Mypost
Mypost's Journal11 memes about CIA torture
[link:http://www.dailydot.com/politics/cia-torture-report-memes/|
Making us think- PARDON- torture report - Anthony D. Ramero, Civil Liberties Union
Anthony D. Romero is executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union
BEFORE President George W. Bush left office, a group of conservatives lobbied the White House to grant pardons to the officials who had planned and authorized the United States torture program. My organization, the American Civil Liberties Union, found the proposal repugnant. Along with eight other human rights groups, we sent a letter to Mr. Bush arguing that granting pardons would undermine the rule of law and prevent Americans from learning what had been done in their names.
But with the impending release of the report from the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, I have come to think that President Obama should issue pardons, after all — because it may be the only way to establish, once and for all, that torture is illegal.
That officials at the highest levels of government authorized and ordered torture is not in dispute. Mr. Bush issued a secret order authorizing the C.I.A. to build secret prisons overseas. The C.I.A. requested authority to torture prisoners in those “black sites.” The National Security Council approved the request. And the Justice Department drafted memos providing the brutal program with a veneer of legality.
My organization and others have spent 13 years arguing for accountability for these crimes. We have called for the appointment of a special prosecutor or the establishment of a truth and reconciliation commission, or both. But those calls have gone unheeded. And now, many of those responsible for torture can’t be prosecuted because the statute of limitations has run out.
George J. Tenet, left, was director of the Central Intelligence Agency when the brutal tactics began. The report said he misled President George W. Bush.
To his credit, Mr. Obama disavowed torture immediately after he took office, and his Justice Department withdrew the memorandums that had provided the foundation for the torture program. In a speech last year at the National Defense University, Mr. Obama said that “we compromised our basic values — by using torture to interrogate our enemies, and detaining individuals in a way that ran counter to the rule of law.”
But neither he nor the Justice Department has shown any appetite for holding anyone accountable. When the department did conduct an investigation, it appeared not to have interviewed any of the prisoners who were tortured. And it repeatedly abused the “state secrets” privilege to derail cases brought by prisoners — including Americans who were tortured as “enemy combatants.”
What is the difference between this — essentially granting tacit pardons for torture — and formally pardoning those who authorized torture? In both cases, those who tortured avoid accountability.
But with the tacit pardons, the president leaves open the very real possibility that officials will resurrect the torture policies in the future. Indeed, many former C.I.A. and other government officials continue to insist that waterboarding and other forms of torture were lawful. Were our military to capture a senior leader of the Islamic State who was believed to have valuable information, some members of Congress would no doubt demand that our interrogators use precisely the barbaric and illegal methods that the Obama administration has disavowed.
The Obama administration could still take measures to hold accountable the officials who authorized torture. Some of the statutes of limitations have run out, but not all of them have. And the release of the Senate’s report provides a blueprint for criminal investigations, even if that’s not what the intelligence committee set out to
But let’s face it: Mr. Obama is not inclined to pursue prosecutions — no matter how great the outrage, at home or abroad, over the disclosures — because of the political fallout. He should therefore take ownership of this decision. He should acknowledge that the country’s most senior officials authorized conduct that violated fundamental laws, and compromised our standing in the world as well as our security. If the choice is between a tacit pardon and a formal one, a formal one is better. An explicit pardon would lay down a marker, signaling to those considering torture in the future that they could be prosecuted.
Mr. Obama could pardon George J. Tenet for authorizing torture at the C.I.A.’s black sites overseas, Donald H. Rumsfeld for authorizing the use of torture at the Guantánamo Bay prison, David S. Addington, John C. Yoo and Jay S. Bybee for crafting the legal cover for torture, and George W. Bush and Dick Cheney for overseeing it all.
While the idea of a pre-emptive pardon may seem novel, there is precedent. Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson pardoned Confederate soldiers as a step toward unity and reconstruction after the Civil War. Gerald R. Ford pardoned Richard M. Nixon for the crimes of Watergate. Jimmy Carter pardoned Vietnam War draft resisters.
The spectacle of the president’s granting pardons to torturers still makes my stomach turn. But doing so may be the only way to ensure that the American government never tortures again. Pardons would make clear that crimes were committed; that the individuals who authorized and committed torture were indeed criminals; and that future architects and perpetrators of torture should beware. Prosecutions would be preferable, but pardons may be the only viable and lasting way to close the Pandora’s box of torture once and for all.
Anthony D. Romero is executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union.
[link:http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/09/opinion/pardon-bush-and-those-who-tortured.html?_r=0|
Old Time Radio - A Christmas Carol - New Again
[link:http://|[link:http://www.wnyc.org/story/christmas-carol-radio-drama/|]
The Greene Space presents its beloved holiday tradition — a radio drama inspired by Charles Dickens' classic tale featuring your favorite public radio personalities.
The story will be brought to life by a cast lead by stage and screen actor Mark Linn-Baker (Broadway's You Can't Take it With You) as Scrooge; Jefferson Mays, Tony Award-winning star of Broadway's A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, as Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of Christmas Past and Present; and Broadway regulars and real-life husband and wife Marin Mazzie (Bullets Over Broadway) and Jason Danieley (Next to Normal) as Mr. and Mrs. Cratchit. Narrating the radio play will be Bill Kurtis, veteran broadcaster and announcer of public radio's Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me.
