Talkshow host Mancow waterboarded

Conservative talkshow host Erich "Mancow" Muller was waterboarded Friday. He originally had said waterboarding isn't torture.

He lasted all of six-fucking-seconds. He has changed his mind regarding waterboarding being torture.

Americas use of waterboarding..through the centuries.

Yes, that title is not incorrect..we, the universal we, through the ages, have used and obsessed about Waterboarding my dear reader. Nothing makes that point clearer than the picture you see below these words you are now reading. That is a picture of American’s waterboarding a Filipino in 1901. We are even doing it in his own country in that graphic.

Isn’t that fucking special?

George W. Bush’s veto of the bill that expressly forbids this type of activity today just reeks of bullshit and bravado. So it is quite apropos that this writeup by Paul Kramer at the NewYorker hit my inbox this morning. The Title: Annals of American History,The Water Cure debating torture and counterinsurgency—a century ago `~ Damn thats a long-assed title isn’t it? Just a taste of his article:

Aguinaldo and some of his advisers, who had been inspired by the United States as a model republic and had greeted its soldiers as liberators, became increasingly suspicious of American motivations. When, after a period of mounting tensions, a U.S. sentry fired on Filipino soldiers outside Manila in February, 1899, the second war erupted, just days before the Senate ratified a treaty with Spain securing American sovereignty over the islands in exchange for twenty million dollars. In the next three years, U.S. troops waged a war to “free” the islands’ population from the regime that Aguinaldo had established. The conflict cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of Filipinos and about four thousand U.S. soldiers.

Ah yes..torture and nation building..in the 1800’s! God, I love our history as aggressors..don’t you? How about the graphic below to get your juices flowing this fine Saturday afternoon. Its during the Vietnam War and the soldiers involved in this activity were summarily court-martialed and drummed out of the military.

Thank you George Bush..thank you for continuing the tradition of allowing our soldiers and minions to torture people of the world. I hope you love your legacy so much you fucking choke on it.

Please take the time to read Mr. Kramer’s piece today..its long but its one helluva history lesson. We are not the first to scream, bitch and gnash our teeth over torturing people. Not by a long-friggin-shot. And something tells me that we sadly won’t be the last…

TOP PHOTOGRAPH of Filipino waterboarding: ATTRIBUTED TO CORPORAL GEORGE J. VENNAGE/OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY RARE BOOKS AND MANUSCRIPTS LIBRARY

Waisting no time, Mukasey sworn in..privately

It's interesting to me that BushCo chose to swear in their waterboarding-lovin' new Attorney General in a private ceremony. From an AP article:

Retired federal judge Michael Mukasey was sworn in Friday as the nation's 81st attorney general, filling a vacancy left when Alberto Gonzales resigned amid questions about his credibility.

Mukasey was sworn in at a private Justice Department ceremony about 16 hours after he narrowly won Senate confirmation. The oath was administered by Assistant Attorney General Lee Lofthus, who oversees the department's management and budget operations.

Justice Department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said Mukasey was joined by family members at the brief, closed-door ceremony. The ceremony took only about two to three minutes, and a small coterie of Justice staffers who attended it clapped afterwards, Roehrkasse said.

Such bullshit..this man's confirmation shows how little balls the Democrats have. The picture is of Muskasey swearing in before the Senate committee..to tell the truth. We all know how THAT turned out.

Tags: mukasey sworn in

The story of Daniel Levin and KO's Special Comment

From ThinkProgress..on the eve of the vote on Mukasey..we hope..dare we pray, that this question will be at the forefront of the vote to deny this man the office of Attorney General of these United States; Is waterboarding torture Mr. Mukasey and do you support it? 24 Intel officials say DO NOT confirm this man in a letter to committee chair.

Last night, ABC World News reported that in 2004 then-acting assistant attorney general Daniel Levin was so concerned about the administration's use of waterboarding that he went to a military base near Washington and underwent the procedure himself.

