is handed over to interrogators in that country along with a list of questions. By engaging in this “torture by proxy,” Obama the lawyer could announce that the U.S. “does not torture people” and technically not be lying, (unless you count equivocation as lying, which I do).
The evidence that Mr. Trump supports torture is fairly thin; nothing more than his own word. Until he releases a video, I will remain skeptical.
Compare Mr. Trump to Mr. Dershowitz. Mr. Dershowitz has written scholarly articles making an airtight case for torture. He makes cogent arguments that torture is necessary, and outlines a detailed plan to implement it in the justice system through the use of torture warrants. He truly believes that society will be improved through the (judicious) use of torture.
I doubt that Mr. Trump has thought much about torture. He is a negotiator at heart and won’t concede anything in advance, so he insists that torture is one of the tools in the toolbox and he’ll only relinquish it for something of value. But he doesn’t insist that torture is absolutely necessary and he’ll even tolerate underlings who don’t use it. Of course, if General Mattis fails and is sent to the dungeon, his replacement will be a little more careful not to rule out torture in advance.
People often try to sidestep the moral difficulties of torture by claiming it doesn’t work. They can’t possibly know this. At best, they can merely assert that torture does not work for them. But in virtually every case, you will find they have received no formal training. It would be like me hacking open someone’s chest and afterwards claiming that surgery does not work.
In fact, there is actually fairly good evidence that torture is extremely effective at extracting confessions. Medieval law was based on the premise that the accused must confess their crimes and torture was an integral component of that process. So at what point, exactly, did torture become disreputable? I combed through the historical records and found that George W. Bush condemned torture, but my research lasted only 5 minutes and it is possible some even earlier figure, now lost in the mists of time, made similar assertions. His father ran the CIA so the charge that Mr. Bush was not an expert in torture won’t really stick. However, it is to be noted that he didn’t go so far as to ban torture in his own administration, which brings us back to the original problem of whether anything a politician says can be believed.
Excellent.
“the evidence that Mr. Trump supports torture is pretty thin”… Dude he just went on TV twice and unequivocally said that he supports the use of torture. The rest of your comment is a screed of incoherent drivel. “At what point did the use of torture become disreputable”… when the fucking founding fathers wrote an amendment against it. I guess I shouldn’t have expected anything less from a guy who calls himself “Benito Mussolini”.
At best, they would merely assert that torture should not apply either judicially or effectively as a denigration of their own bodies and psyche when it comes to to them
RCL
I have no problem believing that torture “works”on some subjects, just as I have no problem believing that you can exterminate city rats with a nuclear detonation.
However, there are other, arguably better, methods that can be used that doesn’t destroy ourselves in the process.
Does it matter who is the president? The US has a long practice in torture, from Vietnam to Iraq. Changing names doesn’t change the basics as it is true with the infamous School of the Americas (SOA), today’s WHINSEC.
Trump knows it works, because it always works for Jack Bauer on 24.
I’m not sure one should be so moved by what US presidents say — G.W. Bush called torture abhorrent but was President during the famous (and photographed) tortures at Abu Ghraib. Obama acknowledged “we tortured some folks” and then executed people (including mostly those who weren’t targeted) under his no-due-process drone campaigns which he used far more than G.W. Bush and will forever be a significant part of his legacy. In Obama’s hometown, the Chicago Police Department operates a facility — Homan Square Police Warehouse — which ran throughout Obama’s terms and was called “…the domestic equivalent of a CIA black site” by The Guardian in 2015.
World leaders from monarchies, dictatorships, and human rights violators apparently weren’t waiting for permission from the US President before they conducted their tortures and executions. There’s apparently quite a rich history to bring up, even only getting into recent presidents. None of this is to excuse Trump from his choices, but to look at this as an unbroken line of bipartisan support for torture and killing at home and abroad.
Perhaps the left will see fit to push Congress for war crimes trials to bring issues like these to national attention and show that there can be consequences to one’s choices in seats of power. Or are we still committed to not looking backwards?
The intercept is right : torture doesn’t work ! Droning however…..
wait…wait… WHO GIVES A DAMN IF IT DOES OR DOESN’T “WORK”!!! It’s illegal. PERIOD. Now, if you don’t get it yet, let me put it this way. NUREMBERG. Comprende? US Statutes. Comprende? The Convention on Torture.. COMPRENDE?????????????????
fuk, sometimes I want to slap people silly just for being dense.
Now, lets try Dolts for $2k
Exactly…so why bother with torture. Lets legally drone the world !
Legally??????????? Since when. The only reason the US get away with it is…the US is a Legal Imperialism. In otherwords.. who is going to stop them?
btw pal, the next time you want to satirize war crimes..do me a favor. Poke yourself in the eye. It’s just as funny.
You sound so agressive ! I’m not sure that is the best way to promote human rights and world peace, general !
VfE tries to be smart but he’s far too dumb to even pretend smartness.
Yes Gert, you are the best. Your grandma loves you too.
Legal Imperialism? Seriously dude, perhaps we should retreat and let Europe deal with its own security. You can deal with the Russians and Chinese yourself. See how you will like that. The world needs a Super Power, so be happy it is the USA. Assuming you live in Europe, perhaps we should have let you be part of Nazi Germany or USSR…good luck living in a World without the USA!
If it isn’t blindingly obvious now to every human on this planet, that this insidious barbarian has blatantly, without one stinking shred of decency, now advocated the USG perpetrate WAR CRIMES.
In a parallel universe, humanity would rise up, just as in WWll, and collectively kill this monster before he reaps untold misery and death across this planet. Unfortunately, in this universe, within the most Bloodthirsty Country on Planet Earth, lives a citizenry, partly composed of a minority that lives to see the day their Dear Leader unleash the Dogs of Insanity upon the world. To THEM… I can only say this. You too will reap his and his minions abominations. In one form or another, you will not escape. Even as you parade your solidarity with evil, your stupidity eludes you, and will continue to elude you until the final moment the truth of what you have done slaps you like a bolt of lightning. Only then, like an insensate, blinking calf, meaningful to nobody, abandoned by the puke-drooling, giggling beast who sired you and then killed himself in recognition of what he had done, will you understand what you too have sired. At least have the decency to clean up your slime trail before you commit suicide.