The rest of the cast will be played by some of your favorite hosts and reporters from WNYC and WQXR: John Hockenberry of The Takeaway; Radiolab's Robert Krulwich; Anna Sale of Death, Sex & Money; Dan Pashman of The Sporkful; and WQXR's Naomi Lewin and Jeff Spurgeon.
Fred Newman of A Prairie Home Companion is back to provide his signature sound effects. Composer/pianist John Forster also returns, with electro-acoustic violist/composer Martha Mooke joining the band. Written by Arthur Yorinks and directed by Elliott Forrest.
[link:http://|[link:http://www.wnyc.org/story/christmas-carol-radio-drama/|]
‘Are You A Nazi?': A Ten Question Quiz For Conservatives
‘Are You A Nazi?': A Ten Question Quiz For Conservatives
Author: Randa Morris December 9, 2014 5:46 pm
This short, ten question quiz is designed to help modern day conservatives determine just how much of the American Nazi Party platform they agree with.
There’s been a lot of rhetoric from the right, claiming liberals and Democrats are the “real Nazis” and that President Obama is attempting to carry out the Nazi agenda in the US.
It seems to me that the best way to determine if that view is accurate would be to first determine what the Nazi agenda in America actually is.
I realize that conservatives have a difficult time believing the “liberal media.” For that reason I want to assure any conservative who is brave enough to evaluate their own positions, that the information used to design this quiz comes straight from the American Nazi Party platform. You can read it for yourself right here, on their official website.
Take the ‘Are you a Nazi?’ quiz.
1. Do you oppose immigration and believe that America is for “Americans only?”
2. Do you oppose feminism, and do you believe that motherhood should be the prime role of women, in order to “strengthen the family unit?”
3. Do you support the establishment of a new system of education, which would oversee the “moral development” of children?
4. Do you believe that the economy and the government should be debt-free?
5. Do you believe that America should be “energy sufficient,” and that we should exploit natural resources, such as land and water, in order to achieve that goal? (Bonus question: Is it a good idea to put ‘fossil fuel-producing corporations,’ like fracking wells, oil rigs and garbage incinerators in economically depressed regions of the country, to stimulate economic growth and create jobs for minorities?)
6. Do you support the right of citizens to keep and bear arms? (No, Nazi’s do not support taking guns away, contrary to right wing bullshit.)
7. Do you want to do away with the separation of church and state?
8. Do you want to see the US government get involved in the “spiritual upbringing” of children?
9. Are you a true supporter of “traditional American values?” (The Nazi’s call it ‘traditional Aryan values,’ but we know what you mean.)
10. Do you believe that minorities and immigrants are a threat to the traditional United States?
Bonus points if you:
1. Oppose labor unions and want to see them outlawed.
2. Agree that there is a “war on white people” and that ‘reverse-racism’ is a real problem in the United States.
3. Believe that gays present a real threat to “traditional American values” and the “traditional American family.”
4. Hate “Communists” and are willing to apply that label to everyone you disagree with politically.
Score your Answers.
Scoring for this quiz is simple. For each “yes” answer, score ten points. For example, if you answered yes on questions 1-9, you score ten points on each of those questions, for a total score of 90. When read as a percentage, that means you agree with the American Nazi Party platform 90 percent of the time.
You’ll notice that the mainstream Republican Party has incorporated every one of these points into its own platform. Of course the mainstream party has dropped the references to “whites,” which has helped them succeed in making the Nazi agenda seem acceptable in the eyes of the general public.
Here are some things to think about.
My purpose in writing this article is not to condemn or to convict, but to expose how the Nazi agenda has gone mainstream and to (hopefully) help some of the people who have bought into this agenda, to realize what they’ve been sold.
Contrary to what conservatives have been told, Adolph Hitler was not in any way an enemy of Christianity or religion. He wrote a lot about his supposed Christian religious beliefs. Here are just a few quotes, with sources.
“Hence today I believe that I am acting in accordance with the will of the Almighty Creator: by defending myself against the Jew, I am fighting for the work of the Lord.” -Adolf Hitler (Mein Kampf)
“The anti-Semitism of the new movement [Christian Social movement] was based on religious ideas instead of racial knowledge.” -Adolf Hitler (Mein Kampf)
“Even today I am not ashamed to say that, overpowered by stormy enthusiasm, I fell down on my knees and thanked Heaven from an overflowing heart for granting me the good fortune of being permitted to live at this time.” -Adolf Hitler (Mein Kampf)
“We must pray to the Almighty not to refuse His blessing to this change and not to abandon our people in the times to come.” -Hitler recalling a priest’s speech after the defeat of WWI (Mein Kampf)
Whether Hitler was sincere in his religious beliefs or not can be left to speculation. It doesn’t matter. What does matter is that he often wrote and talked about how religion and political propaganda could be used to manipulate the public.
