Montana jail tries for detainees from Gitmo

Billings Gazette

Economic development officials in Hardin are looking at the soon-to-close detention facility in Guantanamo Bay as a possible fix for the jail sitting empty in Hardin.

Meanwhile, a 460-bed detention facility sits empty in Hardin. Built by Two Rivers Authority, the city's economic development arm, the facility was meant to bring economic development to Hardin by creating more than 100 high-paying jobs.

And bringing detainees to this area has happened before, Smith said. There were prisoner-of-war camps in Laurel during World War II. There were also internee camps in Missoula and near Powell, Wyo.

Offering a turnkey facility is practically a patriotic duty, Smith said.

For Smith and many in Hardin, that can't come soon enough. Smith said it is his job to "uncover every rock" to find ways to get the detention center operating. He knows there are options available, it's just a matter for finding them and seeking out contracts. People who don't like the idea of alleged enemy combatants coming to town can help, he said.

"To those who don't want it, help us find something so we can fill it," Smith said.

I wish these folks well in their efforts to fill what sounds like a very nice brand-new jail. If the Gitmo prisoners don't quite fill it, I have a suggestion:

There's gonna be a whole buncha new inmates from all this torture shit - Yoo, Bybee, Rice, Cheney, etc. I suggest they'd be a very good fit with the folks they wanted to torture.

One thing - be sure to put very high quality video cameras on the yard so we can watch them play together. Heh.

Cheney, Rice signed off on interrogation techniques

McClatchy

WASHINGTON — A newly declassified narrative of the Bush administration's advice to the CIA on harsh interrogations shows that the small group of Justice Department lawyers who wrote memos authorizing controversial interrogation techniques were operating not on their own but with direction from top administration officials, including then-Vice President Dick Cheney and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice.

Like, duh. By the way, there's nothing "controversial" about torture. It's illegal and a war crime. Period. No matter what the Repugs say.

Cheney couldn't be reached for comment. Rice, through an aide, declined to comment.

Their comments will be limited to the 5th Amendment from here on out.

While the senators deemed some of the legal analyses "deeply flawed," they said that criminalizing bad legal opinions "would have a deeply chilling effect on the ability of lawyers in any administration to provide their client — the U.S. government — with their best legal advice."

If that was "their best legal advice", I hope they represent themselves at their trials. Heh.

Feel sumthin' tightening around yer neck, Dick Boy?

Mama Got Her Groove Back!

BradBlog, links at site:

Following a nearly two-month absence from the airwaves, Progressive radio talker Randi Rhodes is set to return, according to an announcement this afternoon from John Scott of San Francisco's Green960 (KKGN). She will be syndicated by Premiere Radio Networks as reported in a video-taped announcement just posted on the Green960 website.

Premiere is known for their national syndication of far-right talkers such as Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Dr. Laura and Glenn Beck. Rhodes, known by fans as the "Goddess of Progressive Talk", had formerly been with NovaM Radio, which folded when she left, and at Air America Radio prior to that...

In honor of this momentous occasion, I present Randi's theme song:

Rusty Warren ~ Bounce Yer Boobies

Thanks to joeyC619.

Personally ...

In light of this, I think we should build a new border fence just north (We'll keep the race track, thank you. Heh ...) of the Dallas/Ft. Worth Metroplex.

...

In a new survey by Research 2000 for the liberal Daily Kos blog, Texas voters were asked whether the Lone Star State would be better off as an "independent nation" or as part of the United States.

Overall, more than six in ten chose the latter option. (No big surprise there.) But, among Republicans, 48 percent said it would be better for Texas if the state was an independent nation -- the same number who said they would prefer the state remain a part of the United States.

Just to reiterate: roughly half of all self-identified Texas Republicans in the Research 2000 poll said they would rather their state be an independent nation. [my em]

...

Either:

A) The Republicans are kicking up this sturm und drang to distract from the torture talk or:

2) The Republicans (especially in Texas) are that far gone that the only thing the base will respond to is breaking the union apart to get away from a black President.