I wouldn’t hang this on the Donald, not just yet. As viewers of Keifer Sutherland in 24, and any number of cobs and robbers shows, and action/adventure series, can testify,, torture does work. The popular perception is as the Donald said. In echoing it, he was telegraphing to all of America that he understood what they know (via the TV in their living rooms) to be true. By saying his “expert” would make the decision (and that decision happened to be against torture) he was giving the people, the common people who “know”, a way to accept this course. It was clever politics, and clever management.
It would be nice to live in a society which recognized the inhumanity of torture, just as it would be nice to live in a society that was at least transparent about things like drone strikes, no-fly zones, regime change and humanitarian intervention. Having a dialectic about torture at the executive level suggests a bit of openness and the opportunity for natural debate. Let’s not squander that with even more alarmism.
If you wanted to take an advocate’s stance, try applauding the Defense Secretary for his ethical fortitude, and pleading for a change of heart from the chief. You could also note how it fits within the context of Trump’s foreshadowed withdrawal from covert military operations of the type that felled Iraq and Libya and which now threaten Syria and Yemen.
quote”I wouldn’t hang this on the Donald, not just yet. As viewers of Keifer Sutherland in 24, and any number of cobs and robbers shows, and action/adventure series, can testify,, torture does work.”
Notwithstanding quoting the Big Bang of Stupidity,. do you really think, an adversary, who already knows he has won by hiding one or more atomic weapons within his enemies homeland, will give a damn if he is tortured with impunity? If so.. you really are a moron. CIA already tortured detainees to the point of murder..and they still didn’t devulge. Why do you think they died? Of course, the TEH VEH knows better..right?.
sheeeezusHchrist..
meanwhile Mr. TV torture expert.. go fix your self a box of popcorn and continue being a moron.
My point, major general, included the acknowledgment that the belief that torture works — the absolute certainty of that “fact” — was everywhere embossed on the fabric of our culture. To smugly say “it’s not true” while ignoring that everywhere in the narratives of our zeitgeist it is shown to be true is to, in your words, “continue to be a moron.” Furthermore, juxtaposing an executive who would like to go ahead with the torture, and a military/police force that instead urges restraint, turns the commonplace narrative on its ear.
Alex Emmons submits, in the conclusion of his article, that Trump’s parsing of the role of torture advocate and the one who advocates adherence to a humanitarian code, will embolden the world’s would-be Ramsay Bolton’s into greater depravity. I would submit that just the opposite is as likely to be the case, that by making the chief the one who’s egging them on, and the cop on the beat the one who’s counseling restraint — and then deferring judgement to the expert — might just as well set a better example.
These are still the early days of the Trump administration, and there’s likely to be some sweet with the bitter. Jumping up and down hysterically at every pronouncement as heralding the end of days, which seems to be at least the tone of the rump of Hillary’s defeated coterie, if not the majority of the MSM, paints Trump into a corner and makes progressive solutions less likely. The Intercept, by boldly countering the, “The Russians Did It” narrative was one of the few voices of reason to counter Henny Penny. I wanted to caution against the kind of rush-to-judgement fear mongering the title, and portions of this article, suggested.
“If you wanted to take an advocate’s stance, try applauding the Defense Secretary for his ethical fortitude, and pleading for a change of heart from the chief. You could also note how it fits within the context of Trump’s foreshadowed withdrawal from covert military operations of the type that felled Iraq and Libya and which now threaten Syria and Yemen.”
These titles above intercept articles are too funny to not comment on it.
Here is the title:
‘The President of the
Unites States
Explicitly Endorses
Torture’
And if that is not horrible enough, the title continues by stating that torture is
‘- A Crime Against Humanity’
Seems like the journalist is convinced that the intercept audience is, on average, 8 years old.
That level is humorous to me. Ar the intercept you write about the most horrible things a human can imagine (or do)… to 8 year olds. Very dark satire that is to me.
What is also funny about the title is the word ‘Explicitly’. It’s true, Trump explicitly endorses torture, but at least he is honest about it! That is also satire, and true as well.
Obama also endorsed torture, but implicitly or ‘cool’ (ever thought about what a drone can do to kids in Afghanistan to give just one example). So this is a discussion about high heels vs low heels, where only the high heels of Trump are mentioned and the low heels (of Obama) are not talked about by Alex (at least it’s not mentioned in the title).
I must confess though that in my opinion there is one TI journalist here who writes about both presidents while wearing one high and one low heel. But that is just ‘opinion’ and slightly of topic.
Talking about drones, I miss the Intercept’s real reporting as they did when they published the drone papers (and for which reason I started to read and follow TI).
For now all I can do is laugh at the comic level that the intercept has progressed to, or watch youtube video’s from George Carlin where he, for instance explains where politicians (like Trump) come from
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=07w9K2XR3f0
Please note that George Carlin talked about the political situation in the US prior to the DNC’s decision to rig the election of the Democrats in favor of HRC and not Sanders. Another detail that some people would call ‘alternative fact’.
quote”These titles above intercept articles are too funny to not comment on it.”unquote
Funny? Maybe to someone who laughs outloud while torturing his cat.
quote”Seems like the journalist is convinced that the intercept audience is, on average, 8 years old.”
Says one while trying to figure out page 1 of Tying Shoes for 8 yr old Dummies.
btw, didn’t you learn anything after your mother dropped you on your head..twice?
quote”So this is a discussion about high heels vs low heels”
No. But I like helping the Cognitive Dissonance challenged, so let me give you a clue, since you couldn’t find one if you were dipped in Clue musk and paraded in a field of Clues doing a Clue mating dance. This is about a United States President, ADVOCATING the USG REOPEN facilities where sadistic CIA barbarian psychopaths can hide from the world, while they torture human beings with impunity, to the point of murder. Notwithstanding the fact the CIA did everything in their power to keep even a smidgen of the Senate Torture Report from seeing the light of day, and notwithstanding Obama declaring..”we tortured some folks”, here is the reality. TRUMP IS ADVOCATING WAR CRIMES. Comprende Mr. Dumbass? Now why don’t you go slither back into that stinking cesspool where you were spawned, so the rest of humanity doesn’t have to endure your stench.
btw the header should have read.. generalwarrant>willem
this comment section sucks.
