This happened at Jack Kingston's Health Care Town Hall, Valdosta, GA, 28 Sep 2009: a veteran was booed for saying respect the president. To Kingston's credit, he shushed the crowd.The speaker was George Rhynes, who is one of the organizers of a rally tomorrow, Saturday 17 October 2009, on the Lowndes County courthouse steps, Valdosta, Georgia. Invitations on
Regarding the friendly disagreement between the Bard and myself, Bush and Cheney already enjoy undeserved folk hero status, and within the far right realms, they will always enjoy such status regardless of outcome.
I appreciate the debate.
For me it's coming down to what we are preserving- or attempting to preserve- I think the bad far outweighs the good here- and I believe that if Obama sidesteps this it will be his downfall.
President Obama will forever be linked to the Bush Torture Coverup and our great victory over the establishment will be torn down.
"It's a trap are you blind?" (Hamish) ~Braveheart
http://www.truthout.org/061009A
I understand the arguments and how our troops in additional harm's way and additional stain to our national image at a time when we are just starting to recover face in the world's eyes does us no justice.
At the same time, this has to be addressed-
The American taxpayer paid for and is still paying for Iraq...
Like so many others, I worked for and contributed financially to President Obama's presidential campaign. With tens of thousands in Grant Park on election night I was full of emotion and hope for a better America. I am inspired by the great things this man has already accomplished and what he has inspired in others and myself. I the share high hopes of so many Americans for what Barack will do in the White House. And, I share the belief that President Obama can and will change America for the better, both in our own eyes and in the eyes of the world.
After such a resounding and satisfying victory and watching the agony of the past eight years fade into history we must be careful to remain diligent and ever watchful. Our national love affair with this great new leader must not blind us to questionable policy decisions and mistakes committed by the administration of the object of so much love. I would like the multitudes of ardent Obama supporters to use our political power to help him be a better President. By collectively holding accountable himself and his administration and encouraging him to do the right thing, he can only be made more effective. As strong supporters of President Obama, by championing policies with which we agree and challenging, sometimes forcefully, those we find objectionable, we will strengthen his position and allow him to do his bidding.
In the reality that is the US presidency, where the President is at the mercy of many sources of power outside his control, if we can see signs that he is doing all that he can to do the right thing, we will remain supportive of him, even though we may be enraged by the powers shaping US policy. When this president, for whatever reason, fails to do the right thing, we must be there to call out the issue loudly and demand a different approach. For, as Franklin Roosevelt once said, Barack may just be saying to us, "I agree with you, I want to do it, now make me do it.
Chicago reader
Close Gitmo within 1 year, commitment to FOIA and transparency, close the revolving door for lobbyists/government jobs.
Not bad for day one.
Bush's new motto
"BRING THE TERRORISTS HERE SO WE DO NOT HAVE TO FIGHT THEM OVER THERE"
Ummmm..Mr McCain?…are ya sitting down? Here’s a few of your own words that lead all of us to distrust you overwhelmingly, every day! You’re an embarrassment to yourself, McSame! This is the age of the “Internet(s)” and “the” Youtube using Bushian malaprops. We’ve got you on record, McFlip/Flop! Facts are just silly things that get in your way…ehhh, McSame?
Many, many, many thanks to one of my true media heroes and ever-present mentor..Keith Olbermann!
The reason is a decision rendered by a federal appeals court calling the government's position in declaring a detainee at Guantanamo an 'enemy combatant" absurd and barely supported. They even quoted an absurdist poem of Lewis Carroll - "The Hunting of the Snark" - to ridicule the military and Justice Department's offer of evidence against the detainee.
It's a shaky proposition to depend on the courts for the life of the Fourth Amendment, given the eight years the Bushy and Cheney have had to muck with bench, but today's decision gives one hope that there is sanity in some parts of one branch of the government.
There are problems surrounding the release of this "detainee" as detailed in the story, but the main point - the government had no reason to hold him to begin with - stands as a beacon of hope.
I wonder how many others are remaining in captivity on such thin evidence as shown in this case. If it's even one, it's too many. For the full story:
Click Here
Late Tuesday evening, I sent the following e-mail to a number of friends who are still undecided, McCain supporters or whose preference is unknown to me:
"Look, even Adolf Eichmann got a trial" - Sen. John McCain, Meet the Press, 19 June 2005
Well, in just the last couple of years, Sen. McCain has reversed his position (or "flip-flopped" as the Republicans like to say) on abortion, Bush's tax cuts, the estate tax, gay marriage, campaign finance reform, ethanol, social security privatization, the Law of the Sea convention, immigration, offshore drilling, taxing oil companies' windfall profits, engaging Syria and Hamas in diplomatic talks, warrantless wiretapping, and, most famously, the issue of torture.
