Congratulations, America. Our tax dollars now pay for torture.
The United States will be the first nation on Earth to authorize violations of the Geneva Conventions.
Here’s the text of the “Agreement on Common Article 3” in PDF, for torture-defending assholes like
It only takes a single read-through to see that the Senators have capitulated entirely, that the U.S. will hereafter violate the Geneva Conventions. In addition to the elimination of habeas rights in section 7a, the bill would delegate (in Section 8) the authority to interpret “the meaning and application of the Geneva Conventions” “for the United States,” to the fucking President (except that the bill itself would define certain “grave breaches” of Common Article 3 to be war crimes… small comfort there, since it would permit most of the more coercive CIA techniques to continue.). So this language would literally cut the legs out from under Supreme Court decisions like the Hamdan decision, by saying that the President alone has the authority to interpret. Yes, that’s unbelievable — read it yourself. It’s there in black-and-white.
And in the worst part of the bill, for purposes going far beyond the questions of torture and interrogation — section 7 would preclude courts altogether from ever interpreting the Geneva Conventions — any part of them — by providing that “no person may invoke the Geneva Conventions or any protocols thereto in any habeas or civil action or proceeding to which the United States, or a current or former officer, employee, member of the Armed Forces, or other agent of the United States, is a party as a source of rights, in any court of the United States or its States or territories.”
I can hear the NeoCon assholes (like
Yeah….that’s true….it’s not like these provisions are ever going to accidentally result in the torture of an innocent man, now will they?
Every Conservative voter who put these criminals in power should hang their heads in shame. History will judge you as the ones who destroyed what this country once stood for.
You know what terrifies me the most about this? He has 2 more years to pull this kind of shit. TWO MORE GODDAMN YEARS. I swear that we’re gonna be in prison camps by then and he’ll still be saying that “it’s in our best interest” and “it’s what’s right for this country”.
I’m out of energy for this. Seriously. I want to put my fingers in my ears, close my eyes, and scream.
I’m right there with you. I won’t stop trying to change things, but I’m really at the “what good is it going to do” point. I mean, this man has never actually been elected by the people, and yet, he’s getting the full term a president can have. I know some of these senators have better sense than this, which means to me… I don’t even want to think how he’s controlling them, it scares me. So he has a stranglehold, and all I want to do is run away.
I don’t condone torture whatsoever. However, the Geneva Convention specifically does not protect combatants who dress as civilians and hide amongst them to launch their attacks. So I’m very frustrated at this whole situation, and really just throw my hands up in the air.
By doing this, the Congress has now joined with our President to turn this country into the Great Satan we are accused of being.
We no longer have anything resembling moral ground whatsoever.
And of course, Bush now cannot be proscecuted.
I literally despair to think what will come in the next two years.
D.
Canada is looking better and better :-(
As far as I can tell, the neocon “logic” appears to be as follows: We are in a battle to save the future of Western Civilization so it is therefore imperative to abandon one of the hallmarks of said civilization and adopt the techniques of those seeking to destroy it.
WHAT THE GOOD GODDAMN FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?
Sorry for “screaming” in your blog, but I’m just really frustrated and disturbed with this psychotic obsession with torturing brown people for no other reason than it’s spiffy keen and gives the neocons massive erections.
Oh, and if you ask “Who would Jesus torture,” then you’re the “Moralizing Left.” But I thought we were the amoral Party of Death. Aargh!
Since the asshat voters in question are no-necks, hanging their heads will be difficult.
Now, thoughts of hanging come to mind, but they would be unproductive …