Bush did torture, Obama did torture now Trump will torture. But of course this is totally different, because Trump did not respect your #safespace. You are a prototype hypocrite. And I guess, this isn´t news either.
U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 115th Congress – 1st Session
as compiled through Senate LIS by the Senate Bill Clerk under the direction of the Secretary of the Senate
Vote Summary
Question: On the Nomination (Confirmation: Mike Pompeo, of Kansas, to be Director of the Central Intelligence Agency )
Vote Number: 32 Vote Date: January 23, 2017, 07:01 PM
Required For Majority: 1/2 Vote Result: Nomination Confirmed
Nomination Number: PN43
Nomination Description: Mike Pompeo, of Kansas, to be Director of the Central Intelligence Agency
Vote Counts: YEAs 66
NAYs 32
Not Voting 2
Vote Summary By Senator Name By Vote Position By Home State
Alphabetical by Senator Name
Alexander (R-TN), Yea
Baldwin (D-WI), Nay
Barrasso (R-WY), Yea
Bennet (D-CO), Nay
Blumenthal (D-CT), Not Voting
Blunt (R-MO), Yea
Booker (D-NJ), Nay
Boozman (R-AR), Yea
Brown (D-OH), Nay
Burr (R-NC), Yea
Cantwell (D-WA), Nay
Capito (R-WV), Yea
Cardin (D-MD), Nay
Carper (D-DE), Nay
Casey (D-PA), Nay
Cassidy (R-LA), Yea
Cochran (R-MS), Yea
Collins (R-ME), Yea
Coons (D-DE), Nay
Corker (R-TN), Yea
Cornyn (R-TX), Yea
Cortez Masto (D-NV), Nay
Cotton (R-AR), Yea
Crapo (R-ID), Yea
Cruz (R-TX), Yea
Daines (R-MT), Yea
Donnelly (D-IN), Yea
Duckworth (D-IL), Nay
Durbin (D-IL), Nay
Enzi (R-WY), Yea
Ernst (R-IA), Yea
Feinstein (D-CA), Yea
Fischer (R-NE), Yea
Flake (R-AZ), Yea
Franken (D-MN), Nay
Gardner (R-CO), Yea
Gillibrand (D-NY), Nay
Graham (R-SC), Yea
Grassley (R-IA), Yea
Harris (D-CA), Nay
Hassan (D-NH), Yea
Hatch (R-UT), Yea
Heinrich (D-NM), Nay
Heitkamp (D-ND), Yea
Heller (R-NV), Yea
Hirono (D-HI), Nay
Hoeven (R-ND), Yea
Inhofe (R-OK), Yea
Isakson (R-GA), Yea
Johnson (R-WI), Yea
Kaine (D-VA), Yea
Kennedy (R-LA), Yea
King (I-ME), Yea
Klobuchar (D-MN), Yea
Lankford (R-OK), Yea
Leahy (D-VT), Nay
Lee (R-UT), Yea
Manchin (D-WV), Yea
Markey (D-MA), Nay
McCain (R-AZ), Yea
McCaskill (D-MO), Yea
McConnell (R-KY), Yea
Menendez (D-NJ), Nay
Merkley (D-OR), Nay
Moran (R-KS), Yea
Murkowski (R-AK), Yea
Murphy (D-CT), Not Voting
Murray (D-WA), Nay
Nelson (D-FL), Nay
Paul (R-KY), Nay
Perdue (R-GA), Yea
Peters (D-MI), Nay
Portman (R-OH), Yea
Reed (D-RI), Yea
Risch (R-ID), Yea
Roberts (R-KS), Yea
Rounds (R-SD), Yea
Rubio (R-FL), Yea
Sanders (I-VT), Nay
Sasse (R-NE), Yea
Schatz (D-HI), Yea
Schumer (D-NY), Yea
Scott (R-SC), Yea
Sessions (R-AL), Yea
Shaheen (D-NH), Yea
Shelby (R-AL), Yea
Stabenow (D-MI), Nay
Sullivan (R-AK), Yea
Tester (D-MT), Nay
Thune (R-SD), Yea
Tillis (R-NC), Yea
Toomey (R-PA), Yea
Udall (D-NM), Nay
Van Hollen (D-MD), Nay
Warner (D-VA), Yea
Warren (D-MA), Nay
Whitehouse (D-RI), Yea
Wicker (R-MS), Yea
Wyden (D-OR), Nay
Young (R-IN), Yea
Vote Summary By Senator Name By Vote Position By Home State
Grouped By Vote Position
YEAs —66
Alexander (R-TN)
Barrasso (R-WY)
Blunt (R-MO)
Boozman (R-AR)
Burr (R-NC)
Capito (R-WV)
Cassidy (R-LA)
Cochran (R-MS)
Collins (R-ME)
Corker (R-TN)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Cotton (R-AR)
Crapo (R-ID)
Cruz (R-TX)
Daines (R-MT)
Donnelly (D-IN)
Enzi (R-WY)
Ernst (R-IA)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Fischer (R-NE)
Flake (R-AZ)
Gardner (R-CO)
Graham (R-SC)
Grassley (R-IA)
Hassan (D-NH)
Hatch (R-UT)
Heitkamp (D-ND)
Heller (R-NV)
Hoeven (R-ND)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Isakson (R-GA)
Johnson (R-WI)
Kaine (D-VA)
Kennedy (R-LA)
King (I-ME)
Klobuchar (D-MN)
Lankford (R-OK)
Lee (R-UT)
Manchin (D-WV)
McCain (R-AZ)
McCaskill (D-MO)
McConnell (R-KY)
Moran (R-KS)
Murkowski (R-AK)
Perdue (R-GA)
Portman (R-OH)
Reed (D-RI)
Risch (R-ID)
Roberts (R-KS)
Rounds (R-SD)
Rubio (R-FL)
Sasse (R-NE)
Schatz (D-HI)
Schumer (D-NY)
Scott (R-SC)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shaheen (D-NH)
Shelby (R-AL)
Sullivan (R-AK)
Thune (R-SD)
Tillis (R-NC)
Toomey (R-PA)
Warner (D-VA)