And that doesn't include the little things like all of his contradictory statements on Iraq (but try to find a politician outside of Sen. Byrd without those), normalizing relations with Cuba, his dealings with the religious right (used to vocally oppose them, now embraces them, well, their checks & their votes anyway), flying the confederate flag over govt. buildings, involving the NRA in Republican policy-building, storing spent nuclear fuel at Yucca mountain (not a "little" thing but he has no real alternative) and withdrawing his support for the Lieberman/Warner legislation, which is supposed to be aimed at combatting global warming. Whew!
Add one more issue to the list; one that trumps all of the others combined.
Witnessing the rage of the self-righteous (emphasis on the right) over the recent Gitmo ruling has been very enlightening for me. Apparently, I've been living a lie. See, I was under the impression that the right of habeas corpus was a vital tool in many attempts to overcome tyranny, seeing as how it was rooted in the Magna Carta and was used to fight slavery in Britain, unlawful detentions in the US and various other settings. Given that apparent misconception, and the fact that the Constitution does not speak of the right as only applying to citizens (as other rights explicitly are limited) I thought it was a pretty straightforward idea that it should apply anywhere that the US is effectively in control. I also was apparently under the misconception that US attorneys would not abuse the right of habeas petitioning, especially as that would run the risk of ruining their careers under professional conduct rules and the fact that Congress has restricted habeas petition opportunities in federal court to stop inmates from filing frivolous suits.
What I didn't know, though, is astonishing. Apparently, per WAR HERO JOHN MCCAIN (and yes, you are required to spell that in all caps), the Constitution is only meant to protect citizens, not "bad people" that we have unilaterally declared "enemy combatants." According to WAR HERO JOHN MCCAIN, these "bad people" should be grateful that he, Sen. Graham and Lieberman worked so hard that as prisoners they wouldn't be subject to torture and cruel treatment (except by the CIA in times of exigent circumstances) that their classification as "enemy combatants" should not be subject to challenge. Worse than that, well respected lawyers working pro bono will apparently now risk their careers to "clog our courts" with lawsuits about "the diet" and everything else.
Author: Lee Ann Holman
James Yee went from being a decorated U.S. Army soldier serving in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to being accused of espionage, spying and aiding the facility's detainees.
He spoke to students about his experiences Thursday night at the UT Law School Auditorium.
When returning to the U.S. for vacation after serving 10 months as chaplain, Yee was arrested in secret and accused of having classified documents in his backpack. While being transferred to prison Yee was subject to sensory deprivation, a torture tactic. He was held in solitary confinement for 76 days without being charged.
He was exonerated and honorably discharged after deciding to quit the army.
Yee converted to Islam shortly after graduating from West Point. He said it was a way to solidify his monotheistic faith in one God. Yee was hand-picked to serve as a Muslim minister to facility detainees.
While ministering detainees, Yee said he advised commanders on proper religious practices. He made suggestions on treatment of the detainees and spoke out against soldiers violating prisoners' human rights. Yee said that though he never participated in interrogation tactics, he counseled prisoners on their treatment.
Yee said he witnessed the desecration of the Quran. Prisoners also spoke of sexual harassment by female interferometers and being put in a pentagram while being forced to renounce Allah.
This treatment will not win the hearts and minds of the Muslim world, he said.
"People in the military have a gross lack of misunderstanding of the Muslim culture, which is counterproductive," Yee said.
Kristine Huskey, a clinical law professor, has been representing Guantanamo detainees since 2002. She said she believes any new presidential administration will shut down Guantanamo Bay, because it is not helping the U.S. fight terrorism and is breeding more people who hate America.
Below is a letter I wrote to the Honorable Senator Feinstein regarding the Michael Mukasey nomination for US Attorney General. I had previously published it on my blog, Moderately Inclined, and it was also published in my local paper, the Sonoma Index-Tribune. I think it fairly captures why I am motivated to work for change and why I am supporting Barack Obama.
So how is it that with election year approaching, I haven’t really heard any of the presidential candidates talk about the roughly 300 "known or possible" terrorist are sitting in Gitmo, Cuba and have been for several years now...The Supreme Court is attempting to send back to the lower courts - since apparently, they've "toughened up" their laws concerning foreign aliens. Is a new president going to fix this or detain them for another six years or so?
