So it turns out that there are circumstances where the Obama administration considers waterboarding a prosecutable offense after all:
[T]he National Park Service… has told activist Steve Lane he will be prosecuted if he attempts to demonstrate waterboarding at Thursday’s anti-torture rally in Washington, D.C. The permit for the rally reads "Waterboarding exhibit will not be allowed for safety reasons."
In other words, waterboarding can only be prosecuted if it’s voluntary. Or more to the point, it can only be prosecuted if it’s voluntary for the purpose of calling attention to all the involuntary waterboarding that isn’t being prosecuted.
Glad we got that cleared up.
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Thank goodness Obama has finally taken a strong stand on something. If average citizens ever find out how pleasurable waterboarding is they’ll be doing it all over the place.
They should use a (water) gun instead of a canteen since guns are legal in parks now.
im getting to the point,i cant stand listening to him,like chimpie…different reasons same puke response
Some thought we were electing an advocate for all Americans and for American ideals. The reality appears something less. Still gives a pretty speech, though.
That’s the change I voted for!
All protected under Obama’s skirt.
Threatened with prosecution.
The Obama administration has set policy and installed a Whitehouse staff and cabinet and kept the Bushco DOJ and various department staff. Everything was great under Bushco apparently now he can have couple of wars of his own. You want health care…go to Mexico…the state governments have cut medicaid due to budget shortfalls. Obama wants to cut $300 billion from medicare medicaid……that should be a down payment on the $13 trillion the banks got of our tax dollars. Your kids will be bailin for decades. Alternative energy and global warming can be addressed later…can’t do it all at once ya know. The US Constitution is really old fashioned and privacy rights are trumped by National security.
What’s not to like about change you can believe in? Stay the course. No torture here just enhanced interrogstion that leave no evidence…just ban the pictures.Would someone please tell him thisw as noy what he promised if we voted for him? What you want the other guy…shut uo and keep bailin.
I gather it is a hoop-skirt. Even so it must be cramped quarters.
Incredible. so if the demonstration goes ahead as planned, and they try to prosecute, they will have to argue that waterboarding is a crime in order to sustain the indictment. I predict this will happen as planned.
Only a crime when and where they say it is. At water-parks such as Gitmo or Bagram, no problem…
“In stark legal turnaround, Obama now resembles Bush”
Michael Doyle, McClatchy News
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227…..ni_popular
it’s not waterboarding.. it’s a water slide!
“Waterboarding exhibit will not be allowed for safety reasons.”
And, as we all know, safety trumps First Amendment rights every time. Our Leader even said so.
Simply unbelievable.
“It is basically subject to perception. If the detainee dies, you’re doing it wrong.”
Seriously, are we really certain that Bush/Cheney actually left the White House?
So are we to assume that waterboarding is not safe? /s
Who is this person in the Whitehouse and what happened to the Barack Obama that was running to become POTUS?
Fuck Obama.
Jesus on a goddamn pita chip. This hope and change just gets freaking better and better.
Bbbbbbut, I thought that a “dunk in the water” was a “no-brainer”.
You just didn’t understand…he meant to say “spare change”…shut up and keep bailin…the banks aren’t lending to main street and a lot more folks will be without a paycheck and the ATM on your home equity is closed.
“The times thay are a changin”
Hmph. We had a water-boarding demonstration in front of the Inky to call attention to the hiring of John Yoo as a commentator in that paper. Our “victim” was perfectly safe at all times.
I hope Mr. Lane goes through with it anyway, just because it will be so embarrassing for the administration if they attempt to prosecute him.
so let some PUTZ in Obama’s administration TRY to arrest somebody who protests waterboarding by demonstrating waterboarding
then Barack Obama can explain waterboarding to his children, so they can understand what is happening outside the Whitehouse EVERY FUCKING DAY
maybe these ignorant fucks never heard of the Suffergetts’ protest in fron of Wilson’s whitehouse
and maybe these ignorant fucks don’t understand the concept of YOUTUBE and the innertoobz
so LETS GIVE OBAMA SOME CHANGE HE CAN FUCKING BELIEVE IN
let’s force the fucker to arrest everybody BUT BUSH
he can’t hide from history
and we just got a BIG CHANCE to let history bite Barack Obama in the ASS
wanna go down as a War Criminal, mr Obama
want to be remembered as an apologist for torture
want Crimes Against Humanity to become your legacy in the first year of your presidency ???
I FUCKING DARE YOU TO ARREST SOMEBODY OTHER THAN DICK AN GEORGE FOR TORTURE
I TRIPLE DOG DARE YOU !!!
I hope he goes through with it, for exactly the reason Scarecrow pointed out. They can prosecute for violating a permit, but they’re going to have to go through quite the shit-storm to do it.
I do hope this guy goes through with it. Maybe Obama can be shamed into doing the right thing. I hope so.
Way epu’d but:
He really needs to send a response back – attaching a copy of Bradbury’s memo (or Yoo’s, or both) and state that the Dept of Justice and OLC have definitively stated that waterboarding is safe. Not only safe, but humane. He should also see if he can get a doctor with a trach kit to volunteer to be on hand. To make it more awesomely humane.