Whitehouse (D-RI)
Wicker (R-MS)
Young (R-IN)
NAYs —32
Baldwin (D-WI)
Bennet (D-CO)
Booker (D-NJ)
Brown (D-OH)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Cardin (D-MD)
Carper (D-DE)
Casey (D-PA)
Coons (D-DE)
Cortez Masto (D-NV)
Duckworth (D-IL)
Durbin (D-IL)
Franken (D-MN)
Gillibrand (D-NY)
Harris (D-CA)
Heinrich (D-NM)
Hirono (D-HI)
Leahy (D-VT)
Markey (D-MA)
Menendez (D-NJ)
Merkley (D-OR)
Murray (D-WA)
Nelson (D-FL)
Paul (R-KY)
Peters (D-MI)
Sanders (I-VT)
Stabenow (D-MI)
Tester (D-MT)
Udall (D-NM)
Van Hollen (D-MD)
Warren (D-MA)
Wyden (D-OR)
Not Voting – 2
Blumenthal (D-CT)
Murphy (D-CT)
Vote Summary By Senator Name By Vote Position By Home State
Grouped by Home State
Alabama: Sessions (R-AL), Yea Shelby (R-AL), Yea
Alaska: Murkowski (R-AK), Yea Sullivan (R-AK), Yea
Arizona: Flake (R-AZ), Yea McCain (R-AZ), Yea
Arkansas: Boozman (R-AR), Yea Cotton (R-AR), Yea
California: Feinstein (D-CA), Yea Harris (D-CA), Nay
Colorado: Bennet (D-CO), Nay Gardner (R-CO), Yea
Connecticut: Blumenthal (D-CT), Not Voting Murphy (D-CT), Not Voting
Delaware: Carper (D-DE), Nay Coons (D-DE), Nay
Florida: Nelson (D-FL), Nay Rubio (R-FL), Yea
Georgia: Isakson (R-GA), Yea Perdue (R-GA), Yea
Hawaii: Hirono (D-HI), Nay Schatz (D-HI), Yea
Idaho: Crapo (R-ID), Yea Risch (R-ID), Yea
Illinois: Duckworth (D-IL), Nay Durbin (D-IL), Nay
Indiana: Donnelly (D-IN), Yea Young (R-IN), Yea
Iowa: Ernst (R-IA), Yea Grassley (R-IA), Yea
Kansas: Moran (R-KS), Yea Roberts (R-KS), Yea
Kentucky: McConnell (R-KY), Yea Paul (R-KY), Nay
Louisiana: Cassidy (R-LA), Yea Kennedy (R-LA), Yea
Maine: Collins (R-ME), Yea King (I-ME), Yea
Maryland: Cardin (D-MD), Nay Van Hollen (D-MD), Nay
Massachusetts: Markey (D-MA), Nay Warren (D-MA), Nay
Michigan: Peters (D-MI), Nay Stabenow (D-MI), Nay
Minnesota: Franken (D-MN), Nay Klobuchar (D-MN), Yea
Mississippi: Cochran (R-MS), Yea Wicker (R-MS), Yea
Missouri: Blunt (R-MO), Yea McCaskill (D-MO), Yea
Montana: Daines (R-MT), Yea Tester (D-MT), Nay
Nebraska: Fischer (R-NE), Yea Sasse (R-NE), Yea
Nevada: Cortez Masto (D-NV), Nay Heller (R-NV), Yea
New Hampshire: Hassan (D-NH), Yea Shaheen (D-NH), Yea
New Jersey: Booker (D-NJ), Nay Menendez (D-NJ), Nay
New Mexico: Heinrich (D-NM), Nay Udall (D-NM), Nay
New York: Gillibrand (D-NY), Nay Schumer (D-NY), Yea
North Carolina: Burr (R-NC), Yea Tillis (R-NC), Yea
North Dakota: Heitkamp (D-ND), Yea Hoeven (R-ND), Yea
Ohio: Brown (D-OH), Nay Portman (R-OH), Yea
Oklahoma: Inhofe (R-OK), Yea Lankford (R-OK), Yea
Oregon: Merkley (D-OR), Nay Wyden (D-OR), Nay
Pennsylvania: Casey (D-PA), Nay Toomey (R-PA), Yea
Rhode Island: Reed (D-RI), Yea Whitehouse (D-RI), Yea
South Carolina: Graham (R-SC), Yea Scott (R-SC), Yea
South Dakota: Rounds (R-SD), Yea Thune (R-SD), Yea
Tennessee: Alexander (R-TN), Yea Corker (R-TN), Yea
Texas: Cornyn (R-TX), Yea Cruz (R-TX), Yea
Utah: Hatch (R-UT), Yea Lee (R-UT), Yea
Vermont: Leahy (D-VT), Nay Sanders (I-VT), Nay
Virginia: Kaine (D-VA), Yea Warner (D-VA), Yea
Washington: Cantwell (D-WA), Nay Murray (D-WA), Nay
West Virginia: Capito (R-WV), Yea Manchin (D-WV), Yea
Wisconsin: Baldwin (D-WI), Nay Johnson (R-WI), Yea
Wyoming: Barrasso (R-WY), Yea Enzi (R-WY), Yea
SO ?
BTW: a grouping by By Yea , Nay and each of those groups into Dems, Repbs , and then by states would be easier to target .
Maybe Mona and her intellects can write a subroutine to do that .
Thanks for this list.
I still don’t know many of the new Senators.
Thanks bro. Never made it to Roll Call.
Everybody (well, everybody outside the media bubble) knows that American Presidents have been engaged in policies and practices that constitute crimes against humanity for many years, bipartisanly. (The list of which ones varies depending on how far out of the nested bubbles one is).
Trump’s popularity (infamy? has a term that merges those two meanings been coined yet?) stems, in part, from his willingness to be open about it.
The GOP wants to escalate the war against Islam so that they can make lots of profit bombing random brown kids.