Because:

C) Rick Perry can't actually believe this will keep him in the governor's chair.

Weren't these the same people who called us un-American and traitors for speaking out against the "war" in Iraq? Aren't they the ones who called us treasonous for criticizing Bush/Cheney policies? Good thing to see their allegiance to this country runs so deep.

I say, go and don't let the door hit ya in the ass. 'Texasland' will make a nice buffer between us and Mexico.

Great thanks to Oliver Willis for the link.

Aw, Christ ...

Could this be the Rethugs last stand (well, maybe the last until the torture trials start)? They're being whiny bitchez:

The right-wing crackpots have been in a frenzy over the nomination of Kathleen Sebelius as Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). And, as we all now know, the right-wing crackpots are all that's left in the GOP. Today, GOP Senate Leader Mitch McConnell announced, in so many words, that on behalf of the extremists in his caucus, the Republicans are filibustering the nomination of Sebelius. [my em]

...

The American people, at this point, finally, see them as nothing more than babies. The word "filibuster" doesn't scare anybody anymore. If the Rethugs are trying to rebrand, they're doin' it wrong.

Shameless blogwhoring

If ya like Steve McQueen, The Great Escape, or Triumph motorcycles, please go see this.

Baba Whoey

Fixer sometimes gives me ideas. Or leads me astray. Whatever.

If this song sounds familiar, it's because it's on TV about ten times a day as the theme song for CSI:NY. I present it here because I'm queer for Melina Kanakaredes. Also Gary Sinise and Roger Daltrey, but I won't go into that...

The Who

Thanks to gawlerpete, Oz.

Real confessions, false confessions, mox nix. We're going to war.

There is soooo much stuff coming out in the wake of the release of the torture memos that it's getting a little hard to keep up with it. This is probably a good thing. I don't need to keep up to the minute with it as long as the folks who own the handcuffs, courts, jails, and gallows do.

One connection amongst several I've heard about the decision to 'legalize' the un-legalizable may be the most disturbing to me.

From a review of Jane Mayers' book, The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How The War on Terror Turned into a War on American Ideals:

[...] Impressed by the ability of the Communist regimes to force false confessions from prisoners at show trials in the 50's, the military had researched Communist torture programs in depth in order to train its soldiers to resist as much as possible through its Survival, Evasion, Resistance, Escape (SERE) program. In a diabolical twist, the C.I.A. and the military used the lessons of the SERE program to devise an affirmative program of torture designed to extract information from detainees. The fact that torture techniques had proved useful in the past primarily for forcing false confessions does not seem to have given the C.I.A. much pause. [...]

The SERE program was designed mainly, I think, to be as unpleasant as possible in order to motivate U.S. pilots who had to bail out over hostile territory to use every means to keep from getting caught by the enemy by giving them a taste of what it might be like if they did.

I think it's probably a good training program for its intended result, but it's neither here nor there when it comes to authorizing these techniques from the White House on down for general use.

We're not talking torture techniques here as much as we're talking about the rationalization for their use.

From McClatchy:

The Bush administration applied relentless pressure on interrogators to use harsh methods on detainees in part to find evidence of cooperation between al Qaida and the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's regime, according to a former senior U.S. intelligence official and a former Army psychiatrist.

Such information would've provided a foundation for one of former President George W. Bush's main arguments for invading Iraq in 2003. In fact, no evidence has ever been found of operational ties between Osama bin Laden's terrorist network and Saddam's regime.

Cut to the chase: The Bush administration, i.e. Cheney and his neocons, was looking for an al Qaeda/Saddam connection as perhaps the biggest reason/cover to start their criminal imperialistic war on Iraq. They needed a further selling point for something they had been planning since G.H.W. Bush wisely refused to march on Baghdad in '91.

They knew damn well that no such connection existed. They also knew from our experience with Chinese Communist brainwashing of American Prisoners Of War during the Korean War that such techniques were used primarily to obtain false confessions for political purposes.

