Republican senators are threatening to block confirmation of key Obama nominees if the Obama administration makes public the Bush administration Justice Department memos that explicitly authorized torture and other barbaric relics.
Human rights/constitutional lawyer Scott Horton notes, “It now appears that Republicans are seeking an Obama commitment to safeguard the Bush administration’s darkest secrets in exchange for letting these nominations go forward.”
Funny to remember how many people believed that Washington would no longer be sordid after Bush and Cheney left office.
If the Obama team rolls over for this Republican power play, this will be a symbol of the bipartisan complicity in the worst abuses of recent years.
Gee whillikers, I guess giving the Republicans a get out of jail free card for Uncle Ted wasn’t good enough. So now, the Administration will have to accept the secrecy policy of the prior Administration and Brer Rabbit will say “puuuhhhleez don’t trow me in the bad ole Briar Patch”.
Jim,
Don’t be betting any alcohol that Obama won’t roll over and play “bipartisan”….
Not be sordid?…surely you jest….under the category of “You Jest Caint Make This shayt Up: The N.Y.Times today has an article on the new Homeland Security HQ and it has one of the funniest lines in all of journalistic history: “The Federal Government is about to undertake what the General Services Administration calls the largest public building project since construction of the Pentagon during World War II: consolidating the Department of Homeland Security on the historic site of a former”……ehhh, excuse me, this slays me, ehh, cripes but this is funny …”MENTAL HOSPITAL”.
Did they mean “hysteric site”. Wow, the alien equivalent of Henny Youngman is now calling the shots and the human race in the U.S. provides the laugh lines. Mental hospital…how apropos. Perhaps they’ll next ensconce the Fed in a Bank.
Political compromise is soooo much more pragmatic than bickering, gridlock and holding to inconvenient principles. How could our society ever advance if politicians did not cooperate with one another? Government, after all, is the wellspring of all fairness, goodness, virtue, kindness, safety, benevolence and material progress.
Always wondered why LBJ escalated the VietNam war. I’ve been listening to FoxNetwork Bill O’Reilly for several months now (about the same time I developed asthma symptoms). O’Reilly said Obama was “brilliant”. After Bush invaded Iraq the Chicago Tribune said Bush was a genius (both Chicago newspapers are in Bankruptcy. They should endorse capitalistic politicians, not the socialists).
Anyway, when democrats continue and support the wars started by republicanos they get the political Right off their backs. LBJ was able to get legislation thru the Congress. Now we know why Obama supports the U.S./Rome, Italy type overseas empire.
OReilly constantly complains about Obama’s support of unlimited govt but commends his foreign policy (which requires unlimited govt to execute it.)
HSD Napolitano says returning vets may be a terror threat (they may be now) and this is a good thing for the 2010 elections to help us overthrow the current socialist stranglehold on power.
Do you think the conservatives have learned their lesson for executing ‘unlimited’ govt policy ?
Republicans meddle in foreign affiars (for profit), start immoral wars, send troops to fight them, praise them and refer to them as heroes, and then the socialist democrats call them terror threats when they return (blowback). Republicans practice unlimited govt, which helps the Left gain power that allows them to put returning vets on watch lists for fighting immoral war started by the Right (dumb vets). The Right created Gitmo, promoted unlimited govt, now the Left has the power to put members of the Right in Gitmo (dummies).
Some of the things O’Reilly says make me breath heavy, so I end up having to switch channels to CNN (and vice versa). I keep telling myself this is not my fault, I had nothing to do with it. More heavy breathing and nightmares; should have purchased gold when it was cheap. It helps to watch Glenn Beck.