Countdown: Olbermann Special Comment on Torture Prosecution - 4/16

[Hissyspit]

Run time: 05:08 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbOExb5cdZw   Posted on YouTube: April 17, 2009 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: April 17, 2009 By DU Member: Hissyspit Views on DU: 6812

 
MSNBC Countdown w/ KEITH OLBERMANN - 15 April 2009: On official torture legal memos, Obama turns his back on the rule of law, according to Olbermann.

KO: "But, Mr. President, when you say we must come together on behalf of our common future you are entirely correct. We must focus on getting things right in the future, as to opposed to looking at what we got wrong in the past. That means prosecuting ALL those involved in the Bush administration's torture of prisoners, even if the results are nominal punishments, or merely new laws. Your only other option is to let this sit and fester, indefinitely.

Because, sir, someday there will be another Republican President, or even a Democrat, just as blind as Bush, to ethics and this country's moral force. And he will look back to what you did about Mr. Bush, or what you did not do, and he will see precedent, or as Mr. Cheney saw, he will see how to not to get caught next time.

Prosecute, Mr. President. Even if you get not one conviction you will still have accomplished good for generations unborn. Merely by acting you will deny a further wrong, that this construction will enter the history books: 'Torture was legal. It worked. It saved the country. The end.'

This must not be."

[Solly Mack]

1. K& Fucking R!!!!!!

[liberalmuse]

2. Kick it to The Hague!

Beautifully said!

[Duer 157099]

3. Good, but still Not.Strong.Enough

Goddammit.

[TheEuclideanOne]

7. I like the way you think.

Yes, I don't think that Obama realizes just how strongly so many people in this country feel about these criminals just walking free while we all clearly recognize the crimes that were committed. It is like being raped and having the police just watch the rapist walk away and then say, instead of arresting the rapist, let us just reflect on what a horrible crime was committed so that it doesn't happen again.

[Jack Rabbit]

4. K/R

[pam4water]

5. Oh no Keith has become a right wing Obama hater J/K K & R

:sarcasm:

[bahrbearian]

6. A Puma or a Deaniac, definitely a far left wackadoodle, Ignoramus

[ihavenobias]

8. Ah, you beat me to it.

Who's on the banned list? Keith, Krugman, Galbraith, Stiglitz, Black...? What about undeniable and respected progressives like Thom Hartmann? Granted, Thom has been very careful and he's conflicted, but his skepticism and criticism seem to (rightly) increase each week.

At this rate, we'll have no one left in 4 years!

;)

[bjobotts]

14. Since when does pointing out the president's mistakes make you an Obama hater

[bjobotts]

15. What are you? One of those "My Obama right or wrong" apologists..

[bjobotts]

16. Best to keep your eyes and ears open to the "office" and not the man.

[redqueen]

30. That's funny I don't remember him saying FUCK OBAMA or

that Obama hates workers and loves bankers or that Obama is a corporatist shill or any other of the interesting things that people here say.

[Berry Cool]

9. Another K&FuckingR

from someone who is STILL an Obama supporter...but does NOT want to see him kick the can down the road on this one.

[Titonwan]

10. Hey, Mr. President... If I may show you this little tidbit:

Article 7. The official position of defendants, whether as Heads of State or responsible officials in Government Departments, shall not be considered as freeing them from responsibility or mitigating punishment.

Article 8. The fact that the Defendant acted pursuant to order of his Government or of a superior shall not free him from responsibility, but may be considered in mitigation of punishment if the Tribunal determines that justice so requires.

Nuremburg Articles of War Crimes.

[rateyes]

20. That needs to be a post of its own. nt

[PatrynXX]

11. Sorta agree with Keith here.

Technically he is correct. Lets put it this way. We are still extraditing supposed former Nazi's and they were just following orders. However I've always had some problems with that thinking. Suppose they were following orders, so they'd be dead otherwise. Some people might have the guts to disobey like Valkyrie and die. But the wimps ( I imagine sometimes I am myself) aren't that brave. It's partially why I had problems with Repukes going after the Abu Garaib (sp) guards. Donald Rumsfield should be doing their time, not the guards. Dishonorable discharge yes. Like say they do in A few good men. Go after the idiots like Jesup. etc.