Donald Trump succeed MOSTLY by putting the peas back into dog whistles, and advocating crap that’s been winked at for decades. Even now, Americans of all stripes are referring to blatant fascism as the “alt-right”, as if it’s something new. They are willfully blind ostriches…sub-human.
Muslims dont value life so no1 should value their rights as well.
The barbarous custom of having men beaten who are suspected of having important secrets to reveal must be abolished. It has always been recognized that this way of interrogating men, by putting them to torture, produces nothing worthwhile. The poor wretches say anything that comes into their mind and what they think the interrogator wishes to know.
Napoleon (translated, of course, from the French)
https://twitter.com/jane_doe_press/status/825159723695628288
Should not be surprised as most of these Dems have supported torture, war crimes, crimes against humanity and the creation of the police/security state throughout their political careers. At the end of WWII, the Americans insisted on hanging grunt soldiers for less! But then again, “Winners” never get hung.
A little bit of waterboarding and in some cases just the threat of it should make these confess on what/who made them vote the way they did.
I bet it was PUTIN.
Someone’s gotta stand up for torture. Its the dying language of a dying empire, and no culturally aware person, least of all Trump, wants to see a language go extinct on his watch.
Doctors , Lawyer ,, etc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhRqDvP-mwM
and all that bullshit !
OT wildly, but I laughed heartily while watching it. Twice.
See if it brings some levity.
http://mashable.com/2017/01/25/bad-lip-reading-inauguration/?utm_cid=mash-com-fb-main-link#I.wpL_uZ0iqo
At the risk of being called a gragled old bunch of Texas Tumbling Weed I present to you———
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvZeYDBY4fw
Wailin’ bawlin’, wimpy Jennings…
Yet here we are discussing Trump’s insistence that torture “works.”
Did outraged Republicans repudiate this statement as criminal, evil and unamerican?
Of course not. They’re tough guys. They didn’t even subtext it.
Except John McCain, himself a victim of torture.
And so a mini-controversy arose among Republicans and Trump.
In fact, notice how Trump tiptoes past his torture advocacy.
“He’s not a war hero,” said Trump. “He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured.”
This is where the dark malignancy within Trump glows. Instead of defending his torture remarks, instead of adopting the party line of stubborn intransigence (masquerading as iron conviction,) he sneaks past the gatekeeper by pointing at McCain as a sort of loser. (McCain lost to Obama, he reminds his opponents and supporters.)
This sort of quick tap dance, this sidestep, is part of the politician’s stagecraft. It’s essential to pulling of the sleight of ideas so typical to American politics today. It’s why the subtext matters so much. It’s why Trump’s bluntness seems refreshingly forthright rather than just plain stupid.
So here, today, almost a year after proclaiming he would do “a hell of a lot worse than waterboarding,” the idiocracy here at The Intercept take this opportunity just how opposed to torture they are.
Swell.
Where were you in November?
When the State adopts torture to enforce it’s superiority, it denies that single justifying purpose of the State: the protection of individual human beings from politics and political vengeance by any institutional entity. Whether burning Protestants at the stake (torture to death) or demanding obedience to the State with malevolent torture devices, humiliation, simple pain and threats to family (reprisal killings also advocated by Trump), whatever they might claim is the point of torture (obedience, information, submission, revenge, etc.) torture actually acts to impose State or institutional authority upon individuals.
For me, State sponsored torture is a black/white threshold — an either/or.
Either the State protects the fundamental rights of human beings (all human beings), or it does not.
Yet here we are as a nation discussing a practice as primitive as cannibalism and as pathologically immoral as genocide.
Why wasn’t this an issue six months ago or even a year ago? Why don’t politicians of any party declare that his advocacy of torture makes Trump unfit.
Either stand for something or dance like trained penguins.
But bombing babies and extrajudicial killings by remote control are what, milton? Gray areas? Negotiable? OK as long as Democrats order them?
Spare us your faux moralizing.
Equally abhorrent and exactly the reason I didn’t vote for Obama in 2012.
If torture is an unforgivable betrayal of the State’s purpose, so is murder.
Obviously!
What’s the matter with you?
Dimbshit.
But not only voted for but hyperventilated cheering for Clinton in 2016?
You thought, what? That your treasured candidate (We came, we saw, he died!) was going to stop bombing babies?
Do you even read or do you have a Breitbart app that reads the news to you or is it just plugged into your earhole?
Here is what Clinton said about torture:
She explicitly denies torture, not as strongly as I think she should have, but there it is. No torture.
Instead we have a man in office who has explicitly advocated waterboarding “and a hell of a lot worse!”
What kind of idiot can’t tell the difference when the words are this clear and plain?? Do you go to the store and expect to be charged the same for a dozen eggs and a dozen steaks? Why not? They’re exactly the same. How long does it take you if you’re at the bottom of the down escalator before you call mall security to complain about the broken equipment because the down escalator won’t go up?
Further, if you actually read anything about the First Libyan Civil War, you’d realize your narrative (Assange’s narrative) is entirely wrong. NATO sided with the rebels because government forces were committing atrocities. Read the link because similar riots are coming to a city near you soon. If Trump and the alt-right have their say, we’ll return to the America of pre-civil rights. Or did you think “Make America Great Again,” was just a slogan without a meaning like the confederate flag is a cloth with pretty colors?
I supported Sanders until he lost. After fuming about it for a few days, I took his advice.
The choice was stark and binary. One or the other.
Don’t blame me for your own stupid choice.
“Do you even read?”
To which you responded with a rant about Clinton’s feeble, wishy-washy denunciation of torture.
None so blind as those who will not see.
Libya War: Gaddafi Falls … But Why Did We Invade In The First Place?
Or say what you got to say in two sentences or less !
You take too much screen Millton !
If you don’t like it, don’t look.
Duh.
But at least no bolding, so thanks for not shouting your idiotic trumperings
Dumbshit.
McGoon abhors torture and would rather engage folks in long distance epidermal care, through canisters of an emollient based on jellied petroleum products, dropped on cosmetically challenged villages, whose beneficial effects he calls “assisted exfoliation”. But I’ll bet the enterprising Trump could win over even the dour McGoon, if he began calling water boarding “hydration therapy”.
