Result driven Injustice

Ah, it’s funny how your political appointees in the Justice Department manage to give you the "okay" for your immoral and illegal conduct:

Bush administration officials from Vice President Dick Cheney on down signed off on using harsh interrogation techniques against suspected terrorists after asking the Justice Department to endorse their legality

Not asking "Is this legal?", no "after asking the Justice Department to endorse their legality".

And, of course:

The department issued another still-secret memo in October 2001 that, in part, sought to outline novel ways the military could be used domestically to defend the country in the face of an impending attack. The Justice Department so far has refused to release it, citing attorney-client privilege, and Attorney General Michael Mukasey declined to describe it Thursday at a Senate panel where Democrats characterized it as a "torture memo."

Empty Wheel is the place to turn to in order to discuss such matters in detail. I blog so I don’t have to talk about law.

Although right now, I’ll just excuse myself to go dry heave over the thought of what the Bush Administration has done and how few folks seem to give a damn. But by all means Jake Tapper keep telling me what politicians smell of, because that’s the important stuff, not little things like war crimes, unconstitutional acts, and base immorality by my own government (my own being the distinction, even when I did not vote for them).

I know I’m not supposed to give a crap because I’m told by the always reliable Bush Administration that in each and every case "these people are trying to kill us". I’m not supposed to worry my not-so-pretty little head over it or lose sleep. Except, of course, I love America just enough to simultaneously not care about flag pins and still be against torturing people in its name.

And then there are the problems with who we are actually torturing, like crazy people and innocent people.

Maher Arar, Khaled al-Masri, Bisher al-Rawi and Mohamed Farag Ahmad Bashmilah. Names of innocent men who were guilty of nothing more than being Muslim and were renditioned and tortured for information they could not provide.

I also remember despite the proclamations to the contrary that the President doesn’t swear to keep me safe, he or she swears to "preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution". Maybe the next time John McCain tosses off the line of how he takes an oath to protect "the people" someone in the media can remember 4th grade civics and repeat the inaugural oath?

Or, like Jake Tapper, you can smell a politician.

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4. IG Report: Ashcroft Complained He was Misled by CIA, Too
5. Report: US Government Owns Abu-Zubaida’s Thoughts