Comments on: Cheney Admits He ‘Signed Off’ on Waterboarding of Three Guantanamo Prisoners

By: rosemarie jackowski

rosemarie jackowski — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 20:37:58 +0000

bozh…I agree that the educational system is a big part of the problem. I support a publicly financed universal, single payer PRIVATE educational system that also supports home schooling. I have taught for more than 50 years and have been convinced for a long time that the public school system, as it now exists, is so bad that it cannot be fixed. It must be replaced.

Hue…I am not so sure about what you say. Think about what happened when Jeremiah Wright’s sermon was made public. Most USAsians believe that the USA can do no wrong. If Obama had supported Rev. Wright, he would have gained a few votes but probably would have lost the election. 2 of the 4 candidates for Attorney General in Vermont had publicly stated that they would prosecute. Those 2 candidates came in last. I was one of them. I knew that would happen. Sticking to my principles was more important than winning an election.

By: bozh

bozh — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 15:09:45 +0000

a child in us is taught that it lives in the greatest, freest, most just, etc., country.

a country w. sacrosant constitution, greatest jurisprudence, etc.
what is child to do than to accept all of that as true.

but if a child is told that all of it is untrue in various degrees; h/she wld accept that as well and feel good.
but the liars control all schooling. so, it’s up to parents to enlighten their children.
it wld be a small step if just 2-5% of parents wld reveal this to them. one wld win over these children for a life time. thnx

By: Hue Longer

Hue Longer — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 22:54:24 +0000

Hello Rosemarie,

I don’t agree entirely…If Obama had said during the campaign that he would prosecute GW, his popularity would have soared. The problem is what the media would have done to turn that around as fast as they could (and they would).

The voters are being manipulated every turn and it’s not apathy by itself in all cases.

Cheers

By: rosemarie jackowski

rosemarie jackowski — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 21:27:13 +0000

John Hatch…Prosecutions won’t come from Washington. The Congress was complicit. Any hope of prosecutions was lost during the last election – that is unless some citizen group is willing to take on their State Attorney General or county prosecutor. Do I have any takers out there????? The case has already been laid out by Bugliosi. All we need is ONE AG or prosecutor – just ONE.

Angry Peasant…As my old friend, Ralph Wright – former Speaker of the Vermont House – used to say, “All you need to be a politician, is to know how to count.” What he meant was that elected officials keep count of how many votes any action will get them. If voters had made known that they wanted prosecutions, we would have them. Letting the voters off the hook only encourages more apathy.

That we don’t have a democracy is well known, but politicians know how to count – all of them do.

It’s the voters – it’s always the voters who must accept ultimate responsibility. You can say that voters have been dumbed-down by an irresponsible, irrelevant media. That is true and that is also the fault of the public. It is not the government that is imposing stupidity on the public. The public demands stupidity by choosing to watch and read what it does.

By: The Angry Peasant

The Angry Peasant — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 04:16:29 +0000

As we already know, Obama is more of the same, lying in the same bed as his fellow corporate puppets. And Rosemarie, the American people may have spoken, but only to say that they don’t care. Remember, we’re dealing with a largely apathetic poulation, and also a lot of people who feel like what they want doesn’t matter to the ruling class anyway, which they are absolutely right about.
There was a time when the owners of this country at least made a pretense of caring about popular opinion. All that changed in the last couple decades. Now they do what they want, when they want. Take Clinton for example. The public did make it known that they didn’t want him impeached, yet he was impeached anyway. Now people have thrown in the towel. On the one hand, you can’t blame them. On the other, they should redouble their resolve to overthrow or vote out these bastards. But you can’t rest the blame solely on the voters. You must remember this is a Democracy in propagandist terms only. We’ve moved from a Democratic structure in the last thirty years to the pretense of one, to finally now, “You can all go f— yourselves.” The government doesn’t want to impeach Bush/Cheney, regardless of what the voters say either way. They are protecting them, because most of them have grown very wealthy during their reign. Not impeaching is their “Thank you.”

By: John Hatch

John Hatch — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 01:16:09 +0000

It seems to me that to fail to prosecute such stunning crimes (and not ‘just’ torture, but also vile crimes against humanity committed in the conduct of two illegal wars) would be to repudiate the notion of justice itself and to proceed further into a moral and ethical vacuum. How can ‘Justice’ go after Madoff but ignore Bush/Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, Ashcroft, Yoo, Bybee and a host of others.

How can Mr. Obama begin his Presidency with any credibility whatsoever if he decides to ignore some of the most serious crimes in American history in favor of some imagined political expediency a la Pelosi? This is change? Weren’t the past eight years bad enough?

By: rosemarie jackowski

rosemarie jackowski — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 20:09:21 +0000

The war crimes have been well known for a long time. The voters could have elected State Attorneys General who had pledged to prosecute Bush/Cheney. Half of the AG candidates in Vermont made that pledge. The US voters have spoken. They do NOT want prosecutions. War crimes will continue until the mind-set of the average USAsian changes. How long do you think that will take…

By: The Angry Peasant

The Angry Peasant — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 18:09:41 +0000

Cheney can brazenly admit whatever he wants now because he knows with all confidence and certainty that he is untouchable. The lack of even the consideration on the part of Congress to punish Bush/Cheney/Rice and co. in any way is stunning, unapologetic proof that Washington is just one big bed that they’re all bunking in together. This is where we’ve gone, folks. Illegal wars; the shredding of the Constitution; illegal wiretapping; supporting corporate fraud; torture. Kind of makes getting away with a little burglary a drop in the well, doesn’t it? If Nixon were still alive, how he would wish he were President now.

By: bozh

bozh — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 17:40:32 +0000

the torture was also done for the good of the hobos; so, it’s justifiable.
the torture had shown to hobos how elevated they r in comparison to zubaydah, nashiri, ibrahim. it made their day.
in add’n, we all r headed for hell to join genghis, jesus, truman, hitler, rabin, geronimo. thnx

By: Brian

Brian — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 16:13:45 +0000

Will the constitutional law professor, now President-elect, move to have this admitted felon prosecuted?

No, he doesn’t want to antagonize the Republicans he needs to get his conservative agenda past the minority Progressive Dems.