Let us go way back and discuss , in the fancy talk of the day ,, the BLACK HOLE OF CALCUTTA
Oh ,, pip, pip, and cherrio ! A rather lolly adventure !
Right. Let’s totally ignore history.
He’s been torturing us for years now and getting away with it. What are a few black sites?
He ain’t tortured nobody yet you ahole !
I don’t like this Sociopath ,,, but everything that the MSM say’s he’ll do is just what has been done . It’s just a change of crew !!
That insinuates they are the same but they are not in some significant areas. Having a president cheer lead for torture is a lot different that what has come before..not just for the US but any nation.
The only difference is this guy is up front about it !!
Torture was legalized under Obama .
And the sun revolves around the earth, Fred Flintstone was a real person who actually owned a pet dinosaur, and Obama was born in Kenya.
Let’s look at the facts.
Oops … the white house page has vanished: https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/ensuring-lawful-interrogations
Also the link promising “Obama Archive.”
Winston Smith and the Ministry of Truth are putting in long hours these days.
I guess we’ll just have to rely on all the newspapers in the world.
For instance, here’s the Guardian talking about the Senate passing a ban on torture in 2015: (The Guardian, June 16, 2015.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JA644rSZX1A
One of the “black sites” may have been, may be, on Diego Garcia — which is British territory. Did Ms. May mention that inconvenient fact?
http://www.hrweb.org/legal/cat.html
Nothing surprising about that. Trump is the worst kind of sociopath there is – one that was born with a golden spoon in his mouth. Unlike less-privileged sociopaths, he has never had to learn how to hide his narcissistic contempt for everyone that doesn’t stroke his ego. There is zero empathy or any human decency to be found there. The interesting question that pertains to this article, of course, is what happens when Don the Con grows tired of people like Mattis? After all, a hallmark of the sociopath-at-work is the need to hysterically blame everyone around them for it’s own blunders – that will inevitably include Mattis. Will Trump still be “deferring” then?
The United States was founded on genocide and slavery. Torture is as American as apple pie! I don’t think there ever was a time in the history of this country where torture wasn’t an option. We have to continue to mobilize ppl to put an end to these egregious crimes against humanity.
OMG! But thank God, that Senator from New York who made a speech at Goldman Sachs and sent 12 billion dollars to Africa for people dying of AIDS is not in. Wow, Glenn and company, thank you so much. Oh, and remember me? That guy everybody claimed was a paid for shill by that evil Senator from New York, who, God forbid, made a speech at Goldman Sachs? Wow, are you folks full of shit. Not sure how y’all live with yourselves– Jimmy
Does this have something to do with the article above?
Illegitimi non carborundum, Jimmy.
@justsomeguy
I don’t think Jimmy speaks Latin ;-)
Frankly, yes it does.
The closest corollary I can perceive is a reference to the Spanish Inquisition, somewhat North of Africa.
Frankly, you probably ought to explain it to me, please.
Nah. There were so many and you all sounded so much alike that you are just a sort of vague mish-mash in our memories.
It’s good to see that you’re still buried in your narcissistic delusions, Doug. It must be comforting considering the state of the world with Trump. Plus, your narcissistic encasement keeps you moving through the world guilt free. As somebody pointed out to me recently, Oh, how I wish I were that stupid.
Lois is calling you Jimmy…
the one that laughed when she watched gaffafi get sodomized by a broken off broomstick? that wants to risk a war with russia over a no fly zone in order to support al quaida fighters she calls “moderates”, or over supporting a ukrainian coup and putting nato troops on russias borders?
When your crude knee jerk alt-Left reaction occurs, your complete lack of understanding of Libya & the dangers of Mr. Putin, I hope you get your chin out of the way. Knee to the jaw can be painful.
This is Superman Jimmy. Lois told Clark she got concerned when you didn’t call her back. I was at Vlads Dacha reflecting on Americas diminishing Self Esteem in a constructive and understanding way. Its not easy losing ones hegemonic status and he understands what you’re going through.
How may I be of service to you?
I wonder why the valiant and obviously benevolent Green Greenwald has nothing to say against Trump.
I wonder why you ignore the numerous articles by Greenwald in which he denounces Trump in no uncertain terms.
Discussion about Trump begins at 27:00 into the podcast.
Reason Podcast — “Glenn Greenwald on Russian “hacks,” Donald Trump, Wikileaks and the end of media status quo”
Indulge an hour of your time with this pre-election Greenwald interview.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3PUwSqnU8A
Ahhh, a worshipful fan of MSNBC. Talking to you is like talking to a Fox/Breitbart fan.
Whereforartthou…
…Hobart?
There is some data that I’ve gathered after 78 years :
1—-We humans are animals .
2—-We humans have placed ourself on top of our food chain .
3—-We humans are killing all animals ,, and trees too .
4—-All we need is a bit more money and heaven is ours !
I think this is a excellent opportunity to ask questions of the government concerning the previous use of black site prisons. Do they know anything about the old program. Maybe someone could do an interview and ask some question.
It should be thoroughly discussed by Congress. They should revisit and review facts about the previous use of black site prisons. A frank and open discussion replete with congressional hearings is in order. We should not stumble blindly into the abyss…again.
“should, should, should”… never would!
They just created an opening. It’s up to the media and the opposition to exploit it. Use the opening to drag out the history. Congress is being asked to fund it, so Congress has a right and an obligation to ask questions.
Why is it needed?
Efficacy?
Costs?
Oversight?
Legality?
Lots of questions.
So Sherlock ,,, who will you . personally and physically ask ? Are you just SMARTPHONE TALKING ?
Hey , get off the pot ahole ,, a paying customer just came in !!
quote” Do they know anything about the old program. ”
Asks one who was torturing his cat when the CIA tried to keep the Senate Torture Report from seeing the light of day.
quote”We should not stumble blindly into the abyss…again.”unquote
Stumble…blindly. Hahahaha. The Dumbest Country on the Planet hit the bottom of the abyss on Nov 8, 2016. And it willingly leaped over the cliff.
btw, how old were you when you were dropped on your head?
Mudbone ? Dave in Texas
January 27 2017, 6:49 p.m.