A false confession of an al Qaeda/Saddam connection was as good as a real one for their purposes, and since a real one was impossible, THE ENTIRE TORTURE PROGRAM WAS DESIGNED TO OBTAIN FALSE CONFESSIONS SO THEY COULD LIE US INTO THEIR GODDAM WAR.

Just as an aside, if they'da waterboarded me six times a day for a month, I'da got a Hugo for the shit I'da made up!

In the end, of course, it didn't matter. The Cheney administration's full-court press on all fronts, mainly the lapdog media, kept the lid on the opposition and allowed them to start their criminal war anyway.

The administration knew that torture was notoriously poor at producing useful intelligence, but they continued it from Gitmo to Abu Ghraib and beyond and it turned out to be an extremely effective al Qaeda recruiting tool. The administration needed the perception of a strong al Qaeda to keep us pissin' our pants in fear and to maintain the illusion that they were 'keeping us safe' from a buncha illiterate goat humpers.

Cheney et al took a page out of the ChiCom handbook to help create the mess we're in today. They did a good job. They fucked everything up totally, and it will take generations to undo it, if undo it we ever can.

When it's Cheney's and his accomplices' turn to drop through the trap door, I once again volunteer to throw the lever. I will send them to Hell with a grin on my face as my duty to my country.

My everlasting gratitude to Blogger and Firefox. About two minutes prior to completion of this post, I experienced a quarter-second blink of a power outage here that shut off my computer. I didn't lose a thing.

Quote of the Day

Headline from Agence France-Presse via Maru:

Bush-era officials could face trial

The mirror ...

Digby says what I've been saying for years, albeit better. It's how the world sees us since Bush started down the Road of Endless Fuckups:

...

That using torture and endless imprisonment of innocent people are immoral and disgusting taboos that put the perpetrator in the same company as history's most evil villains is entirely unpersuasive to these people [Bush, Cheney, the Neocons, et. al.] --- they think that's a good thing. But even on a practical level that even a very average 9th grader should be able to understand, you would hope they could see that these people hurt the nation in ways that we'll be dealing with for decades --- we showed that America loses its head when attacked, overreacts, spends and then botches the whole thing so badly we don't know whether we are coming or going. We've shown that we are pants wetting, panic artists who will harm ourselves when frightened. And that is a weakness no powerful nation should ever allow the world to see. [my em]

Which allows me to segue into a little musical interlude:

From The Who's Tommy - Go To The Mirror!

One of the best things ...

Someone can say about me is that I'm honest. That's why this little deal from Tricia at Menopausal Stoners means more than the Koufax nomination we got a few years back:

Men, I have given you The Honest Weblog award. I know it's goofy, but I did it anyway just because I like you.

Thanks, darlin'. I might get around to listing 10 honest things about me later (I've only finished my first cup of coffee) but I appreciate you thinking of us. It does me good to know we have the respect of our fellow bloggers.

Mr. Toad's Wild Ride

While I'm glad we got all of the Repugs' crimes starting to come to light so forcefully that people may actually notice what we've known for years, I think we need a little light mid-week entertainment.

If ya squint a little, this could be called "Fixer and Gordon go motoring". Guess who's driving. Heh. He'll get me for this...

Thanks to krapivnik, Russia.

Blind no more

Stolen from YubaNet.

Cuddlin' With Evil

Mark Morford

Obama shakes hands with people we're supposed to hate. Are we all going to die?

Clearly this is not the way we're supposed to behave. Clearly this is not what we, as a formerly grumpy, petulant, first-world nation, expect from our president, from our attitude, from our typical chest-thumping, saber-rattling, kill-'em-all posture in the world.

See, what we do is, we stomp in. We huff and snort and make a portentous entrance full of cold swagger and terse, screw-you-if-you-disagree handshakes, ignoring the clammy mitts of those inflammatory commie jerks we don't like because they've called us icky names in the past but whose illegal narcotics we will gladly purchase by the megaton and whose oil we're going to go in and forcibly steal anyway ha ha sucker.

