As stomach-turning as these individual acts of sadism are, it is far worse to consider that only low-level interrogators will suffer consequences while those who were truly responsible – the criminally depraved leaders and lawyers who ordered and authorized it – will be protected.
Salon’s Glenn Greenwald • Discussing the implications of the Inspector General’s report on torture. His analysis points out many scary things in the report – including phrases such as “threats of execution,” “threats to kill detainee and his children,” “pressure points on carotid artery,” “‘buttstroking’ with rifles and knee kicks” and “blowing smoke in detainee’s face for five minutes.” Despite the many black boxes, you can read between the lines. And between those lines is a lot of questionable government-sanctioned activity. Makes us sick thinking about it. • source
Today, I want to spend a few minutes debunking some of the more outrageous myths circulating on the Internet, on cable TV, and repeated at some town halls across this country.
President Barack Obama • In his weekly radio/Interweb address. In the address he tackled whether illegal immigrants would get health care (no way, Jose), whether abortions would be covered (nope) and those so called “death panels” (lies, lies, and more lies). It’s good to see Obama taking these attacks head on, but where was he when the attacks were actually being made? Now he’s just late to the party. • source
It was clear that Cheney’s doctrine was cast-iron strength at all times – never apologize, never explain – and Bush moved toward the conciliatory.
A colleague of Dick Cheney • Discussing Cheney’s thoughts on his former boss, George W. Bush. According to the colleague, Cheney was upset that, at some point, Bush took to heart public criticism and stopped listening to his advice. While Cheney has spent much of the last few months in the public eye, taking Barack Obama to task on his foreign policy, Cheney’s been working on a memoir airing the dirty laundry between the two men. Expect it to be out in 2011. We hope there’s multiple chapters about the time he shot that dude in the face. • source
Fascism only grows in the disturbed soil of a mature democracy in crisis.
Sara Robinson of the Campaign for America’s Future • In a column on Alternet discussing whether fascism could happen in the U.S. someday, particularly in the wake of harsh protests during the Obama administration in recent weeks. Robinson notes that “it’s always rooted in the promise of restoring lost national pride by resurrecting the culture’s traditional myths and values.” We personally think both sides of this debate need to take a chill pill, go to a bar and drink a cool PBR. • source
This is not something that your average ‘script kitty’ can do. On the other hand it doesn’t require it to be state-sponsored.
Security expert Mark Rasch • Who’s currently of SecureITExperts and led the Department of Justice’s computer crimes unit during the George H.W. Bush administration. Rasch raised doubts over whether it was a definite slam dunk that these attacks, which hit major financial, government and media sites in the U.S., came from a North Korean source. At this time, we’d like to point your attention to this Wired article from back in the day about the Estonian denial of service attacks. This graphic in particular provides some good explanation about what’s happening now. • source
