Cheney 'disturbed' Obama didn't release memos he made sure were hidden, wants more memos released

[bigtree]

from the Swamp: http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2009/04/cheney_torture_memos_miss_succ.html


On the Obama administration's release of memos detailing CIA interrogation techniques and the Bush Justice Department's justification for them, Cheney says: "One of the things that I find a little bit disturbing about this recent disclosure is they put out the legal memos, the memos that the CIA got from the Office of Legal Counsel, but they didn't put out the memos that showed the success of the effort.

"And there are reports that show specifically what we gained as a result of this activity. They have not been declassified.

"I formally asked that they be declassified now,'' Cheney says. "I haven't announced this up until now, I haven't talked about it, but I know specifically of reports that I read, that I saw that lay out what we learned through the interrogation process and what the consequences were for the country.

"And I've now formally asked the CIA to take steps to declassify those memos so we can lay them out there and the American people have a chance to see what we obtained and what we learned and how good the intelligence was, as well as to see this debate over the legal opinions,'' Cheney says in the interview airing on Hannity.

[county worker]

1. Cheney, go home

You don't run things anymore.

[FiveGoodMen]

7. "You don't run things anymore" -- wish we could be sure of that.

[DeepBlueC]

2. Can Washington evict him?

and seize his electronics? He needs a big Time Out.

[mzteris]

3. bs -

though now the freeps will claim that it's weally weally twue 'cuz Cheney said so.

[tekisui]

4. I ask again, is this an admission that MORE were tortured than the two

in the memos. If so, let's have the goods on ALL who were tortured. And, let's see if the torture-defenders defend the practice against those who were proven to be completely innocent.

[bigtree]

6. right

Hearing Cheney argue for more memos to be released makes the case for everything they have to be put on the table, once and for all, instead of the dribble of stuff the administration is handing over. Plenty of folks saying there's much more to be revealed, not just whatever Cheney imagines there is to cover his filthy ass.

[blm]

5. Well, just to be COMPLETELY fair, let's release ALL of it...from the last 40yrs, just to be safe...

that would work for you and your pals, eh Dick?

[walldude]

8. So Cheney wants to make a case for "Useful" torture?

He'll never get it will he.

[JDPriestly]

15. Cheney makes that argument because he is utterly without the

ability to understand moral values.

As Cheney sees the world, the ends justify he means. In high school, I learned that attitude is the mark of a totalitarian society. That was the view of Hitler. That was the view of Stalin. Both Hitler and Stalin imprisoned people for their ideas and thereby silenced speech and dissent.

I understand that some of the alleged terrorists who were tortured were evil people. I also understand from having read Jane Mayer's book, The Dark Side that at least one of them was picked up by mistake. It's all too easy to make mistakes when torturing suspects. That is one of many reasons we cannot allow torture.

Torture makes the tortured victim less human, but it also makes the torturer less human. How unAmerican. It is especially disgusting because the purpose of the torture was to force the suspects to talk. The right to remain silent is one of our most fundamental rights. Our aversion to torture and our belief in the right to remain silent are in part based on our Puritan heritage and the memory of the terrible persecution of Puritans in England. (I believe that Puritans engaged in practices that we today might consider torture, but the aversion to torture and to forcing suspects to speak through torture grew out of the experiences of the Puritans and others in the Star Chambers.)

star chamber proceedings n. any judicial or quasi-judicial action, trial, or hearing which so grossly violates standards of "due process" that a party appearing in the proceedings (hearing or trial) is denied a fair hearing. The term comes from a large room with a ceiling decorated with stars in which secret hearings of the privy council and judges met to determine punishment for disobedience of the proclamations of King Henry VIII of Great Britain (1509-1547). The high-handed, unfair, predetermined judgments, which sent the accused to The Tower of London or to the chopping block, made "star chamber" synonymous with unfairness and illegality from the bench. In modern American history the best example of star chamber proceedings was the conduct of the House UnAmerican Activities Committee (1938-1975) which used its subpena power to intimidate citizens by asking them unconstitutional questions about their political beliefs and associations, and then charging them with contempt of Congress for refusing to answer. Another example was the conduct of criminal proceedings against black defendants in some southern states from 1876 until the late 1960s. (See: kangaroo court)http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/star+chamber+proceedings

Essentially, the practice of torture obviates the procedure of a trial and inflicts punishment without any regard for human rights. It is an abomination.

Interesting historical note about the Star Chamber. At the Constitutional Convention, Gerry objected to the Constitution on the ground that it would permit the establishment of a Star Chamber which he defined as a court without a jury to try civil cases. That is how wary our Founding Fathers were of the Star Chamber, of any procedure that deprived people of due process.

http://books.google.com/books?id=9GUFAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA553&lpg=PA553&dq=James+Madison+Star+chamber&source=bl&ots=0g43OofIZF&sig=dAGfcU_o71hemIfARH9V5xe2B0w&hl=en&ei=asLsSeQqhIq0A-O-1eYB&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9

See page 47

[BlueIdaho]

9. Two words Dick...

Fuck You.

He's just upset that the Obama administration chose not to release all of the carefully prepared disinformation and chaff he worked so hard on conjuring up during his last year in office. Poor thing, its always a let down after they pull back the curtain in OZ... Hey - that ain't no wizard, that's a carnival act!

[Fendius]

10. Cheney is very smart, we need to watch the way he spins this

This man is not to be taken lightly, we should work his spin against him....

[NNN0LHI]

11. Obama needs to release the tapes of Cheney's thugs raping kids then

That ought to shut Dick up for a while.

Don

[ProSense]

12. Cheney's lawyers can request their release them during the investigation.

What's Dick Cheney hiding?

Cheney is a lying evil bastard.

[ThomWV]

13. OK, let's lay them out - and let's discuss how illegal they were - and then what we do about it.

[Still Sensible]

14. Well if Dick is disturbed, then the President is doing it right. n/t

[TorchTheWitch]

16. Cheney's attorney is now frantically sealing his mouth with duct tape

This nutter is actually sitting there saying "But torture WORKS! We NEED to torture people to keep America safe! Release the memos that tell all about how raping little boys and all that other cool stuff is so beneficial!"

Sick fucking monster.

[bigtree]

21. yep

. . . he's in his own world, like the rest of his party. They're used to saying and doing things without accountability and using the lack of a functioning opposition to claim a mandate for their post-911 self-immunization from the law.

In this case, Cheney is so desperate to have his ideology prevail that he looks to be willing to take whatever Bush was hiding down just to prove his amazing defense of the tortures they ordered. You could tell he was on his own crusade when he refused to turn over his papers to the Bush library.

[TahitiNut]

17. I'd go along with this ... at a trial of Cheney & Bush for war crimes. Ubetcha.

Fuck Cheney. Convict him of war crimes and lock the turd up for life.

[bemildred]

18. "Cheney disturbed" I can go along with. nt

[jsamuel]

19. Cheney should have ZERO authority in asking the CIA to do ANYTHING!

He is no longer in the US government.

[Raksha]

20. I think Cheney has finally gone off the deep end.

Not just a MONSTER as Paul Krugman said--he's also out of his mind. He's insane.

What exactly does he hope to gain from this tactic?