At such piffling events, we expect our president to do the usual macho dance, puff out his chest and shove our usual demands for compliance down everyone's throat, talk up military intervention and enrage those selfsame angry little countries even more by reiterating who's really in charge of this violent, overheated speck of a planet. Hey, it worked for Dubya, right? I mean, except for the global contempt and seething mistrust?

But then comes Obama. As usual, it appears he did not get the memo. He is clearly that most un-American of U.S. leaders, entirely dismissive of precedent and totally devoid of our characteristic bullying arrogance and openly disrespectful of How It's All Supposed To Go Down.

Naturally, all this articulate, respectful diplomacy means one of two things.

One: We are blindly kowtowing to all sorts of scummy, evil forces of the underworld and undermining America's godlike supremacy, and soon will be overrun by drug lords and baby rapists and fat, sweaty, cigar-chomping socialists who love to coddle baby-raping drug lords. This is known as the "Fox News angle." Also known as the "Hysteria Special," and also, simply, "The Limbaugh."

"Two" is simply too awful for the Repug bullies to consider. Enjoy.

Be careful what you wish for ...

Baby Jane:

...

So if I understand this correctly -- and I'm pretty sure I do -- when the U.S. Government eavesdropped for years on American citizens with no warrants and in violation of the law, that was "both legal and necessary" as well as "essential to U.S. national security," and it was the "despicable" whistle-blowers (such as Thomas Tamm) who disclosed that crime and the newspapers which reported it who should have been criminally investigated, but not the lawbreaking government officials. But when the U.S. Government legally and with warrants eavesdrops on Jane Harman, that is an outrageous invasion of privacy and a violent assault on her rights as an American citizen, and full-scale investigations must be commenced immediately to get to the bottom of this abuse of power. Behold Jane Harman's overnight transformation from Very Serious Champion of the Lawless Surveillance State to shrill civil liberties extremist. [bold in orig - italics mine]

...

Time to go, Jane. Time for the rest of the Bush enablers on the Dem side to go too. While not all their fault, too many Dems caved without a fight during the Bush years and Harman was one of them, quite willing to kiss our rights goodbye until it hits home. Don't let the door hit yas in the ass.

Islanders ...

As most of the regulars here know, I'm a proud Long Islander. There are a lot of great things about this place. The ethnic diversity (the original Melting Pot), the hundreds of miles of world-class beaches, and a 40 minute drive (not at rush hour, however) to Times Square and all the culture of New York City. Not to mention a buncha great bloggers. Heh ...

That said, we have a boil on our collective ass and its name is Peter King. In '06, as most of you know, I did my damnedest to unseat him, backing the best candidate we've had to date, Dave Mejias. No such luck and the bastid is still there, presumably for life (last year's challenger was weak and financially overpowered by King).

King is an absolute moron, a conservative who toes the party line without wavering, and says shit that constantly embarrasses us. His latest verbal diarrhea is most distasteful and has no basis in fact.

As he heads upstate tonight to gauge support for a U.S. Senate run, Rep. Peter King said Sunday he has no plans to tone down his comments about Muslims and their cooperation with law enforcement -- a long-simmering issue that flared up again over the weekend.

...

In response to a Department of Homeland Security report about domestic right-wing extremism, King (R-Seaford) told MSNBC Friday that the department "has never put out a report talking about look out for mosques. Look out for Islamic terrorists in our country. Look out for the fact that very few Muslims come forward to cooperate with the police."

...

He's also made statements regarding the Nassau Country Police and FBI infiltration of our local mosques and intimated law enforcement has them under constant surveillance - something both agencies strongly deny.

...

The Seaford congressman, who is the ranking Republican member of the Homeland Security Committee, also said that "right now there are a number of mosques under surveillance by law enforcement agencies" on Long Island. He would not state which mosques or which law enforcement agencies, but said the surveillance has been going on for four or five years.

