*headdesk* ohforfuckssake.This evening on MSNBC, former Democratic congressman Harold Ford, Jr., adopted many of Cheney’s right-wing talking points to defend torture, saying he was “not as outraged as some are about” what happened at Guantanamo. He suggested that he even would have voted to approve torture in order to “prevent the destruction of an American city”:
[snip]FORD: You have to remember when this was occurring. This is 2002, 2003. The country was in a different place, in a different space. And if you were to say to me, as an American, put aside my partisanship, that we have an opportunity to gain information that would prevent the destruction of an American city, to prevent killings in American cities, and we have to use certain techniques, I’m one of those Americans that would have voted a certain way, Chris. And that polling said it might have been torture, but I’m not as outraged.
Matthews was incredulous, telling Ford, “You are veering into Cheney country here.” He said Ford’s talking point about the destruction of an American city was “Cheney talk.” “That’s what he used to justify torture,” Matthews said.
Can we please stop having this debate? Torture is illegal under United States and international law. We've executed people for doing less than we did. That should be enough right there. But on top of torture being a war crime, let's just get one little fact crystal clear: torture doesn't work. Here endeth the debate.
The next time Cheney hands you a refreshing non-alcoholic fruity beverage, Harold, don't fucking drink it.
Sometimes you just gotta love Eugene Robinson. His, from today's WaPo:
ReplyDelete"Schieffer asked him about Rush Limbaugh's assertion that the Republican Party would be better off if Colin Powell left and became a Democrat. One would think that Cheney would have at least a measure of respect for a longtime colleague with whom he had served in two administrations. But one would be wrong.
"Well, if I had to choose in terms of being a Republican, I'd go with Rush Limbaugh, I think," Cheney said. "I think my take on it was Colin had already left the party. I didn't know he was still a Republican."
Let's see: Given a choice between a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and secretary of state who has given to his nation a lifetime of exemplary public service or an entertainer who brags about how much money he makes from bombast and bluster, Cheney would go with the gasbag. This is advice that's supposed to help the Republican Party?"
I've never seen anyone in the GOP put it quite that bluntly, but yes, those have been their priorities for quite some time.
ReplyDelete