Did you know that Barbara ,, little George’s mom , kept her miscarried fetus on the mantle and showed it to Georgie when he was a bad boy .
This is in the book that G W Bush say’s is his autobiography !!
TEXAS SICK!!!
http://news.antiwar.com/2017/01/26/pentagon-mattis-remains-opposed-to-torture/
Pentagon officials say that Defense Secretary James Mattis remains opposed to torturing detainees, despite President Donald Trump’s comments Wednesday in favor of the idea, saying Mattis is committed to upholding international law, including the Geneva Conventions.
In comments Wednesday, Trump again started hyping the idea of a return to torture, saying top intell0igence officials had all assured him it works well, and that not torturing ISIS would be unfair, because ISIS gets to torture people.
At the same time, Trump has insisted he is going to rely on Mattis and Pompeo on the issue, saying “if they don’t wanna do it, it’s 100% okay with me.”
There is a very old Chinese proverb – Barking dogs can’t bite because their Chinese is terrible.
Happy New Year to all the Chinese people and hope they survive the deals that are coming their way.
Regarding this article, President Trump tweets and speaks to scare the ISIS terrorists into suicide-bombing and jumping off cliffs when they hallucinate our brave and gallant CIA operatives skinning them alive. The President believes in fighting without fighting and you have to memorize his best-seller The Art of the Deal to appreciate his strategy. We can still make some good deals with the Saudis so they stop manufacturing ISIS clowns, but for that to happen we must have them trembling and dirtying their robes and burqas.
You guys are doing a good job spreading this message so that it will have the desired effect on the Radical Rascals. None of us like torture, but it is a historically proven fact that it works as a good deterrent against organized mischief.
Give you an older one :
Don’t try and be cute if you are ugly !!
For your information this is a French proverb that has been banned in UK after Henry V beat them up badly. So it’s rather recent as proverbs go.
Except the Chinese didn’t live in mass media culture where their tweets won’t incite harassment or terrorism.
So , let me get this straight !
The US GOVERNMENT tortures people .
Well , now we know . Golly-Whiz Beaver ,,, who would have thought that was even possible ?
Geez ,, next thing you know they’ll the US GOVERNMENT of mass murder !!
The US government has been covertly supporting and practicing torture for years, either directly or via proxy. Now Trump openly states he may do so too. The main difference is covertly vs overtly… results will the same: torture will still be practiced by the US government against its own laws as well as international laws.
So Trump’s explicit support of torture equals your fevered imaginings of Obama’s implicit support of torture?
That’s some gold medal caliber mental gymnastics.
I’m out of medals though so instead perhaps read this link? Granted, it isn’t from Breitbart, but beggars can’t be choosers.
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/obameter/promise/175/end-the-use-of-torture/
It’s the 1-week Anniversary of Trump’s lordship! Let us summarize some of week’s debacles:
* Trump issued his Executive Order to end Obamacare, threatening its existence and the insurance of millions.
* Trump stifled the speech of federal employees and froze hiring.
* The Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines have been revived.
* “Alternative facts” has been added to our lexicon.
* Donny is considering opening a baseless investigation on voter fraud, because every illegal immigrant voted for Hillary.
* Trump picked a fight with Mexico over his beautiful wall, that has gone from being Mexican-funded to a perhaps “complicated” reimbursement plan. He also pondered a 20% tariff.
* No government funding to international NGOs that perform or promote abortions.
* Trump and his surrogates bitched endlessly at the press.
* Trump is banning immigration from Muslim countries, including Syria (but not the good ones like Saudi Arabia and Pakistan…)
* Trump is considering Making America Great Again by bringing back credibility to torture. After all, you must “fight fire with fire” and he talked to a lot of people who said it’s great.
* Trump’s appointments continue to impress with their abundance of wealth and scarce knowledge and qualifications.
* And we cannot forget all the intangibles like Trump and Co. hypocritically using non-secure devices, lying about the inaugural crowd size, and Trump’s inauguration of this dystopian hellscape we call America.
It makes me reminisce about the pre-Trump times when so many of TI’s courageous commenters warned that while Trump was bad, he was a jolt to the system or a “circuit-breaker” if you will. Hillary Clinton on the other hand, would be so, so much worse. After all, she said some fairly innocuous stuff to Goldman employees (oh my!!). Only weeks later and their naivete has already been shown to be childish and their delusion to be nearly palpable.
Any constitutional lawyer worth his salt would call this … ‘high crimes and misdemeanors’.
@ Mona. I amend my DSM diagnosis from “cunning” L1narcissism to traumatic metaphysical brain injury of some sort.
LAWYERS the slime that greases the WHEELS OF THE LAW !!
BIGGER WORDS are needed BAH ! Try PONTIFICATING PIUS PUSS RIDDEN PILE OF DUNG !!
Or in expert terms —The Second Coming Of Nero !
Three concepts that needs to be understood:
1.) Politician really believe they are above the law. Once in a while you will somebody being prosecuted it is only because they all collectively let it happen to make themselves look vulnerable. Average American President kills two million innocent people (which does not even include people who die because of policies of IMF and Work bank). Last president that almost go close to getting in jail was Nixon even he did not.
2) Being President is a Job like any other job. Over throwing governments and killing innocent people in the process is part of the Job. Worst thing that could happen if you mess something up is that you lose your job. When people are Chosen to run to be elected as a President they are extreme vetted to make sure they are not shy in any shape of form and ready to do what ever it takes to _________.
3) CIA is a state within a state.<- Period.
Bush and Cheney will never be touched for war crimes. The same with Trump? Why? Because it’s a custom in US politics that we just don’t do that. Intl. law is to be manipulated to maintain US power. Obama let CIA people torture AND destroy the evidence. They’ll NEVER be touched.
Anyone who thinks torture works is mentally ill. I was tortured by 3 psychotics who will never be prosecuted.
“A people and a king,
Through ancient sin grown strong,
Because they feared no reckoning
Would set no bound to wrong.”
All it takes is a single President with a good staff to decide to hold those criminals accountable.
“But now, their hour is past
And we who bore it find
Evil incarnate held at last
To answer to mankind.”
