Ashcroft is guilty of authorizing torture, and he knows it

I would've posted this in the links side-bar, but I think it's an absolute "Must-Read". A couple of students got the chance to ask Ashcroft some questions, and they did, to put it mildly, a much better job than the media's been doing.

ME: I'm sorry, I was under the impression that we still use the method of putting a cloth over someone's face and pouring water down their throat...

ASHCROFT: (interrupting, red-faced, shouting) Pouring! Pouring! Did you hear what she said? "Putting a cloth over someone's face and pouring water on them." That's not what you said before! Read that again, what you said before!

ME: Sir, other reports of the time say...

ASHCROFT: (shouting) Read what you said before! (cries of "Answer her fucking question!" from the audience) Read it!

ME: (firmly) Mr. Ashcroft, please answer the question.

ASHCROFT: (shouting) Read it back!

ME: "The victim was bound or otherwise secured in a prone position; and water was forced through his mouth and nostrils into his lungs and stomach."

ASHCROFT: (shouting) You hear that? You hear it? "Forced!" If you can't tell the difference between forcing and pouring...does this college have an anatomy class? If you can't tell the difference between forcing and pouring...

ME: (firmly and loudly) Mr. Ashcroft, do you believe that Yukio Asano's sentence was unjust? Answer the question. (pause)

ASHCROFT: (more restrained) It's not a fair question; there's no comparison. Next question! (loud chorus of boos from the audience)

He's guilty and he knows it. Maybe some of these other cretins (Cheney, Rice, Rumsfeld, etcetera; and probably Bush) don't, but Ashcroft realizes it; reportedly he said "History will not judge us kindly." But of course that doesn't matter, he's as guilty as the rest of the lot. We need to get a commitment out of Barack Obama to pursue prosecution of these people, or it'll poison international relations and domestic discourse for decades to come. Read the full post; there's much more where the above came from...

By the way, I'll have an article on torture in tomorrow's Independent; I'll post the link when it's put up on the site. 

Brattleboro, VT does something totally meaningless and yet ridiculously awesome

Updated because I confused the two Vermont towns that start with 'B'. Whoops.

I guess the town of Burlington, Vermont -- famous for not having laws against public nudity and for holding an annual World Naked Bike Ride (note: common sense will tell you that there's some nudity (only a tiny bit) on that page, so click at your own risk) -- is a little worried about people forgetting how liberal it is. But they can worry no more.

Here's the proposal that appeared on today's ballot there in Brattleboro:

Shall the Selectboard instruct the Town Attorney to draft indictments against President Bush and Vice President Cheney for crimes against our Constitution, and publish said indictments for consideration by other authorities and shall it be the law of the Town of Brattleboro that the Brattleboro Police, pursuant to the above-mentioned indictments, arrest and detain George Bush and Richard Cheney in Brattleboro if they are not duly impeached, and prosecute or extradite them to other authorities that may reasonably contend to prosecute them?

The dulcet tones of Wolf Blitzer have just informed me that the proposal passed with somewhere around 65% of the vote. Which means the people of Burlington Brattleboro just voted to arrest the President and Vice President if they ever show up in Burlington Brattleboro. Which actually won't be much of a problem, because the dulcet tones of Wolf Blitzer have also just informed me that the President has never once visited Vermont since he's been in office.

Anyway, kinda awesome.

Below: the 2007 World Naked Bike Ride in Burlington (again, click at your own risk)

Yes, you are seeing this correctly--

--this is, in fact, Dick Cheney driving a bumper car. In 1976.

That is all.

(**I think this blog gets exponentially sillier as we get close to college holidays. Happy Thanksgiving, everybody.)

UPDATE: It has also become clear to me that, in the inevitable film about the Bush administration, "Young Dick Cheney" must be portrayed by character actor and Beethoven star Charles Grodin:

Keep after 'em

I think Markus's image below really sums it up. As Digby points out, it's a commutation rather than a pardon so that BushCo won't have to give up the Fifth:

So Bush did it. The bastard commuted little Scooter's sentence, leaving the conviction in place. I'm not a lawyer, but I have to assume that this means he can still appeal --- which means he can still take the fifth if the congress calls him to to testify. Very convenient.

