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1. who do i choose to believe on torture? McCain who spent years being tortured by the Viet Cong, or Cheney, who begged for a total of 5 deferments to stay out of the war. the sooner Cheney et al are tried for war crimes the better.

   Posted by: casey | Aug 30, 2009 6:16:35 PM

   
   

2. ChickenHawks do not know chicken shit about what war is about and how to treat prisoners so that our prisoners remain safe and treated accordingly and within guidelines established by the Geneva Convention!!

   Posted by: alex in boston | Aug 30, 2009 6:41:43 PM

   
   

3. Make that "a crook and a coward." Jane Mayer's book, The Dark Side, which tells the story of how Cheney pushed for torture, recounts how shocked career military, CIA, and State officials were at Cheney's obsessive concern over his own safety. Nowadays he's talking about keeping Americans safe, but apparently back then he was quite explicitly insisting on the safety of the president and vice-president almost to the exclusion of other matters. It got to where his staff was freaking out over it.

   Posted by: coolbearinmd | Aug 30, 2009 7:01:12 PM

   
   

4. It's a good thing they tortured all those people because The Bush regime stopped 500 terrorist attacks against America, or was it 5000? Yeah I think it was 5000 attacks. They are heroes.

   Posted by: Sargon Bighorn | Aug 30, 2009 9:11:31 PM

   
   

5. Could someone please prepare a jail cell for Dick Cheney. He did far more harm than good and he needs to be put away for the safety of this great nation of ours. He is a coward and one of Dick Nixon's Punks, a true lengend in his own mind.

   Posted by: Billy Ray | Aug 30, 2009 10:31:05 PM

   
   

6. "One feels our use of torture was helpful in keeping the country safe, the other feels it hurt America's image in the world."

   One is concerned about protecting his interests, the other worries about other peoples' perceptions, and neither even pretends to care that torture is first and always evil.

   Having abandoned any credo other than profit, our politicians can't be bothered to feign having principles, and their constituents no longer pretend to care.

   So. Now that only 1% of Americans are profitable, where does that leave you and me?

   Posted by: Bryan | Aug 31, 2009 2:00:00 AM

   
   

7. The problem with having sensible economic practices is that Americans don't want to end the exploitation. They want to become the exploiters.

   The goals laid out by the academic elite - Krugman, Galbraith, and company - are incompatible with the greed that has infected nearly every aspect of our lives. Economists make the mistake of assuming the public actually cares about long term prosperity. They do not.

   And the billionaire politicians, who control both the Democratic and Republican parties, are merely a shadowy reflection of the American public at-large. People really think they're going to be the lucky winners who enter that 1% club. They're going to become the next Kennedy, Cheney, and Bush. Or at the very least, they'd have to settle for being the next Pelosi. The poor Speaker only has several hundred million dollars in the bank. But alas, she has to suffer through the poverty God has cursed her with.

   Simply put, it doesn't take much to push Americans into endorsing things like torture and war, as long as they profit from it.

   Posted by: John | Aug 31, 2009 2:52:00 AM

   
   

8. I have no idea what the hell some of you are talking about in the previous comments.

   Anyways, if I'm not mistaken, didn't Darth start the investigations because they were supposed to clear him and the rest of the Reich, uh, I mean, the Bush administrations alleged crimes?

   Posted by: Derek Washington | Aug 31, 2009 3:13:13 AM

   
   

9. The morale of the CIA is at risk ! So it should be; each of their operatives,officers and heads should be very worried ...if they broke the law on the say-so of a psychopath-Chaney-; "following orders" is no defence, they knew and discussed that before they started their torture procedures.The Attorney General is an independent Constitutional Officer with his own independent obligations to uphold the law. I want the Special Prosecutor to get to the very bottom of the cesspit of moral corruption that says that if torture succeeded in getting information it is justified. At the bottom he will find the fetid carcases of Chaney, Bybee, Yoo, Addington, Rumsfeld and all the others who remained silent at the White House Committee meetings and knew what was being done (including Powell).......The important danger is not to the morale of the CIA, the danger is to the concept of the Rule Of Law, which this gang of vipers seem to think is redundant.
   
   As for the reputation of the USA, I speak as one who loves your country as the saviour of many of my countrymen when we needed you, the words of Professor Turley, speaking about the war crimes of this gang, ring true; "these people have brought upon us the condemnation of the ages".

   Posted by: JackFknTwist | Aug 31, 2009 9:26:43 AM

   
   

10. Does any one else think the Minotaur is HAWT?

    Posted by: Christopher | Aug 31, 2009 12:03:01 PM

    
    

11. Thank u Jack.

    Posted by: derek washington | Aug 31, 2009 12:40:52 PM

    
    

12. cheney is the most despicable and self-serving politician in recent american history, and among the most cowardly ever. he has been feeding off the government teat for virtually all of his life. he willy nilly sent off our country's brave sons and daughters to suffer death and mayhem in a war of choice and greed. yet, when he had a chance to serve in a previous war, he begged-off. of his draft-dodging ways, he later blithely said, "i had other priorities in the 60s."

    Posted by: nic | Aug 31, 2009 3:30:04 PM

    
    

13. I'm not so sure about what to think of this...torture is not my think, but sometimes it's required to get the answere from the ENemy.

    Posted by: jreed | Aug 31, 2009 4:44:49 PM

    
    

14. @jreed: Torture is a war crime...it is NEVER required.....that's the whole point.....it is against the law.....don't you get it ?

    Posted by: JackFknTwist | Sep 1, 2009 8:10:35 AM

    
    

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