Oh but they can't handle the truth.

[CubicleGuy]

33. Vee vass chust vollowink ohrders!

We are still extraditing supposed former Nazi's and they were just following orders. However I've always had some problems with that thinking.

Yup, they were just following orders, trying to not have to think too hard about the ramifications of what they were doing.

Convince enough people that orders must always be followed, come hell or high water, and pretty soon, you end up with 6 million dead.

No biggie.

It's just not fair to punish people for just doing what they were told to do, and ignoring that little nagging internal voice that was trying desperately to get their attention.

Goodbye, sweet America. It's time to pull the plug.

[L. Coyote]

12. ACLU Petition: Demand Accountability for TORTURE

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5473906

https://secure.aclu.org/site/SPageServer?pagename=Nat_Petition_SpecialProsecutor&s_src=UNW090001ACT&s_subsrc=homepage&JServSessionIdr009=8cfuua1ar3.app20a

[texastoast]

13. This MUST not be

KO is absolutely on the money. It will be left to fester if we don't bring these fucks to justice.

And when O took office, he should have known that this was going to be a tough choice to make if he were to really bring hope.

The pukes will just laugh as a lack of spine. Of course, it is a little frightening. We are talking about some real thugs.

Just one question for O: So Bush gets by with it, but you wouldn't let Hitler do that, right? Just for clarification, where IS that line that differentiates the two?

[debunkthelies]

52. Just a Thought

I read a book a few years back by, Karol K. Truman titled;
'Feelings Buried Alive Never Die', and I couldn't help but think it relates in that it's also true that, 'Crimes Buried Alive Never Die',
as KO said they just fester and grow to be repeated again and again.

[Rhiannon12866]

17. K&R! Damn, I just got home... can't believe I missed this!

Thanks so much for posting this! :yourock: I'll have to catch the repeat... :-)

[LaPera]

18. K&R Thanks Keith!

[rateyes]

19. Keith, as usual, hit the nail on the head.

He's exactly correct.

:kick:

[Eyerish]

21. K&R

Well said Mr Olbermann!!

[Hissyspit]

22. .

[Hissyspit]

23. .

[Hissyspit]

Run time: 05:08 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbOExb5cdZw   Posted on YouTube: April 17, 2009 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: April 17, 2009 By DU Member: Hissyspit Views on DU: 6812

 

[Rhiannon12866]

24. Just caught the repeat... It gave me goosebumps.

Whenever I think that KO has outdone himself, he manages to top it. Wish I could recommend this again... :woohoo: :kick:

[Hissyspit]

25. .

[Hissyspit]

26. kicking again nt

[pleah]

27. K&R

[Name removed]

28. Deleted message

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

[efhmc]

32. Not this one. I think that KO is right on the money.

[MissDeeds]

29. K&R n/t

:kick:

[redqueen]

31. Saw it last night. It was fantastic.

Also, I just emptied out my ignore list yesterday, and already I'm filling it back up thanks to this thread.

:hi:

[florida08]

34. outstanding!

and yes a dangerous mistake to naively believe that this won't be repeated by just going forward without scrutiny or jurisprudence. It's simple hypocrisy to try and hold others accountable for that which we ourselves ignore. Thank you Keith for reminding our leaders of their duty to us, our laws and to the oaths they take that they indeed have meaning and purpose.

[valerief]

35. Bingo bongo! Kick, kick, kick!

:kick:

[Kajsa]

36. Keith said it much better than I did.

While watching 'Countdown'last night,
I was talking to my SO about prosecuting
GW and those responsible for war crimes.

Then he aired this.
It nailed everything I was pointing out.

In order to move forward, and NOT slide backward
again, the crimes of the past must be DEALT WITH.
They cannot be pushed aside and forgotten because
they will return in another form later on.

THAT is moving forward.

An ostrich with his head in the sand is not.

:kick: and R!

[Mari333]

37. kick!!!!

