Right Wing Authoritarians [Torture is Good for You]

[Editors Note: I am not the staunchest Obama supporter, in fact I believe there are legitimate critiques of his policies -- especially his (mostly wrong-headed conservative) economic policy decisions. However, much of the right-wing criticism of Obama is fueled by hatred and, yes, racism. I quantify that last assertion here, but today I find myself SMDH at the revolting scumbags on the right. I mean, they have no sense of fuckin decency, no fuckin shame at all. I believe these cretins would fuck their own mothers over without a second thought...]

Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that. Hate Multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction. -- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. p 53, The Strength to Love, 1963

First things first. It seems there’s a mini storm over the above quote by MLK. The quote, with the leading line, I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy... went viral immediately after the news of the murder of Osama Bin Laden was released. A rather irresponsible article penned by Megan McArdle at The Atlantic, noted that after having Googled said quote, she couldn’t find verification. Therefore, the reporter surmised, the quote isn’t accurate, and MLK never said it.

Actually, as I have correctly cited, the quote is a genuine MLK quote. What isn’t part of the quote, is the first line and here’s what happened. The sentiment was first posted as a Facebook status, and it read (verbatim):

I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy, “Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.” -- mlk [emphasis added]

Note the placement of the quotation marks. As the status was repeated, the quotes were misplaced, giving the impression that the leading sentence -- the sentence not part of the MLK quote -- was attributed to MLK. This then led other reporters, bloggers, commenters to assert that MLK never said it. And that’s a false conclusion. But the larger point here is that journalists are doing a piss-poor job of research. Indeed, the research can be found in the comments section of The Atlantic article. Has this journalist ever heard of... books? Direct sources? *The article has been picked in places like the WashPo, The CS Monitor, and if you Google the first line, you’ll easily get 50-60k hits (the last time I looked).

This is bullshit, lazy, hack writing, plain and simple.

Now on to the important stuff...

I guess it was to be expected. No sooner than the news of OBL’s assassination was released, that the right wing cretins went into feces flingin’ mode, and started patting themselves in the back for the deed. What’s that? Yes, the Bush administration spent trillions, sent us to two unnecessary wars where about 50,000 of our men and women were killed or maimed, and spent almost a decade without even getting close to OBL, but Bush should be given the honors. Obama is just the lawn jockey. he can’t possibly be smart enough to capture/ kill OBL, right?

Except that it isn’t true. In fact, only six months after 9/11, The Village Idiot publicly admitted he was no longer concerned about OBL. Let’s take it to the videotape, Johnny:

Spin that bitches. More importantly, Bush shut down the CIA unit weighted with the responsibility of capturing Bin Laden. Guess who opened it up again? Yup... Obama.

Why the Secrecy Over the Prison at Bagram?

by JuJuBe (Joanna)

Last week, a victory for the government in a federal court case sent a signal out to the rest of the world as to how loosely we hold the ideals of "liberty and justice for all" In a decision that is not surprising AT ALL, Federal District Judge Barbara Jones determined that the Pentagon DOES NOT need to make public vital information pertaining to the prisoners held at the Parwan Prison on the Bagram Air Force Base outside of Kabul.

The ACLU filed suit demanding that such pertinent information as circumstances and location of "capture", the national origin and citizenship, and the length of imprisonment of detainees at Bagram be released. They were denied, under the guise of "national security". And, the judge also decided that there is no need to reveal whether or not the CIA is keeping captives there. It seems like after the debacles at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo, the government is reluctant to share any details of the hundreds of people detained at Bagram. The ACLU believes that it is for fear that the public will find out that many people being held are, in fact, innocent of any wrongdoing, simply victims of circumstance. Prisoners at Bragram DO NOT have the right to challenge their captivity in US Courts.

So I Waterboarded my 1yr old yesterday, and...

Aww man it was great! Effective? Hell yeah it was! What? Illegal? Child abuse? What are you talking about?! Shit, I had to do what I had to do! But she’s a child? Ok yeah, so she’s only 19 months old; yeah she’s a child; but it’s not abuse. I mean, it’s not like I threw her at Walmart security guard or anything. You wanna talk about crime? Now that shit right there was a crime.

What did I do? Well I was taking a shower; damn it was one of those real good showers too. Uh huh, and she kicks in the door crying and screaming because she wanted to get in with me. Now that’s something I’ve never done before; I leave that up to her mother. Yeah, they take baths together and stuff like that. But anyway, so she’s standing there losing her freakin mind. So what did I do? I got her undressed and picked her up and we both took a shower. What? I'm not a bad parent like some people are.

I think she liked it especially since this was her first time. Aww man when I put her face up to the shower head she shut right up. Yup no more crying. Oh I gave her time to get used to the splashing water in her face. Torture? That’s not torture; it’s called doing what one has to do. It's not like she was crying and asking me to stop like those silly right wing talk show hosts after six seconds. I mean hell it’s only water. Shit, 70% of the earth is covered with water; so what’s the big deal?!! But it’s almost like drowning? No it’s not. Not when you use soap. Hell it’s called washing your ass. Besides, the water wasn’t even cold. If it was, that would have been wrong. I mean it’s not like I was trying to hurt her or anything; hell, what information is so necessary to be obtained from a 1yr old that I can’t use a belt.

