Dick Cheney you worthless mound of excrement

[Frank]

Cheney’s boss weighs in:

President Bush called a human rights report “absurd” for criticizing the United States’ detention of terrorist suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and said Tuesday the allegations were made by “people who hate America.”

“It’s absurd. It’s an absurd allegation. The United States is a country that promotes freedom around the world,” Bush said of the Amnesty International report that compared Guantanamo to a Soviet-era gulag.

I especially like the “people who hate America” bit. What a jerk.

[FinnAgain]

Damn… and I thought that was relegated to being a cliche catchphrase at the Dope.

I wonder if we’ll see Bushco trotting out the “Liberals hate the country, that’s why they disagree with things and/or point out things we’ve done wrong!” meme.

[Merijeek]

@This Year's Model

Cheney’s boss weighs in:
I especially like the “people who hate America” bit. What a jerk.

The things America does define America, therefore anyone who criticizes the things America does hates America.

Duh.

You expect Dubya to change the talking point he’s been using well-nigh forever? It’s worked so far, hasn’t it?

-Joe

[EddyTeddyFreddy]

@This Year's Model

Cheney’s boss weighs in:
I especially like the “people who hate America” bit. What a jerk.

I for one am DAMNED SICK AND TIRED of seeing this administration wrap shit in the flag and demand that we all salute.

[FinnAgain]

~sniff sniff~
What’re you, unamurikun or somethin’?

[villa]

@fushj00mang

I’m not suprised that VP Cheney dismisses Amnesty Internationl out of hand. They’re biased, ignorant, and all around anti-American

Reminds me of a comment from an Amnesty official back in the 1980’s (sorry no cite).

“We know we are doing a good job when the Americans say we are pro-communist, and the Soviets say we are running-dogs for capitalism.”

Or something along those lines, this old brain hurts from bar review work.

[rjung]

@FinnAgain

I wonder if we’ll see Bushco trotting out the “Liberals hate the country, that’s why they disagree with things and/or point out things we’ve done wrong!” meme.

They’ve already got Fox News for that.

[SteveG1]

We have long since made clear that a state of war is not a blank check for the president when it comes to the rights of the Nation’s citizens. - Justice Sandra Day O’Connor

“Unconstrained Executive detention for the purpose of investigating and preventing subversive activity is the hallmark of the Star Chamber. Access to counsel for the purpose of protecting the citizen from official mistakes and mistreatment is the hallmark of due process.” - John Paul Stevens

“The Bush administration’s assertion that the President can hold suspects incommunicado indefinitely and without charge is as arrogant as its legal arguments that the President can authorise torture. No president is above the law or the Constitution”. - Senator Patrick Leahy

[World_Eater]

Wouldn’t it be a real hoot if the Bush admin had cited Amnesty International’s findings in their case for going into Iraq?

/too lazy to look it up

[GIGObuster]

@World Eater

Wouldn’t it be a real hoot if the Bush admin had cited Amnesty International’s findings in their case for going into Iraq?

/too lazy to look it up

http://thinkprogress.org/index.php?p=979

Tonight, Vice President Cheney will appear on CNN’s Larry King Live and reportedly condemn a recent Amnesty International report that faults the U.S. for its treatment of detainees in the war on terror. Cheney has said:

For Amnesty International to suggest that somehow the United States is a violator of human rights, I frankly just don’t take them seriously.

Other Administration officials have similarly been quick to lash out against the Amnesty report. White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan said the allegations were “ridiculous and unsupported by the facts.” Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Richard Myers called the Amnesty International report “absolutely irresponsible.”

But in the past, when it was convenient to the Administration, they did not hesitate to cite Amnesty to make its case. And nowhere did the Administration need more help than in selling the Iraq war. Secretary Rumsfeld repeatedly turned to Amnesty to highlight the repressive nature of Saddam’s regime. On March 27, 2003, Rumsfeld said:

“We know that it’s a repressive regime…Anyone who has read Amnesty International or any of the human rights organizations about how the regime of Saddam Hussein treats his people”…

Yes, that was at the start of the war.

[World_Eater]

Yeah, I figured as much. Thanks for digging that up Gigo.