[Life Long Dem]

38. Let's talk about moving forward.

From the Clinton administrations use of torture

CIA was granted permission to use rendition in a presidential directive signed by US President Bill Clinton in 1995.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraordinary_rendition#cite_note-10

[redqueen]

39. Kick

:kick:

[sammythecat]

42. Let that be known as well.

This isn't a Democrat/Republican thing for me. Anyone involved in the sanctioning and implementation of torture as a policy of the U.S. should be held accountable. If they can successfully defend their actions, then fine. If not, they should be convicted.

It should be made crystal clear whether or not this country accepts the practice of torture.

[tex-wyo-dem]

40. Powerful and absolutely correct!

Wish I could put my thoughts into words like KO does, not to mention recommend this post 100 more times!

[GreenTea]

41. Keith Olbermann articulate & on the money.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3096434/

[sammythecat]

43. I can't add anything other than a K&R. n/t

[mzmolly]

44. Keith offered a solution to this complex problem in his eloquent critique.

He suggested "prosecuting ALL those involved in the Bush administration's torture of prisoners, even if the results are nominal punishments, or merely new laws." He's absolutely right.

We also need to establish a means by which those who are ordered to commit such crimes can formally object, without retribution.

[Karenina]

45. I find KO respectfully holding BO's feet to the fire.

Watching from a distance, it depresses me that so many don't seem to yet GET IT. It is up to the citizenry to set the priorities and PUSH for them. It's sad that Amis do not have the sensibilities of the Venezuelans. If they did, perhaps BO would have the cover he needs to pull the tarp off the rotting body politic.

Having watched the scatterbrained, ignorant, racist Teabagging nonsense, I'm less than optimistic.

However, Susan Boyle's shooting star has lightened my mood a bit! ;-)

[90-percent]

46. good ole Keith

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=385&topic_id=298181&mesg_id=298241

As Matt Groening says about 'our' mutual hero; "Frank Zappa is my Elvis."

Well, here on DU Keith is 'our Elvis'.

Bravo, Keith!

-90% jimmy

[ProSense]

47. Another point of view

Greenwald: The significance of Obama's decision to release the torture memos

[nadinbrzezinski]

48. thank you keith

[winyanstaz]

49. Once again Mr. Olbermann gets it right.

Hire this guy Obama..he will keep you on course.

[Richd506]

50. I agree with this post

Obama should prosecute these people. And they thought I was an Obamasheeple.

[DebbieCDC]

51. Bravo Keith

:patriot:

[earth mom]

53. Maybe Olbermann should run for President in 2012 and do some a$$ kicking.

Since Obama doesn't think it's worth doing or whatever excuses he is making right now.


Olbermann rocked with this commentary!


There were so many great points but what stuck out was when he said:


"Half the distance is worse than standing still."

and

"Mr President you are wrong. What you described would be not spent energy, but catharis. Not blame laid, but responsibility ascribed."

:kick:

[MNDemNY]

54. Keith the sainted, now a blasphemer?

Will he now be shunned here on DU?

[Kahoneez]

55. Obama made me an Obama Hater ,

By his Israeli firster Rahm saying " Citizenship is not an entitlement program " when revealing he and Obama's new security service , which they admit they want it mandatory , " as well funded as the military " are you kidding , when we spend over a Trillion a year already , on the military , homeland security , CIA , FBI , DEA , Black ops , Black budgets for space based weapons and we need MORE , ya to control the population .

And I'm getting sick and tired of this "looking ahead" crap , like Lee Hamilton stopping the investigation of R Reagan , accused war criminal , trading arms for hostages , funding the contra drug dealing terrorists , and Bush Sr.s phony invasion of Panama etc etc. and besides Obama , you are responsible to investigate and prosecute all known crimes , it's not an option for political expediency , or doing a favor for the accused war criminal , you have so much respect for .
No , if you steal a loaf of bread , you go to JAIL , but if you kidnap , torture and in some cases murder , or authorize those insidious conditions , you get to retire , write a book , go speaking tours and get rich , on the bodies of bloody victims , you created , but Obama releases memos to placate critics of torture and provides the complicit media to frame the issue about the memos being released and not the actual crimes of torture .
Obama will allow Bagram and other prisons to operate , will increase the killing machine in Afghanistan and continue both occupations, it's the globalists agenda .