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Water Art not Waterboarding
Last week President-elect Obama replied to over 70,000 people on Obama.org requesting independent investigations of the gravest crimes of the Bush Administration, including torture and warrantless wiretapping. When President-elect Obama replied, he referred to what I now call the Joe Biden Gambit, a response Vice President-elect made on This Week with George Stephanopoulos last December.
"I’m not ruling it in and not ruling it out. I just think we should look forward. I think we should be looking forward, not backwards," Biden said.
Ruling out the Constitution, its treaties, and the rule of law before day one? Unacceptable. We don’t need a kinder, more gentle Unitary Executive Pawn, do we? We learned during the Bush-Cheney years that the placement of a complicit Attorney General played one of the most important roles in weakening our Constitution, and the Rule of Law. We learned during Michael Mukasey’s nomination hearings just what kind of questions a nominee could evade and yet gain the highest Department of Justice position in the land.
On Thursday and Friday the Senate Judiciary Committee will begin the Executive Nomination Hearings for Eric Holder. I believe now is the time for all good citizens to voice their concerns.During our first discussion, a couple of people penned a few succinct questions that I think make important points and merit mentioning to both your Senators and the members of the Judiciary Committee:
1) Is waterboarding torture?
2) Please explain in detail what is the AG’s responsibility under International Law to investigate and prosecute government officials for crimes in violation of the Geneva Conventions, laws of war and our own statutes?
3) What exactly is the statute of limitations regarding premeditated war crimes?
I would like to add, please urge Senators to demand specific answers or reject this nominee.
It’s time for us to act. Please use the comment section to add additional ideas or questions folks might consider when contacting Senators this week.
Contact information for every Senator here. Listed below are katymine’s compiled list of toll free capitol switchboard phone numbers.
1 (800) 828 – 0498
1 (800) 459 – 1887
1 (800) 614 – 2803
1 (866) 340 – 9281
1 (866) 338 – 1015
1 (877) 851 – 6437
42 Comments
To The Phones!
Hello everyone. The digg is now open. I am also wondering whether or not we should devise a strategy for contacting Republican senators. We know Arlen Specter will most likely raise a stink over Holder role with Mark Rich, but I don’t know if that angle could hurt us in the long run. Any ideas?
With regard to question #2, it should be noted that Article VI of the Constitution makes Senate-ratified treaties “Supreme Law of the Land,” alongside the Constitution itself and federal laws passed by Congressed and signed by the President.
Also, some of those treaties place and explicit enforcement obligation on the parties to that treaty.
Well done and thank you all for knowing the Geneva Conventions are plural (a minor pet peeve of mine ;-)
Staying off topic, where is that lovely fountain? Italy?
thanks ES. i will call today.
Great job ES and keep it coming!!!!
More like this please!
Dugg and recommended
Thank you, LHP. All inspired by your fighting spirit.
This looking forward crap really pisses me off.
I am going to rob a bank tomorrow and then say to the cops “let’s all keep on looking forward, not backwards, I promise I won’t do it again” [just kidding, FBI, NSA or whoever else is spying out there]
OT Cheney on Jim Lehrer Newshour. Yes, it’s been a successful admin; got rid of 2 dangerous “states”; doesn’t pay attention to the polls, just have to do what’s right. Jim pushes him pretty hard on how that fits in a democracy if no one much likes your choices.
Excellent questions for Holder, ES.
I would add one further, “When the President does it, is it ‘legal’, or does the Rule of Law apply to him (or her) as well?”
With a ‘follow-up’…
If the answer is, “Yes”, then under what very specific circumstances do YOU imagine such ‘power’ should, properly, be used?”
Thanks, ES, dugg and recommended!
DW
Thanks DWB. I like these short quick points. You know how pressed for time folks on the senate office phone will be. (and us, the callers)
Biden has his head up his ass so I would think that looking backwards would actually give him a better view of things.
ES, I’m choosing, rather stubbornly, to look at the Biden gambit as a trial balloon. If we storm the castle with pitchforks and torches, maybe, just maybe, they can grab that face saving way out and suddenly notice that crime shave been committed?
One has to wonder just how much Joe appreciated PEBO’s highlighting his response in Dec. as response to the 70k people demanding action on change.org.
I would also ask Holder if he supported forcing all agencies to abide the guidelines of the Army Field Manual and if not why not? And why this did not signal a tacit endorsement of torture.
Couldn’t agree more. And we should not let any opportunity to speak up slip by.
Do you have any thought on a special tack we citizens might take when calling Republican committee members?
I think Bernie Madoff would sure appreciate it if everyone just looked forward…
3) What exactly is the statute of limitations regarding premeditated war crimes?
US Code TITLE 18 > PART II > CHAPTER 213 > § 3286
http://www4.law.cornell.edu/us…..-000-.html
8 year statute of limitation if no death or likelihood of death was involved. No statute of limitation if there was one.
Well, there is certainly fodder on Hardballz today to get the masses riled up again. some jerk apologist for torture was on v. Joe Conason. Only caught enough to make me puke on my remote.
I’m sorry I should have pointed out that this is for terrorism related offenses. I would think it would cover war crimes but I am open to other opinions.
Didn’t the U.S. prosecute war criminals in the Nuremberg Trials? How could the U.S. Senate not follow the rule of law? Would that not make them (us) complicit in the commission of war crimes?
Can you believe it? The man was a ghost for eight years and now he’s all over the airwaves rewriting history. Rachel Maddow reported yesterday that there is an active effort to do just that, rewrite history, and that Bush/Cheney have hired people to help them do that.
Why else to suddenly soil oneself on public television?
The “War on Terror” comes full circle!
Yes. And actually, you just pointed out why it would be in their spineless best interest to investigate and prosecute this themselves, so they don’t also keep scooped up in an international dragnet. And we all know that THEY know what is in their own best interest, right?
Heh. KO just open his show with – Legacy Rewriting.
OT, is this MSNBC problem across the board or just in So Cal with Time/Warner?
i think you covered this in your diary, but i only just listened to obama’s sunday interview with stephanopoulos today.
MCNBC is fine on T-W in NYC.
more please?
No problems here.
Bingo!
I’m getting cut up pictures and sound. Sounds like a really good guest (Swift) too. Happened last night too.
Reading and half watching.. But he’s doing the heavy lifting on torture and a myriad of other issues. No mention of the Holder hearings tomorrow. (not yet)
Dugg.
You are right on, ES.
Neocons sabotaging KO?
thanks.
Looks to me like a simple yes or no question
I have to say, the disappointment grows by the day.
Wha?!?!?
I think this is a preview of Holder’s testimony
I’d call TW, but you may know how fruitful that is! I’m getting about half the program and lots of interesting pics! Gotta be like those gifted kids who can read and comprehend when half the letters are blacked out!
FYI, Teddy’s upstairs.
I think this is Obama licking up to the hard core right and John McCain voters. He’s saying it needs to be studied, and when it is, and people understand, it will be found to be illegal.
He did say that nobody is above the law…
Somebody ought to write a song about being a dreamer.
He’s said a lot of things
I wanna believe him, but, after the last 8 years …