.
Now that the Rethuglicans have once again fearmongered and the spineless Democrats have caved and not even tried to put up an argument, much less a fight, and the Senate has refused to give the President the funding he needs to close down Guantanamo, I have a modest proposal.
As trials are held, as prisoners are transferred...as they inevitably will be...heck, many already have been transferred out or released....
As the prison cells empty out...
I propose we consolidate the remaining Guantanamo prisoners in one section where they can be carefully guarded.
And for the empty spaces, I suggest they be declared the designated prison for any federal officials convicted of war crimes. And any and all convicted war profiteers.
No real hardship, of course...we've been assured the current occupants have better food, better healthcare than mere Americans...and those wonderful tropical breezes.
What's that you say? It'll never happen?
Well, then, the empty cells will speak volumes, too.
.
crossposted at firedoglake's Oxdown Gazette
Showing posts with label Guantanamo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Guantanamo. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Monday, April 13, 2009
More than Sufficient
.
Spanish prosecutors are on the cusp of plans to proceed with a criminal investigation of six members of the Bush Administration alleged to have participated in the legal rationalizing of the torture of six Spanish citizens at Guantanamo, according to law professor and writer Scott Horton over at Daily Beast today.
You know their names: Alberto Gonzalez. John Yoo. Jay Bybee. William Haynes II. David Addington. Douglas J. Feith.
You know they gave the legal opinions their bosses wanted them to produce to justify their own conduct.
You know those higher-ups' names should be on the list, as well: Bush. Cheney. Rumsfeld.
And others whose names we do not know. Cowboys who postured and fogged to mask their own cowardice.
We may never judge them. The court of Spain may, ultimately, never judge them. But:
Spanish prosecutors are on the cusp of plans to proceed with a criminal investigation of six members of the Bush Administration alleged to have participated in the legal rationalizing of the torture of six Spanish citizens at Guantanamo, according to law professor and writer Scott Horton over at Daily Beast today.
You know their names: Alberto Gonzalez. John Yoo. Jay Bybee. William Haynes II. David Addington. Douglas J. Feith.
You know they gave the legal opinions their bosses wanted them to produce to justify their own conduct.
You know those higher-ups' names should be on the list, as well: Bush. Cheney. Rumsfeld.
And others whose names we do not know. Cowboys who postured and fogged to mask their own cowardice.
We may never judge them. The court of Spain may, ultimately, never judge them. But:
“The evidence provided was more than sufficient to justify a more comprehensive investigation,” one of the lawyers associated with the prosecution stated.They will not go unjudged.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Dereliction of Duty
.
Day by day, the disclosures of the what-should-be-criminal misconduct of the ideologues in the Bush Administration are being brought out of the shadows into sunshine. And it's an ugly sight.
Yesterday, a House hearing on the failure of the SEC to investigate the Bernie Madoff ponzi scheming—despite voluminous filings by Harry Markopolos, a Boston accountant. Markopolos, it seems to me, was overly generous in attributing the failure to turf wars between New York and Boston. But he went further:
A lot of fingerpointing is going on these days, and it's not a pretty sight. But more and more the nature of the mess that we've all inherited from the worst administration ever is one of ideology and bungling over pragmatism and competence.
Dick Cheney, the magic man behind the preening President, has emerged from his disclosed McLean VA location to talk to Politico. Evidently he's decided he's found the right [in all definitions of "right"] venue to replace Meet the Press as his go-to place for spewing his scaremongering. Maybe some will quiver and shake in their brush-cutter boots, but the more Dick talks, the more the rest of us see his inner Dr. Strangelove in control.
The frustration of the American people is palpable. We voted for change, and yet we see the new President ensnared by the same ol' same ol' posturings and spin, putting party before country. Party before we, the people.
Maybe McConnell needs to spend a little time back home in ol' Kentucky helping his homies get the lights back on. And a little less time trying to tear down the progress the country needs.
Some say there should be trials for all the ideologues and warmongers and profiteers and embeds throughout the government whose mission du jour was to destroy the country to save it in their own likeness.
Surely the militaristic among 'em would recognize the phrase "dereliction of duty." Even if they don't want to understand the compelling case for applying it to the former commander-in-chief on down through his ranks. In the civilian world, it's recklessness, negligence, malpractice.
The revealing SEC hearing yesterday is like a boulder in the Stonehenge [yes, I did watch Sunrise Planet Earth this morning, why do you ask?] of evidence building up in the case against the Bush Administration.
But there's also this matter of the urgency of cleaning up the mess, getting the country back on the right track, pulling back from the abyss of financial ruin.
