tom_thinks

It seems every day that goes by we find out about more evil coming from the Bush Administration. I have previously stated my belief that the abuses at Abu Ghraib were not just a "few bad apples," but a more systematic corruption of values, brought about by the policies of the Bush administration. The evidence for that belief is mounting; check out this Wall Street Journal article

Lawyers Said Bush Not Bound by Torture Laws-WSJ: "Bush administration lawyers contended last year that the president wasn't bound by laws prohibiting torture and that government agents who might torture prisoners at his direction couldn't be prosecuted by the Justice Department.
The advice was part of a classified report on interrogation methods prepared for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld after commanders at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, complained in late 2002 that with conventional methods they weren't getting enough information from prisoners."

Disturbing enough, but there's more.

The working-group report elaborated the Bush administration's view that the president has virtually unlimited power to wage war as he sees fit, and neither Congress, the courts nor international law can interfere. It concluded that neither the president nor anyone following his instructions was bound by the federal Torture Statute, which makes it a crime for Americans working for the government overseas to commit or attempt torture, defined as any act intended to "inflict severe physical or mental pain or suffering." Punishment is up to 20 years imprisonment, or a death sentence or life imprisonment if the victim dies.
"In order to respect the president's inherent constitutional authority to manage a military campaign ... (the prohibition against torture) must be construed as inapplicable to interrogations undertaken pursuant to his commander-in chief authority," the report asserted. (The parenthetical comment is in the original document.) The Justice Department "concluded that it could not bring a criminal prosecution against a defendant who had acted pursuant to an exercise of the president's constitutional power," the report said. Citing confidential Justice Department opinions drafted after Sept. 11, 2001, the report advised that the executive branch of the government had "sweeping" powers to act as it sees fit because "national security decisions require the unity in purpose and energy in action that characterize the presidency rather than Congress."

Bush and his cronies have denied any policy that would seek to circumvent or violate the Geneva Conventions. Add that to their list of lies. Will this latest deception be enough to convince the Supreme Court to rule against the administration, and grant constitutional protections to prisoners at Guantanamo? Will this lead to charges against senior administration officials for the Abu Ghraib prison abuses? Shouldn't Bush be impeached for this? Have the hearts and minds of American citizens been so stoked with fear that they are willing to accept torture?
We cannot stand four more years of this. As many have said before, 'This is the most important election of your life.' I urge everyone to get involved in this election process. Vote. Register your friends, neighbors and co-workers (skip any closet Republicans, of course). Donate to advocacy groups working to defeat Bush, or even campaign for John Kerry. Unfortunately half of this country is brain-washed enough to vote for Bush, and there will probably be a bunch of dirty tricks (blackbox voting, purge lists, etc.), so its up to you to get out there and stop this shit from happening. Send Bush back to Texas or better yet to a Texas prison.