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Gone, But Not Forgotten? What The Internet Will Look Like Under SOPA Fearsgiving Week Jesus Approves of Waterboarding Beware of Asteroids 
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War CrimesFriday, May. 08, 2009 3:38 AMWaterboarding is a crime, and it is torture according to existing law and international treaty. The Bush Administration's argument in favor of waterboarding as an interrogation technique turns on their claim that the Executive has extraordinary powers in a time of war. If you refute that claim, then they point to the AUMF passed by Congress shortly after 9/11. It's childish word games in defense of the indefensible. And when former Vice President Dick Cheney openly admits in an interview that we waterboarded detainees, the question needs to be asked - why are these people not being prosecuted? And 'these people' may well include House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who has previously denied being briefed on the specific interrogation techniques being used. Not so, says a report from the Director of National Intelligence. It's not a complicated issue. We know torture is wrong, and that it's against our laws and prohibited under treaties that we have signed. To even pretend that there's a valid legal defense for what we have, under anyone else's authority, deemed to be war crimes is disgusting. And now, Speaker Pelosi, the bill comes due. If you were fully briefed on this matter, you need to step forward and acknowledge that you were wrong. Then you need to step down. Of course, Pelosi is now claiming that the briefing only mentioned that the techniques being used were legal, and did not provide specifics. If someone says in a briefing, "Oh, don't worry, it's all legal," then it's a good bet that you should worry. Remember how Sarah Palin received a blessing from a African minister known for being a 'witch hunter'? This is what 'witch hunters' do. Are these really the kind of practices we want to endorse? (Of course, if you've already lost your way insofar as torturing prisoners, tormenting 'witches' isn't much of a stretch.) Time magazine is reporting that Samuel Wurzelbacher is 'quitting the GOP' because he's 'outraged' at GOP overspending. Which probably means he'll show up with his own radio talk-show, or be the headliner for another dippy protest like the 'teabags of liberty' or whatever they want to call themselves. A few words about Bristol Palin and her becoming one of the faces in the campaign for teenage sexual abstinence. Clearly, the concept doesn't work. We don't want our children to smoke or drink, either, but we don't insist on shielding them from learning about the consequences of doing so. We want them to be responsible with their finances, know how to hold a job, cook their own food, do the laundry ... but we don't wait for them to be 18 before we raise the subject (well, at least I hope not - can't really tell in the 'my child is entitled to a cell phone' era). Whatever you do, don't Google Stormy Daniels' name if you're at work. She's running against Sen. David Vitter (R-Lousiana). Vitter is one of those Republicans who got caught having an affair, but his wife and Christ Jesus forgave him, so he's still in office. Daniels is a pr0n star.
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