Suzanne Malveaux (who is suffering from Stockhom Syndrome as the white house correspondent) said that "a lot of people" were in favor of this. Bill Schneider actually set her straight by saying that a large number of Democrats, Independents and even some Republicans were going to be enraged. Their last poll had 72% saying they didn't think Libby should be pardoned and only 19% saying he did.

That poll number is important. Democrats shouldn't be drawn in by Great Prophet David Broder and his ilk, the MSM voices who are convinced that what "the people" really want is for people to stop being so darn mean to Libby and his bosses. Commutation isn't a 'middle way,' but I fully expect the cable news pundits to be explaining it that way.

The next move, as far as I'm concerned, is to subpoena Cheney and Bush (Bush first, because he probably won't be able to keep track of all the party lines), and ask them very politely what their thinking was on the commutation, and, oh, a variety of other questions. And Dems can't let executive privilege claims and other surliness throw them off the trail any more. The majority of the country is in favor, and once the dirt and illegality that the investigations inevitably will dig up begins to surface, the support will increase.

I don't have much doubt anymore that Bush and Cheney have committed impeachable offenses; it's time to find out exactly what they are, and there isn't much time left--567 days, to be precise--to bring it all out and build consensus around conviction and punishment. If we fail to purge out and condemn the taint that permeates this Administration, we'll be dealing with the damage--the breakdown of Constitutional law and moral government--for a long time. If I'm right about how corrupt the Administration is, and it all comes out, there should be a public clamor for impeachment.

Maybe Democrats don't have the courage to do it, but they really should. And I don't think there's a 'higher priority' than the integrity of our government.

Cheney no longer exists

You know, this behavior reminds me of Sealand, the 'nation' off the coast of Britain which is actually an old naval platform left over from WWII. Because Sealand was outside the British sovereignty zone and was abandoned, a random group of opportunists was able to claim the outpost and declare themselves a sovereign entity.

Sealand has been involved in a number of entertaining episodes, including coups, the taking of 'prisoners of war,' and clashes with the British government. Of course, the only reason that Sealand really exists is because it's too much trouble and embarassment for the UK to take it. The understanding with Sealand is something like this: since Sealand is an 'independent nation,' it can do things that would be illegal in Britain. It has that legal privilege--until it does something really illegal, and that's when it gets squashed.

Sealand is stupid, a fantasy land for anarchists, cyber punks, and eccentric capitalists.

If the office of the VP was similarly insignificant, its apparent decision to 'opt out' of the Executive Branch and its rules would be less noteworthy. Obviously Cheney's hostility to oversight--he apparently attempted to abolish the agency which attempted to exercise accountability, can't be without purpose. This isn't just a lark. If Cheney's argument is that he isn't a part of the executive branch, why did he quit following the directive mid-stream? Steve Benen has a list of similar questions:

* Why did Bush and Cheney abide by the executive order in question in 2001 and 2002, and then stop in 2003? Is it a coincidence they started ignoring the E.O. on handling classified materials just as they started mishandling classified materials?

* Why did Cheney abide by the E.O. in 2001 and 2002 if he's not part of the executive branch?

* Why did the President exempt the Vice President from an executive order he was already following? Why did he later exempt himself?

* When, precisely, did the White House decide that Bush and Cheney should exempt themselves from their own rules?

* Does Bush consider Cheney part of the executive branch? Why has the White House thus far refused to respond to this question? Does the President consider this a trick question?

* In its response to questions about the E.O., why did the White House point to a provision of the E.O. that doesn't exist?

* The White House insists, "There's no question that [Cheney] is in compliance" with the E.O. If there is no oversight, and Cheney is unaccountable, how does the White House know?

* In yesterday's press briefing, the president's spokesperson dismissed the oversight provision of the E.O. as "small" six times. Does the White House believe only "big" provisions need to be followed? How does the administration make the distinction?

It would be nice to get some answers.