...

In the first place, Long Island's Islamic community is one of the most "well-behaved" demographics of any of the dozens inhabiting this big sandbar. I can't remember the last time (I've lived here for 38 years of my 47 year life) any trouble has been traced to our Islamic neighbors, yet Peter King makes a point of singling them out whenever he can. He creates an environment of fear for Nassau County's Muslims that should not be tolerated. The key is the term "Nassau County", the reddest in the NY Metro (NY, NJ, CT, PA) area and King's 'jihad' against the Muslim community plays with the base, mostly retirees who haven't made it to Florida or North Carolina.

One can only hope King runs for the Senate seat Kirsten Gillibrand has to defend next year, and losees. Prayers might be answered if a strong Dem can challenge his House seat during that time and our terminal boil can be lanced once and for all.

Most Long Islanders are proud of our racial, ethnic, and religious diversity and the great majority of us live together in peace and cooperation. Idiots like Peter King are dinosaurs and will soon be extinct. Not soon enough for me but the writing is on the wall.

Slow earth day

Thanks to YubaNet.

Also from YubaNet, if you like to look at the night sky, go read this:

Don't miss the Lyris Meteor Shower tonight and Venus disappearing behind the moon around 5 a.m. on Wednesday

On Wednesday morning, April 22nd, Earth will pass through a stream of comet dust, giving rise to the annual Lyrid meteor shower. At the same time, the crescent Moon and Venus will converge for a close encounter in the eastern sky. Viewed from some parts of the world, the Moon will pass directly in front of Venus, causing Venus to vanish.

Mucho mas.

Buh-Bye, Bybee

Think Progress, many links.

Last week, President Obama released four Bush-era legal memos authorizing torture. The earliest one, from 2002, was signed by Jay Bybee, then an Assistant Attorney General and now a federal judge on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. [...]

The 9th Circuit is the most liberal Court of Appeals in the country. Bybee was put on there to try to right-wing it on down some.

These techniques are illegal by U.S. statute and international treaty to which the U.S. is a signatory. Bybee attempted to give legal cover to illegal acts, and thus broke the ethical, professional, and legal standards that should govern lawyers. For this, Judge Jay Bybee should be impeached. Congress needs to assert some accountability for these heinous acts.

An impeachment hearing would require full answers from Bybee -- and would give the American people the answers they deserve. When Bush nominated Bybee in 2003, Congress had no knowledge of the full scope of Bybee's legalese somersaults to make torture appear legal. When asked, he refused to comment, citing executive privilege. Now we know how integral Bybee was to initiating Bush's years-long torture program.

Jay Bybee has neither the legal nor the moral authority to sit in judgment of others. Please sign our petition.

Sign by all means, but please go read the rest.

Obama open to Hill probe of harsh interrogations

P.M. Carpenter at the end of a pretty good analysis of the political side v. the legal:

He needs Pat Leahy or Dianne Feinstein or John Conyers or somebody to take the bloody heat off him. That's the wiser alternative -- have Congress investigate Bush's conspicuously criminal architects and have Justice follow up. Furthermore, I suspect that's the alternative that Obama has been begging for behind the scenes: for someone of a Congressional bent to force Justice's hand.

From AP via Raw Story one hour ago:

The Obama administration appears to be backpedaling a bit regarding torture probes of former Bush officials.

The Associated Press reports:

President Barack Obama is leaving the door to open to possible prosecution of Bush administration officials who devised harsh terrorism-era interrogation tactics.
...

[...] But he also said that it is up to the attorney general whether to prosecute Bush administration lawyers who wrote the memos approving these tactics.

Obama is feeling the pressure following the release of the bullshit boilerplate CYA and CIA torture memos and is starting to see the light: we gotta clean up our back trail before the road ahead means anything.

I understand his need for political cover. I don't care who instigates prosecutions, only that it gets done.

Scandal! Another handshake and bow from President Obama!

Just go see...