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[personal profile] sophiaserpentia
A piece in this weekend's Washington Post is the Rosetta Stone that unravels the mystery of why Democrats like Nancy Pelosi took the impeachment of Bush and Cheney off the table - their hands are in the torture pie too.

In September 2002, four members of Congress met in secret for a first look at a unique CIA program designed to wring vital information from reticent terrorism suspects in U.S. custody. For more than an hour, the bipartisan group, which included current House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), was given a virtual tour of the CIA's overseas detention sites and the harsh techniques interrogators had devised to try to make their prisoners talk.

Among the techniques described, said two officials present, was waterboarding, a practice that years later would be condemned as torture by Democrats and some Republicans on Capitol Hill. But on that day, no objections were raised. Instead, at least two lawmakers in the room asked the CIA to push harder, two U.S. officials said.


So, there you have it. The Democrats won't impeach for the same reason that Mukasey, during his confirmation hearings, could not even admit to have pondered whether waterboarding is torture: because it makes them open to prosecution too. They are personally and individually complicit in the Bush Administration's crimes against humanity.

But...

Date: 2007-12-10 11:34 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] publius-aelius.livejournal.com
They are personally and individually complicit in the Bush Administration's crimes against humanity.

Barack Obama is not. Neither is Ron Paul or Dennis Kucinich. It is still perfectly possible to believe in a handful of our national leaders.

Re: But...

Date: 2007-12-11 12:16 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] liminalia.livejournal.com
Oh Lord, don't get me started on the 101 reasons to dislike Ron Paul. Why do so many otherwise leftie people think he walks on water? I don't get it.

Re: But...

Date: 2007-12-11 12:41 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] publius-aelius.livejournal.com
Why do so many otherwise leftie people think he walks on water?

Because, despite his honest but erroneous conviction that radical libertarianism is most beneficial for the majority, he is still a truth-telling man of peace. It's really quite reasonable that fair-minded "leftists" can respect his integrity while differing with some of his ideas.

Re: But...

Date: 2007-12-13 10:07 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] la-veuve-chibi.livejournal.com
Whereas Kucinich isn't just a truth-telling man of peace, but also--gasp!--a leftist! Wow, imagine voting for someone you agree with completely instead of partially...

Re: But...

Date: 2007-12-14 12:45 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] publius-aelius.livejournal.com
But I do NOT agree with Kucinich "completely"; I am somewhat more of a libertarian than he is. I LIVED in two socialist countries for almost a decade of my life, and I'm convinced that socialism is incompatible with human nature. The levels of sheer dependence and mind-numbing bureaucracy convinced me that a capitalist social democracy is better for any traditional Western Judaeo-Christian society.

Re: But...

Date: 2007-12-11 07:05 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] sophiaserpentia.livejournal.com
Yes, but it takes more then two or three people to impeach the president. We need more than a handful to show some genuine leadership.

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