Game developers can be political too!

Halo 3, the next installment of the flagship game for the XBox console family, just released a beta, or testing version for a limited number of people to play with and find the bugs.  In the Halo games, there are awards that are given to players at the end of each round, which are collected as a sort of trophy case for the player's prowess in the game.  It looks like the software engineers at Bungie, the company that makes the game, had a little bit of fun with their new product by naming one of the awards "Cheneymania."  Now as we can all guess, this has something to do with a shotgun.  Yes, it is true, if you kill 10 people with a shotgun without dying in a round of Halo 3, you will be awarded with the Cheneymania award. 

Sadly, this sort of thing didn't survive more than 4 days, seeing as the beta was released on Friday and on Monday the award was renamed "Open Season."

Oh well, at least we know that the programmers had fun while making the game.

White House in La-La Land

Declassified Defense Department report confirms that Hussein had no ties to Al-Qaeda prior to the Iraq invasion. No shit, really? So the White House must be apologizing right now, no?

Uh, no.

"The report's release came on the same day that Vice President Cheney, appearing on Rush Limbaugh's radio program, repeated his allegation that al-Qaeda was operating inside Iraq "before we ever launched" the war, under the direction of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the terrorist killed last June. --WaPo 4/6

Natch.

Where did Cheney get his intelligence?

From the "Fucking stupidest guy on the face of the earth," Doug Feith.

This all sounds so familiar; there's nothing new to say.

George, I don't think we're welcome in Kansas anymore...

If Cheney had a heart, it would be breaking... 

Students and professors at Brigham Young University (the highly conservative Mormon college) are protesting having the Vice President as their commencement speaker. 

Brigham Young places "a heavy emphasis on personal honesty and integrity in all [they] do", according to a professor leading the charge against Cheney. He added, "Cheney just doesn’t measure up.'’ 

Ouch. Artsy New School students protesting John McCain was one thing, but the Christian Right protesting the Dark Lord they basically singlehandedly put into power? Where the hell are the 18% of people who like Cheney, if they're not at BYU?

Blogsnacks 9/5/2006

Just some gruel to chew on, as we count the days to Camp Harvard...

- Hearty congratulations to our incoming Membership Director, Rob Winikates, and his all-star team of Yard Captains: Jenessa, Elizabeth, Indira, and Sergio.

– Ben White has found — maybe “dredged up” is a better a word — a couple of new blogs which will focus on Ivy League gossip. They are called, in two stunning displays of originality, IvyLeak and IvyGate. Take a look for yourself; they are so terrifyingly elitist, cliquey, and vapid they make Scene Magazine look like the goddamn Socialist Worker. I expect them to be smashingly successful.

– Dick Cheney is coming to the Harvard Club on the 8th — which is, of course, just before all the students move in, so expect tiny protests at best. What a happy coincidence of timing!

– Post your predictions for 2006 in Harlan’s thread. I dare you to be more optimistic than me! (Hint: that is not possible.)

– Take a look at this chart of median-income declines since 1999, from the Detroit Free Press (MI was worst-hit of all states). If you’re into economics maybe you can make something of Mike Shedlock’s analysis, which to me is frightening in a vague, generalized, don’t-quite-grasp-the-basics kind of way. (This is also how I feel about oil prices, global warming, and Cats.)

– News from up here in Canada: Somebody really needs to tell the U.S. contigent in Afghanistan to, y’know, quit killing us.

– An actual question from me, to our Californians: is Arnold a lost cause or what? Huh? What’s going on out there? (Also, how come Feinstein’s Senate challenger has a porn name?)

– And of course, R.I.P. Steve Irwin, aka Crocodile Hunter. At last, even if only in death, he is not a punchline; really that’s all that any of us can ask.

Have I missed anything? Consider this an open thread.
Also, if there are any Class of 2010 reading, please introduce yourselves! We’d love to know who we’ll be dealing with, so when frosh week rolls around we can prepare for the ritualistic sacrifices. (No! Just kidding, frosh! Please come to Dems introductory events! Especially if you have all your organs!)