the us government and other such idiot things
OK. Who is furious? Oh yes, that would be me. I was reading this article on Truthout entitled "House Delays Vote on Terror Suspect Treatment" about how, well, the House is delaying voting on this terror bill because it will probably embarass the White House. Some highlights:"House Democrats had planned to offer a motion this week to endorse language in a military spending bill, written by Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, that would prohibit abusive treatment of terror suspects. The motion would instruct House negotiators to adopt Mr. McCain's precise language, which the Senate approved last month, 90 to 9. The White House has threatened to veto any bill containing the provision, saying it would restrict the president's ability to fight terrorism and protect the country"
So apparently our so called "moral and Christian" President believes that it is moral to use cruel and unusual punishment and torture methods on people suspected of being terrorists or people who once were terrorists or people who look liek terrorists or people who may possibly know something regarding terrorism. Now I don't believe terrorism is right and I think terrorist are really bad people. But the people our government is detaining and toturing are not terrorists. We have caught like, no one. And those we have caught (Saddaam Hussein for example) were bad people yes, but not directly linked to terrorist attacks on the US in any way. Everyone deserves equal treatment in prisons and detainment camps. This includes ours and everywhere else in the world. It is also immoral to send our prisoners to the Israelis to be tortured by them (I have yet to decide if it's worse to for the US to endorse torture by personally performing it or by having the Israelis and Egyptians do it because those people are pretty damn cruel. I mean torture is overall cruel and evil and bad, but they're like really really bad.) This pisses me off that people believe that we need torture to fight torture. You don't fight drugs by using drugs. This is a stupid way to combat terror because we become objects of it and simply spread it. And, of course, it is morally wrong.
"The White House, in negotiations led by Mr. Cheney, is insisting that the Central Intelligence Agency be exempted from the proposed ban."
Oh perfect. Way to completely defeat the purpose of the ban you dipshits. Loopholes piss me off. How can anyone support this? To give the CIA no boundaries regarding this is ridiculous. If anything, they're one of the only agencies that needs the ban. They're the ones this was written for because they're the ones who are seeing to it that prisoners and "terrorists" are tortured into giving information, which they don't even know the majority of the time.
"Democrats on Thursday were quick to accuse Mr. Hastert, a close friend and political ally of Mr. Cheney, of taking steps to postpone a vote that would embarrass the vice president at a time when his former chief of staff, I. Lewis Libby Jr., is under indictment in the CIA leak case.
"At a time when we should be protecting American service men and women from torture and improving our sullied international reputation, the majority in the House is more interested in protecting the vice president and this administration from embarrassment," said Representative Ellen O. Tauscher, a California Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee. "
Now maybe I'm just too idealistic, but shouldn't we be focusing on having a moral government and getting out the war? Yes we should protect our troops (we don't torture others and set a good example and: others don't torture us; our troops don't become the objects of hate crimes against the US government; terror attacks in Iraq and Afghanistan etc. lessen perhaps; etc. etc.) but I mean...why the fuck won't anyone address the moral ambiguity surrounding this situatiomn? Why can't Congress just come out and say "we're passing this because we believe torture is wrong etc.", because McCain wrote this bill and that's why he wrote it. He truly believes torture was wrong, I mean he was tortured in Vietnam. But no, they need some excuse to pass a moral bill/add some moral addition to another bill. But they have to use this excuse because that way when the White House vetoes this bill they can say "we're vetoing this bill because we don't think this is really the best way to ________(insert bullshit excuse here such as "protect our troops" or "lie to our people" or "promote terror" or "screw other countries over hahahahahaha")." IT MAKES ME FURIOUS!!!
"The lawmakers said that they strongly endorsed Mr. Bush's efforts to defeat terrorism, but that the McCain provision would aid American troops in the field without interfering with presidential prerogatives. "We believe the anti-torture provisions are vital to protecting American service members in the field both now and in the future," they wrote on Oct. 27."
Well no shit Sherlock. We'll just leave the moral part out so as not to insult anyone on the touchy subject of physically and psychologically torturing another human being. Bastards. But besides not addressing that point, why would anyone oppose an anti-torture bill when our government "doesn't use torture anyway?" hmmmmmmmm??????? Why I wonder. Oh right, because IT DOES USE TORTURE AND THEN LIES ABOUT IT!!!!!!