[Mockingbird]

@rjung

They’ve already got Fox News for that.

And yet Bush again trotted out a variant of the America haters line on the news this morning.

How so many can stand with him amazes me.

The my country right or wrong crowd needs to start being accountable and holding their leaders accountable

[EddyTeddyFreddy]

Has this administration cornered the market on cherry pickers? :dubious:

[Zoe]

The Amnesty International Report addressed human rights abuses in over 140 countries. I wonder if they hate all of them.

Meanwhile, this story suggests that the United States has bought prisoners by offering fortunes. Although the United States may have wanted only the guilty, the money may have been too tempting for some.

fushj00mang, what source would you consider reliable? Not Amnesty International. Not the Red Cross. Not the ACLU, I assume. The Supreme Court said their rights were being violated. The FBI said that there had been violations of their stated policy in part. But what would be a good overall reliable source for you?

fush: Actually, those points do not by themselves make Europe anti-American. The polls showing that anti-American sentiment is growing do, but that press statement doesn’t.

No quite. The polls reflect the growing anti-American sentiment. They are not what is making Europe anti-American. Guess again.

[rjung]

@Mockingbird

How so many can stand with him amazes me.

As elucidator would espouse, it’s all about the Cognitive Dissonance.

Some folks simply feel that admitting that Bush has screwed up the nation would be tantamount to admitting they themselves were idiots for supporting him in '04.

[Miller]

I think it might be time for a quick refresher course in what fushj00mang considers acceptable treatment of prisoners.

[Reeder]

@rjung

As elucidator would espouse, it’s all about the Cognitive Dissonance.

Some folks simply feel that admitting that Bush has screwed up the nation would be tantamount to admitting they themselves were idiots for supporting him in '04.

Hey…if the shoe fits…wear it.

[SteveG1]

I want to know why the hell people refuse to take off their blinders and open their eyes. When the facts are right in front of them, they literally refuse to even read it for themselves. In the past few years, we’ve had the CIA, the FBI, various admirals, generals, colonels and various others telling us things were very wrong. We see the results every night on the news, and even Fox can’t put enough spin to “make it right”. So why do seemingly intelligent people hang on so fiercely?

We’re talking now about illegal detention, secret arrests, secret tribunals, refusal to file charges, and abuses that were verified by our own FBI. Abuses that our own Supreme Court justices already said were wrong. What does it take?

[Guinastasia]

@minty green

Tom~: As a straightforward matter of textual analysis, fushj00mang’s analysis of the Geneva Convention and its definition of who is a POW, and thereby entitled to the protections of the G.C., is essentially correct. You are also correct that under that analysis, many of the men who fought for American independence in the Revolutionary War would not have been entitled to POW status under the terms of the G.C. Such is life under an antiquated legal document.

The G.C. was inspired by the straightforward, army-on-army wars of the 19th through mid-20th centuries, not the guerrilla warfare and terrorism that has dominated world conflict since then. Its terms are ill-suited for such conflicts, even if its spirit is not.

None of which excuses this administration’s conscious decision to abandon what ought to be matters of simple human decency and sound public and international policy.

So perhaps it could stand to be updated. But even though it may not violate the letter, surely we have violated the spirit in which it was intended?

[elelle]

@SteveG1

I want to know why the hell people refuse to take off their blinders and open their eyes. When the facts are right in front of them, they literally refuse to even read it for themselves. In the past few years, we’ve had the CIA, the FBI, various admirals, generals, colonels and various others telling us things were very wrong. We see the results every night on the news, and even Fox can’t put enough spin to “make it right”. So why do seemingly intelligent people hang on so fiercely?

We’re talking now about illegal detention, secret arrests, secret tribunals, refusal to file charges, and abuses that were verified by our own FBI. Abuses that our own Supreme Court justices already said were wrong. What does it take?

“Oceania is at war with…”

I haven’t read “1984” since I was 16, but it seems relevant again; http://www.liferesearchuniversal.com/1984-17.html A lengthy chapter quote, but worth the read, to my mind. Thanks, George.

Orwell’s that ends well.