Levin took over former Office of Legal Counsel Jack Goldsmith's job when he resigned and immediately began reassessing the administration's interrogation techniques. Levin released a new memo in Dec. 2004 that replaced the 2002 Bybee memo. Levin's memo declared that "Torture is abhorrent" but also cautioned in a footnote that his memo was not declaring the administration's previous opinions illegal. "The White House, with Alberto Gonzales as the White House counsel, insisted that this footnote be included in the memo."

ABC reported that after Levin personally experienced waterboarding, he told the White House that it could be considered torture:

After the experience, Levin told White House officials that even though he knew he wouldn't die, he found the experience terrifying and thought that it clearly simulated drowning.

Levin, who refused to comment for this story, concluded waterboarding could be illegal torture unless performed in a highly limited way and with close supervision. And, sources told ABC News, he believed the Bush Administration had failed to offer clear guidelines for its use.

Levin was working on a second memo that would have imposed tighter controls on the use of interrogation techniques such as waterboarding. While working on that memo, ABC reported "Levin was forced out of the Justice Department when Alberto Gonzales became Attorney General." Watch it:


ABC's Jan Crawford Greenburg reported, "Sources said Levin was seen as too independent by the Bush administration — not someone who could be counted on to endorse White House policies."

The Swamp's Mark Silva writes, "Perhaps Mukasey should take the water-board for a test-ride, too."

Keith Olbermann has a special comment tonight on torture, Mukasey and waterboarding..its a must see my dear reader. I will put the video up later, but for now..a piece of his SC:

On Daviel Levin, the former U.S. Acting Assistant Attorney General, who was himself waterboarded to determine whether or not the act constituted torture and was therefore counter to the claims of the Bush Admininstration that it was not.

Water-boarding, he said, is torture.

Legally, it is torture .

Practically, it is torture.

Ethically, it is torture .

And he wrote it down.

Wrote it down somewhere, where it could be contrasted with the words of this country's 43rd President: "The United States of America does not torture."

Made you into a liar, Mr. Bush.

Made you into, if anybody had the guts to pursue it, a criminal.
Entire transcript of KO's SC here on the msnbc website.

Tags: Daniel Levin, waterboarding, Mukasey

Is waterboarding torture? You tell me..

Watch this video and figure it out. From the video: "What does the controversial interrogation method called waterboarding actually look like? Kaj Larsen finds out in this 25 minute uncut version."



It has been considered torture throughout the ages, and its still torture. Ask the Vietnam Vets that were tried and convicted for using this method of interrogation.

tags: waterboarding, Kaj Larsen,

Gee, ya think???

The New York Times gives us this..and says its news? Please, this crappola isn't news..except for the fact that the Democraps are finally fallling out of love with Mukasey after the last day of his nomination hearing when he sidestepped the waterboarding/torture issue. I hoped he was toast. Oh, and I love this line from the White House flunky:

''As he always does, Judge Mukasey will answer all questions from the Judiciary Committee in a clear and forthright manner,'' said White House spokesman Tony Fratto

Give me an effin break..are they all stupid or do they think we are? This craptastic nonsense is on my last nerve. Mukasey was side stepping questions with ease, he seemed to be a pro at it.

But the Dem's are talking in code lately..the only one coming out and saying he won't vote to confirm Mukasey is my beloved Bernie Sanders. Chuckie Schumer looks like an idiot at this point since he was the Democrat that suggested Mukasey. In case you didn't catch Mukasey's dancing moves regarding torture..let me give you part of the transcript:

''It is not constitutional for the United States to engage in torture in any form, be it waterboarding or anything else,'' Mukasey answered at one point.

But during terse questioning by Whitehouse, Mukasey said he did not know if waterboarding is torture because he is not familiar with how it is done. '

'That's a massive hedge,'' Whitehouse responded incredulously. ''It either is or it isn't.''

''If it amounts to torture, it is not constitutional,'' Mukasey answered. ''I'm very disappointed in that answer,'' Whitehouse said. ''I think it is purely semantic.''

I saw the video of this exchange..and I just shook my head in disgust. The man is a Bushie through and through. My only question is how many Dem's will vote to confirm this asshat.

Tags: waterboarding, Torture, Mukasey