“For by employing religious force in the service of its political considerations, the crown aroused a spirit which at that outset it had not considered possible.” -Adolf Hitler on the state of Rome (Mein Kampf)
“Just as a man’s denominational orientation is the result of upbringing, and only the religious need as such slumbers in his soul, the political opinion of the masses represents nothing but the final result of an incredibly tenacious and thorough manipulation of their mind and soul.” -Adolf Hitler (Mein Kampf)
“For the political leader the religious doctrines and institutions of his people must always remain inviolable; or else has no right to be in politics, but should become a reformer, if he has what it takes!”
-Adolf Hitler (Mein Kampf)
These quotes are just the tip of the iceberg. There are hundreds of quotes showing that manipulating the public through religion was a primary goal of the Nazi regime. The point of doing that was to make even the most monstrous actions seem holy and religious, and thereby get public support for those actions.
Is mass manipulation and brainwashing happening today?
There’s no doubt in my mind that right-wing politicians in this country have studied the writings of Hitler. It seems to me they have taken many cues from the Nazi’s, both in their current form and their historical one. The use of religion by the right wing in the US today serves a specific purpose. Followers of the right wing confuse their religious beliefs with their political ideas, and become unable to separate the two. In the same way it did in Nazi Germany, the tactic is used to create religiously-fervent extremists, people who are unable to separate their belief in God from their devotion to a political party or regime.
What Hitler understood is that a man can be persuaded to do anything, as long as he believes that what he is doing is “God’s will.”
Regardless of what perspective you take on history, most people understand that Nazi’s were and are evil. Most people are aware that, in the past, they used mass manipulation to promote their agenda and to get the people to go along with it.
If the same tactics were being used in the US today, would people be able to see what was happening? Could people go from being kind-hearted, God-fearing citizens to Nazi’s without realizing that their beliefs were being subtly manipulated through a mixing of religion and nationalism?
*Featured image credit: wikipedia commons
Help us get the word out!
[link:http://www.addictinginfo.org/2014/12/09/are-you-a-nazi-a-ten-question-quiz-for-conservatives/|
[link:http://www.addictinginfo.org/2014/12/09/are-you-a-nazi-a-ten-question-quiz-for-conservatives/|
The true cost of oil - Canada ... the World
[link:http://www.ted.com/talks/garth_lenz_images_of_beauty_and_devastation?language=en|
Native Americans, First Nations are fighting this ........... join us. Stop the madness, stop the murder of Mother Earth. Contact your elected officials, at every level ...... Local, Regional, State, National ... tell them to stop this suicide !!!!! Feed your family deadly fish? That is what Native American's have to do. Conservative Gov. in Canada is destroying everything because of Koch Bro's.
[link:http://www.ted.com/talks/garth_lenz_images_of_beauty_and_devastation?language=en|
"Don't hate the Black, don't hate the White, if you get bitten, just hate the bite"
[link:
|Give it up for the African American's that have added so much to our culture. Sly and the Family Stone ! They even have a female Trumpet player, back in 1968. Black youth, know that you have such a rich history here in the USA. Keep it coming and understand your roots .........
[link:|
Man ... (& Woman) .. Take a Holiday Jazz break ... to all those wonderful Protesters in the streets
[link:
|Everyone needs to have some refresh time. Things seem bad out there, but the truth will prevail, especially because of the protesters who are in the streets informing society about what is the truth! What was the quote?
Something like this
............ "A lie will travel two times around the world, before the truth gets started." We have to remember that and take time for ourselves and our loved ones. Enjoy the indomitable, John Coltrane "My Favorite Things"
[link:|
"Stop and seize" Cops target assets and cash, not just your life
Yah think someone in the Justice Dept. would look into this? Cops robbing without any legal oversight ! They are not only allowed to kill you but if you are lucky you and get away with your life, you lose your house, car, or money? If you notice, most of the areas they grab from are largely populations of African Americans. These tactics are on the rise. "Makes me want to holla... throw up both my hands .." (Marvin Gay)
][link:http://trac.syr.edu/tracreports/civil/372/|
Wow, such HATE
[link:http://www.advocate.com/politics/religion/2014/12/07/watch-ariz-anchor-challenges-hatemonger-pastor-antigay-views|
Yes we have freedom of speech and freedom of religion, to believe whatever you want is your business. However, this guy is calling for our GOV., to kill people based on the Bible and he is unapologetic about saying such. This country is being taken over by Christian terrorists, especially in the South. I feared for our country back in the 80's with the rise of the so called "Moral Majority" and now we see it's generational spawn rising to power. They turn out and vote Republican, as we just witnessed in the 2014 election. My fears are proving more and more true every day. The good people are starting to rise up protesting the murders of Black Americans but I hope collations will form to include civil rights protections for all minorities. America's future is being drastically shaped, right now! Lets hope the fight will progress us past this dark time.
[link:http://www.advocate.com/politics/religion/2014/12/07/watch-ariz-anchor-challenges-hatemonger-pastor-antigay-views|
"Places and spaces out there" - get a grove
[link:
|Donald Byrd ......... Jazz[link:http://|
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Name: Nanook of the NorthGender: Do not display
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Current location: MI
Member since: Thu Mar 27, 2014, 11:40 PM
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