So I've got a proposition. We'll apply their very own standard on them. Round up every member of al BushCo suspected of being linked to the egregious dereliction of duty that led to this financial and confidencial ruin of our country. Bush, Chee-knee, Norquist, Rove, Rush, Condi, Chris Cox, Alberto Gonzales, Don Rumsfeld, Goodling....feel free to fill in your own nominees...and let's send 'em all to Gitmo.
After all, they tell us, Gitmo's a grand place. Surely they won't mind languishing there a decade or two while we tidy up the cesspool they left us. We'll keep the case files handy and well-organized. Promise.
Waterboards optional.
How's that legacy thing working out, George?
.
Day by day, the disclosures of the what-should-be-criminal misconduct of the ideologues in the Bush Administration are being brought out of the shadows into sunshine. And it's an ugly sight.
Yesterday, a House hearing on the failure of the SEC to investigate the Bernie Madoff ponzi scheming—despite voluminous filings by Harry Markopolos, a Boston accountant. Markopolos, it seems to me, was overly generous in attributing the failure to turf wars between New York and Boston. But he went further:
In his testimony yesterday, a frustrated Markopolos said the SEC is "captive to the industry it regulates and it is afraid of bringing big cases against the largest, most powerful firms." He added, "Clearly the SEC was afraid of Mr. Madoff."Kind of the meta-theme of the entire George Bush era. The crooks have been running the country and cowardly, quaking BushCo did nothing to stop it.
A lot of fingerpointing is going on these days, and it's not a pretty sight. But more and more the nature of the mess that we've all inherited from the worst administration ever is one of ideology and bungling over pragmatism and competence.
Dick Cheney, the magic man behind the preening President, has emerged from his disclosed McLean VA location to talk to Politico. Evidently he's decided he's found the right [in all definitions of "right"] venue to replace Meet the Press as his go-to place for spewing his scaremongering. Maybe some will quiver and shake in their brush-cutter boots, but the more Dick talks, the more the rest of us see his inner Dr. Strangelove in control.
The frustration of the American people is palpable. We voted for change, and yet we see the new President ensnared by the same ol' same ol' posturings and spin, putting party before country. Party before we, the people.
Maybe McConnell needs to spend a little time back home in ol' Kentucky helping his homies get the lights back on. And a little less time trying to tear down the progress the country needs.
Some say there should be trials for all the ideologues and warmongers and profiteers and embeds throughout the government whose mission du jour was to destroy the country to save it in their own likeness.
Surely the militaristic among 'em would recognize the phrase "dereliction of duty." Even if they don't want to understand the compelling case for applying it to the former commander-in-chief on down through his ranks. In the civilian world, it's recklessness, negligence, malpractice.
The revealing SEC hearing yesterday is like a boulder in the Stonehenge [yes, I did watch Sunrise Planet Earth this morning, why do you ask?] of evidence building up in the case against the Bush Administration.
But there's also this matter of the urgency of cleaning up the mess, getting the country back on the right track, pulling back from the abyss of financial ruin.
So I've got a proposition. We'll apply their very own standard on them. Round up every member of al BushCo suspected of being linked to the egregious dereliction of duty that led to this financial and confidencial ruin of our country. Bush, Chee-knee, Norquist, Rove, Rush, Condi, Chris Cox, Alberto Gonzales, Don Rumsfeld, Goodling....feel free to fill in your own nominees...and let's send 'em all to Gitmo.
After all, they tell us, Gitmo's a grand place. Surely they won't mind languishing there a decade or two while we tidy up the cesspool they left us. We'll keep the case files handy and well-organized. Promise.
Waterboards optional.
How's that legacy thing working out, George?
.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
3 a.m. thinking 'bout parrots
.
Why are the Republicans and their media enablers getting so bent out of shape about shutting down Gitmo?
After all, it's the guys that the Bush Administration let go that turned agin us [two, as last I heard, although the Pentagon and its media parrots are tryin' to pretend it's 61]
... and that level of incompetence has been voted out, inaugurated out, and helicoptered back to Texas.
.
UPDATE: And parroting the Pentagon spin isn't all the media is doing, there's forwarding the Republican b.s. about a nonexistent CBO report to back up their opposition to Obama's stimulus planning. Pssst, fellas, when you downsize your factchecking, you downsize your cred. Just sayin'.
Why are the Republicans and their media enablers getting so bent out of shape about shutting down Gitmo?
After all, it's the guys that the Bush Administration let go that turned agin us [two, as last I heard, although the Pentagon and its media parrots are tryin' to pretend it's 61]
... and that level of incompetence has been voted out, inaugurated out, and helicoptered back to Texas.
.
UPDATE: And parroting the Pentagon spin isn't all the media is doing, there's forwarding the Republican b.s. about a nonexistent CBO report to back up their opposition to Obama's stimulus planning. Pssst, fellas, when you downsize your factchecking, you downsize your cred. Just sayin'.
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