"Last month, Mr. Cheney and the CIA director, Porter J. Goss, urged Mr. McCain to support an exemption for the agency, arguing that the president needed maximum flexibility in dealing with global terrorism."
WILL SOMEONE PLEASE EXPLAIN TO ME HOW IN THE WORLD ADVOCATING TORTURE HELPS GET RID OF TERRORISM?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!
"Mr. McCain rejected the proposed exemption, which stated that the measure "shall not apply with respect to clandestine counterterrorism operations conducted abroad, with respect to terrorists who are not citizens of the United States, that are carried out by an element of the United States government other than the Department of Defense and are consistent with the Constitution and laws of the United States and treaties to which the United States is a party, if the president determines that such operations are vital to the protection of the United States or its citizens from terrorist attack." "
Well of course he rejected it. Because it's WRONG! Torture is wrong. Terrorism is wrong. People do not deserve to be tortured, no matter what they know or what they may know or even what they've done. Yes they broke the law and yes they hurt others or maybe they know information about it, but stooping to their level makes us nothing more than them. Accomplises in global terror. By supporting torture, we support terror because torture is terror, terror is torture, they are one in the same and there is no separating them. It makes me so mad that people can't see there is no distinction between them or that torturing and hurting (and killing, because war is wrong too) is morally wrong. I get so angry that people would ever support this sort of behavior. Our government (and our corporations and such things) have serious moral issues that need to be dealt with. And it's not just Bush. It's the whole White House and many parts of Congress. Not normally the Democrats, but even they are often just as bad as the Republicans with their pussy footing and refusal to address "sensitive issues" which are the only issues that ever truly need to be addressed.
For those of you who read this whole thing, thank you. For those of you who didn't, you should at least read the article.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/110405A.shtml
posted by kellyisdelightful @ 5:04 PM
4 Comments:
I am ADD and paid attention til about halfway through the post when my eyes started to blur and my brain started to think about shiny things.
But in all seriousness, I do agree there are some things majorly wrong with the bill...for instance, I don't understand why the CIA would be exempt from the rule. Isn't it illegal to torture people into submission anyway?
I've basically given up on this administration and am looking forward to the 2008 election when we can hopefully remedy the problems with this administration. Either that or looking forward to someone finally putting Bush out of our misery.
Um, that's all. Keep on truckin'...that's how we roll.
(I have to admit, it took me a few days to get up the initiative to read this... I know it's horrible, but I am not particularly fascinated by the government's inner workings. But I did read it. Yay for me.)
I do have to say, I don't necessarily believe that all war is wrong. I mean, as Americans, we wouldn't have our basic freedoms had our founding fathers and troops not fought for it. But as for the "War on Terror," yeah I totally agree. It should have ended long ago.
Because I'm not as well-read on this topic and don't feel I know enough to state an opinion on most of what you've written, I'm just going to throw this out there for all you liberals... Doesn't it seem kinda like Bush is trying to become dictator-like? I mean, everything I've read about him recently is negative, and he's always trying to do something that at least half the population disagrees with. Just throwing that out there.
You'd like this Kelly. The other day there was a protest on the South Oval; it was basically an anti-Bush protest, but there were people in orange with burlap sacks over their heads with leashes around their necks, and they were shouting things about torture to troops and other people. They didn't go about it the right way in my opinion; they were accusing people who had family and friends in Iraq of being the ones torturing them. But at least people had an opinion about something, and it was kind of refreshing. The end.
Yay Allie for reading this! woooo!
Ummm yeah. Bush has been being dictator like for a awhile. People are just now noticing it. In fact, the only President to have lower approval ratings than Bush has right now is Nixon immediately after Watergate=pathetic.
I don't believe in war. I'm a pacisfist. I believe in self-defense and I believe in "fighting" for your rights and freedoms, but I don't believe violence is the answer. That's just me though.
Thanks for the comment thought. Je l'aime.
Kelly, we know you're rageous and all, but you can't be mad at the government forever. So why don't you calm down and write a fun little post about how life is going for you in sexy Fort Worth, Texas? Some of us don't get to see/talk/hear from you often, you know...some of us are ten hours away.
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