And it also helps when empires overreach and get busted, of course.
“For agony and spoil
Of nations beat to dust,
For poisoned air and tortured soil
And cold, commanded lust,
And every secret woe
The shuddering waters saw
Willed and fulfilled by high and low-
Let them relearn the law.”
– Rudyard Kipling, “Justice”
Mr. Kipling sounds very appropriate, doesn’t he?
“Bush’s words were outrageously insincere and hypocritical…”
That says it all. Bush would flat out lie because he is basically an evil globalist POS daddy’s boy. Trump, on the other hand, (a) has way more integrity than Bush and isn’t an evil “ends justify the means” liar like Bush; and (b) very much does not believe in helping the adversary/enemy by telling the enemy what he is or isn’t going to do. Just plain common sense.
Did you know that Barbara ,, little George’s mom , kept her miscarried fetus on the mantle and showed it to Georgie when he was a bad boy .
This is in the book that G W Bush say’s is his autobiography !!
TEXAS SICK!!!
As if it matters if torture works. Trump should be waterboarded while being asked if he thinks it’s torture just to prove himself right.
nonsense.
Clinton: “We’re going make trading easier so lots pf people can do more get more even if the consequences of those who have more suddenly have less because it’s the right way to go”. (yeah, straight to hell)
Bush: “We’re going to invade a country, kill thousands, crash the economy, and torture people because it’s the right thing to do and i aint wrong about that”. (because he’s always right about being wrong. ever notice how his paintings are expressionless, lifeless?)
Obama: “We’re going to drone some folks and realise that collateral damage only happens when the people killed surrounding the target are supporters of the target and should be killed” (seriel killers probably also have similar rationales)
Trump: “I’ll tell you what i believe and what i would like to do but given my lack of expertise and experience in certain areas, i will set aside my own inclinations and defer to professionals i respect.
got a problem with that?
I am appalled. Truly horrified. You’ve always been odd, but now I see how the distortions of your reasoning skills leads to utter barbarity, even in a person who often speaks humane principles.
What the hell do you think the purpose of re-opening black sites is? If the Commander in Chief endorses torture it will happen.
i am skeptical about the “genuineness” of the prospect of doing these things. i am doubtful these things will come to fruition. Sometimes to teach people you have to confront them with their own insanity so that they themselves can come to see their errors – as opposed to simply dismissing them and hoping they come to their senses.
so forgive me if i come across as a supporter of black sites and torture – i absolutely am not but at the risk of seeming so.
thank you for the feedback.
“Sometimes to teach people you have to confront them with their own insanity so that they themselves can come to see their errors”
Most of the ppl in the US have a problem with that. So do most of the ppl in the world.
How can you not see that Trump is not the straight shooter he pretends to be.
This is the President that has stated and maintained that his crowd at the inauguration was yuge, much larger than Obama’s the biggest in history. I dont remember his exact words. Trump is a liar and a thief.
pardon me. CROWD vs AUDIENCE. The media is exchanging these words as if they were the same. I did hear him say he had the largest audience from all sources. I heard Shawn Spicer say that the audience from all sources including tv and twitter were the largest on record. And then i heard Rachel Maddow use the word “crowd” which from how i heard the context of her argument was, to me, misleading.
so there it is. The US media is a total failure, sold US WMD, let wallstreet thieves walk all over US, denied BERNIE SANDERS whom i favored, refuse to show us what is going on in Palestine and Jerusalem, fail to talk about the MURDER OF SETH RICH and generally lie most of the time. so there it is again.
with respect.
I have a problem with anybody that thinks torture works or talks about torture as “fighting fire with fire”. Him saying he’ll “defer to professionals” doesn’t change his warped ideas about torture. Talk about grasping.
I would reserve torture to Muslims, since that’s normal for them
President Trump is responding honestly with humbleness and modesty and honorably. Nobody is perfect and at least he is recognising his shortcoming and placing his trust in someone who knows better. How many other presidents have both admitted and done that?
NONE.
According to your logic, if Hitler or Stalin or Mao were more honest about what they were doing they should be admired for that. All actions, including unlawful, illegal, murderous, and genicidal actions, if done sincerely, get a pass. Really? And Trump is humble? Modest? Honorable? Have you ever listened or read anything he has ever said? Do you understand the words you use?
Oh my god. What is the matter with you?
Mona — Hillary LOST. Let it go.
Trump University should have been an acting college. Would have been more believable.
true- the restricted word “university” should NEVER have been used.
@y’all
Donald wants to trust other people because he needs to. He is probably the most experienced designator of responsibilities the country has ever had. As such, he is in the position of also having to want to believe what others tell him vs his own instincts about truth. The workaround to this dilemna is difficult because yo only have one chance at getting things right. PUT YOURSELF IN HIS SHOES and imagine yourself having not just total control of a tiny empire, but also being responsible for everyone in your employ. This is very difficult to do, stressful, challenging to the max and eventually you come to simply dealing with top level persons and really estimating that their reputations get the job done. With respect to his position as president, he really is taking his best guess which is far better than the bureaucratic egotists before him. What you see as egotistical is actually his casting a shine for the employees in the hierarchy from a sales perspective – but it’s like surfing, battling competition while you slip and slide on the waves to reach the beach with your team in your wake.
He liked what he did in business and pretty much got wealthy by accident. Eventually he realised that his name was an asset he could lease out. Trump Univeristy? 1. he got bad advice from an attorney as for the use of that restricted word 2. the people who leased his name screwed things up and the heat fell on him which indicates he didnt have good reliable oversight. 3. selling potential wealth really is the real estate business and there needs to be a consumer regulation-protective measure in that industry that states something like “one persons success will be better than the 99 who will lose”. But that’s America, still.
@mona
If you believe Donald has some of “i’m all that and a bag of chips” then you have to figure that he is determined to have a good legacy and do more right for America than all the presidents since Reagan combined. He really is a can-do person, focuses, stays on point, and cherishes quality work. As for what is wrong with me, pretty much the same things that are right with me. I am grateful that GG was able to do what he did on behalf of good people on this planet and for any effort of those good people working with him.
for the time being, my fingers are crossed and i am holding my breath.