I was just trying to clean her up just like all little babies should be at her age; chaos breeds opportunity. Say what? Child Protective Services? Really? Why should I worry about them; it’s not like I’m a terrorist or anything, right? I mean hell, she was screaming at the top of her lungs. I had to do what I had to do to protect my family. I wasn’t gonna ignore her and walk out of the shower only to be greeted by the rest of my family with bleeding ears from all her screaming. Damn right, I’m a father and husband and I do what I have to do to keep my family safe. Hell, Dick Cheney is a dad just like me, and he says it’s not torture. And you know what? He’s so right. It’s called taking a bath or shower, people. Hello! How are you supposed to do that without getting your face wet?!! Those terrorists should be happy, and people should stop bitching. Those terrorists have some of the most kind folks working down in Guantanamo Bay who are willing to give them baths more than once a day. Yup, everybody isn’t that nice; just look at Barack Obama.

Stop Calling it Torture

So Barack Obama wants to move forward and forget about the whole torture thing as it has happened under Bush and the whole war on terror. I don't know about you, but I think it's not fair to push it off to the side, in a "let’s move past it" and move forward attitude. I'll be honest; this is the type of stuff that gets me heated when I'm told to forget the past as it relates to slavery and oppression. It's often the convenient defense of the guilty.

I think it's funny how people selectively want justice only if it directly impacts their lives. Sure its ok to torture someone who wears a towel on his head as long as we're fighting this war on terror and they're being housed in Gitmo, or lord knows where else because of rendition. Yep, I don't give a shit because those fuckers had it coming to them since 9/11. I mean really! So what if we started treating people this way who are housed currently in our jails and prisons? I mean, why not simulate drowning in order to get confessions from alleged criminals upon arrest.

Yeah, screw that old school method of slamming their nuts in a drawer, or beating them with telephone books. That shit is outdated and obviously ineffective. Yeah, let’s get enhanced. Don't you just love the fuckin politically correct terms these days? Torture is now known as "enhanced interrogations". Yeah like by being "enhanced", it's less painful or draconian. I'm guessing enhanced interrogations means these people are all having the bottom of their feet tickled with feathers in an attempt to gain information.

But no, we're supposed to leave the past in the past and move forward. Forget prosecuting anyone in the face of a crime being committed. Well, if that's the case, why do we have our tax dollars go towards a special department to hunt down Nazi war criminals? Oh I get it, what they did was cruel and unusual punishment. Yup, not only that, its not like their torture method was enhanced. I mean after all, what's the big deal? It's only water right? So what if waterboarding or simulated drowning was done 183 times a month, that guy had it coming to him. Besides, the treatment he received was enhanced, right?

Screw it, we should start seeing that type of stuff on The First 48 or maybe even Law & Order for that matter. Yup, and the police departments all across the country should adopt this as policy. Might as well because it's definitely not torture. Torture is living in this country knowing that Bush lied and that nothing is going to be done about it. Yup, that's torture alright.

QUESTION(S):Do you think it's neccessary for these acts to be used as a tool of interrogation? Should anyone be prosecuted for these acts as the war crime that it is? Should we use enhanced interrogation techniques on U.S. soil? Do you agree with Obama on this one?

Rush Limbaugh is a Brainwashed Nazi (so says fellow republican)

Hey Michael Steele, listen up. Remember when you did the whole “get on your knees” thing when you sucked Rush’s dick genuflected and performed an act of fellatio on Mr. Limbaugh after he put you on blast a while ago? Remember that? Yeah, you were the talk of the town, and laughing stock of Negroes like me. Well, Money Mike (can I call you that?), it seems like you needed a few more lessons in Blackness. So, in an attempt to school you, I’ve come up with the Blackest republican from whom you should take notes. Uh huh, if you listen to the following audio, its an exchange from one of your own as he called in to Rush Limbaugh’s show yesterday.

Pay attention:

Did you hear that Mike? You see how Charles from Chicago represented? Ok yeah, Charles isn’t Black, or at least sounded like he was. However, did you noticed how he pulled Rush’s card? Yes my friend, that’s how real men do real things. Real niggas like my man Charles stand up to fools like Limpballs and tell the truth. We don’t grovel and get on that yessum massa bullshit. We speak truth to power especially when we’re the ones in charge. Charles sound like a pretty cool old dude who loves his country in spite of his political affiliations. And you know what? I could hangout with people like that, and so too can Barack Obama.

I don’t care what or who you believe, as long as you’re able to tell the truth, you’re fine by me. Did you see how Rush cut him off and blasted him for telling the truth? Noticed how he called him ignorant? That’s what happens when the truth smacks you in the face. Usually when one is hit with truth, he has no recourse but to resort to the childish tactics the likes of 5yr olds on the playground. Charles is right, most of these talking heads in the media that represent the right-wing are brainwashed fools much like the Nazi’s of Germany. And sadly, they are responsible for much of this paranoia circulating in America today.

"Barack Obama is president of the United States today because of stupid, ignorant people who think like you do." – Rush Limbaugh

Well Rush, seems like you’re wrong again. This is what he said to my man Charles. Obviously he wasn’t paying attention or his selective memory kicked in. Charles clearly stated that he voted for McCain. Oh well, maybe the pain pills affects the brain or hearing; the hell if I know. I do know that the reason Barack Obama is president is because, well, people were sick and tired of the last 8yrs of the leadership of the Bush regime. If that makes people like me or the rest of the majority who voted for Obama stupid and ignorant, well, as we say in the hood: “I’ll be that.”

I don't know if you agree with what my man Charles said, but I do know that torture sure as hell isn't the way to go. More importantly, I do agree that much of the negative talk I hear from consevatives on the anti-Obama train do amount to nothing more than soured grapes. The republican party needs new leadership, and maybe Charles is it. I don't know if he is, but, I do know that true leadership requires one to be honest and admit his wrong doing.

What do you think?