It seems the ‘harsh interrogation’ program was directly controlled from the White House – to the Conference Room next door to the Interrogation Room – such that each ‘intent shake’, ‘open-handed belly slap’ and ‘Waterboarding’ session was discussed, authorized and performed – all captured on audio and video tape.

As I read that, I was having the thought of those websites where people pay to see “what they want.” They order up a “belly slap.” Order up a “waterboard.” Etc. That’s exactly what happened here!

I wish someone could do u-tube of that…. showing bush and cheney “ordering up” the torture… like you’d order up a pizza. That would bring home the awful situation we’ve arrived at… where “leaders” are doing for real, with helpless prisoners, a kind of “porn and torture” reality show.

Are all you need to:

Identify Ideological ‘Enemies’ and Pancake their Minds.

That way, everyone is sure to Act Right and Think Right, or they won’t be around to threaten those that do.

The slippery slope is not a playground slide, but a precipitous fall into Bush’s Living Hell.

More than Our Country is being stolen, America!

Look at all the Dems who are conspicuously absent from this letter–wonder if it’s an omen of bad tidings to come?

Senators Lobby Reid to Keep Telecom Immunity out of Surveillance Bill

Dear Majority Leader Reid:

We understand that the Senate will shortly be considering amendments to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. As you know, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and the Senate Judiciary Committee have reported very different versions of the FISA Amendments Act, S. 2248, and it is up to you, as Majority Leader, to decide how the Senate considers this legislation.

We urge you to make the version of S. 2248 reported by the Senate Judiciary Committee the base bill to be considered by the full Senate. While the structure of Title I of both bills is the same, and both make improvements over the Protect America Act, the reasonable changes to Title I made in the Judiciary Committee ensure that the FISA Court will be able to conduct much-needed oversight of the implementation of these broad new surveillance authorities, and help to better protect the rights of innocent Americans. While we appreciate the hard work that the Intelligence Committee has done on this legislation, the process by which the Judiciary Committee considered, drafted, amended and reported out its bill was an open one, allowing outside experts and the public at large the opportunity to review and comment. With regard to legislation so directly connected to the constitutional rights of Americans, the results of this open process should be accorded great weight, especially in light of the Judiciary Committee’s unique role and expertise in protecting those rights.

We also believe that the Judiciary Committee bill is preferable because it does not provide immunity for telecom companies that allegedly cooperated with the administration’s warrantless wiretapping program. As this is such a controversial issue, we feel it would be appropriate to require the proponents of immunity to make their case on the floor.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Russell D. Feingold (D-WI)

Christopher J. Dodd (D-CT)

Barack Obama (D-IL)

Bernard Sanders (I-VT)

Robert Menendez (D-NJ)

Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (D-DE)

Sherrod Brown (D-OH)

Tom Harkin (D-IA)

Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD)

Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY)

I noticed the illustrious Brigadeer General Thomas Hart Mann, legal advisor to Gitmo, lol Gitmos Chief “Of Counsel testifying before either House or Senate Intelligence today who asserted exactly the goofy defense I predicted the gov would use–that torture on foreign soil by U.S. agents would not be subject to U.S. laws on the military books and part of the Geneva conventions.

These people are taking their cues from Addington/Cheney/and Shrub and another lawyer who is keeping a low profile–Harvard Law’s own Ed Gillespe who took Rove’s place more or less.

General Mann’s statements today, and General Hartman’s statements to SJC yesterday should be getting a helluva lot more coverage and show casing than it has because it goes right to the heart of BushCo’s strategy that they aren’t accountable to any law for any flimsy reason they grab.

To establish the direct connection between the actions and the authorizers in such a manner would likely make the ‘location’ element moot.

Torture is on Bush like fly-paper.

Yep, I agree about Federal Courts websites. Couple are actually good most mediocre at best and some downright homely/pathetic. I am glad to have PACER, but not that fond of it. In fact, I was just getting ready to go to it to look for the two Brinkema orders, although I fear they may be sealed under CIPA protocols. As I was discussing with Mary on another thread, these detainees and the tape evidence, was under the control of the US irrespective of where they were. Using the fact that the US illegally was holding them in illegal black sites etc. doesn’t do shit for me as an excuse.