I really can’t believe that our Congress passed that huge spending bill! Whether or not you think that our nation needs an economic bail-out (I don’t), any member of Congress who voted for a huge spending bill like that without having read it and studied it is not doing his/her job!!! The bill came out with almost no time to even look at the cover before the vote was called. It was in PDF format so that our elected representatives couldn’t even do a word search to study the content–normally bills are in a format that allows word searches–this format was a deliberate effort by the House and Senate leaders to keep their members from knowing what was in the bill. By the way, this budget busting give-away of our dollars (actually, our kids and grandkid’s dollars) didn’t include anything for the US military. We’re at war and there was no money for the US military. I’m not the smartest guy in the world, but it seems like something is seriously wrong here. I say, any Congressman or Senator who voted for this plan had to have done so without reading (much less studying) it–so vote against them next time regardless of thier party affilitaton.
Re-elect almost Nobody
February 17th, 2009Waterboarding
February 6th, 2009Last week the chief of the Guantanamo war court ignored President Obama’s request to freeze the military commissions trying war-on-terror captives; he said he would hold a hearing next month for an alleged USS Cole bomber in a capital terror case.br /This means that only withdrawal/dismissal of the charges could stop Abd el Rahim al-Nashiri’s Feb. 9 arraignment. A Pentagon source said the withdrawal/dismissal could happen within days.br /Army judge Col. James Pohl wrote a decision that the war court structure set up by Congress in 2006 left him no choice but to move ahead with this case. The Saudi Arabian is accused of orchestrating the October 2000 al-Qaida suicide bombing off Yemen that killed 17 American sailors, a crime for which the Pentagon war crimes prosecutor seeks military execution.br /”The Commission is bound by the law as it currently exists not as it may change in the future,” wrote Pohl.br /The Pentagon announced the charges against al-Nashiri in June. Gen. Thomas Hartmann, then legal advisor at the process, said the war court would ensure that the man the CIA waterboarded receives a fair trial consistent with American standards of justice. Ooooh, waterboarding. Some people call this torture, but there is no legal definition of torture. I don’t call it torture. It doesn’t compare to what the terrorists do to people they capture.br /I do favor doing whatever is necessary to get information that may protect American lives. If that means making a captured terrorist uncomfortable or in fear of his life for a while, I have no problems. If your family was at risk of a terrorist attack and the government could find out a way to stop it, would approve of the technique? Though, for the record, the US does very, very little of this—because there are better techniques.br /And Gitmo is a great place to do this interrogation. I oppose the idea of moving the 245 war-on-terror captives out of Guantanamo. Where did the idea that foreign-born detainees captured abroad and who have never been on US soil deserve the same due process as Americans?br /Why should we make policy decisions based on human rights and legal advocacy group’s opinions? Shouldn’t we consider what is best for the American people? We sure don’t want to jeopardize those who are fighting the war on terror – or to negatively impact the families who have already suffered losses as a result of the war.
Torture
February 2nd, 2009Our new president wasted no time in issuing an executive order barring torture of suspected terrorists. Problem: no one knows what is meant by the word “torture.” President Obama’s new (designated) chief of national intelligence, Admiral Dennis Blair, wouldn’t say whether waterboarding (simulated drowning) was torture or not. Hum, this means that there is no change from the previous administration–despite all the rhetoric.br /br /If a terrorist group was at work in your town and the authorities captured a leader who knew what local schools were targeted to be blown up and when–and your kids (maybe grandkids) attended several different schools–would you be willing to let the terrorist be abused (maybe waterboarded) to save the lives of your family? I sure would.br /br /The Bill of Rights (the 8th Ammendment) specifically prohibits “cruel and unusual punishment.” That’s torture, right? Sure. But what is torture. The US Navy abolished the use of whips as punishment for rule-breaking sailors in 1850! That’s 60 years after the Bill of Rights was approved–so clearly our founding fathers didn’t think whipping was cruel and unusual punishment.br /br /So, the political BS continues. I hope no one gets too worked up about the rights of people who want to kill you and me and our families because we don’t belong to their religious sect. Speaking of these wonderful people, now that they’re closing Gitmo, I wonder where these nice prisoners will be kept–in a jail near you?
