GOP Torture Discussion Ended by Torture

Chicago Conservative WLS radio host Erich "Mancow" Muller manned up and put his political belief to the test on defining waterboarding as torture. Since Hannity of Fox News wouldn’t own up to his declaration that he would be tortured and water boarded for charity to prove that it is not torture, Mancow felt he needed to undergo the actual treatment. I wouldn’t have the guts to do this but I give Mancow credit for bellying up to the bar and undergoing what I honestly believe is inhumane torture.

I first saw this story over at Memeorandum but my twin brotha from another Motha over at the Gun Toting Liberal has his own interesting thoughts on waterboarding and torture that is a must read.

NBC Chicago is reporting that the average person can’t last more than 14 seconds under this form of torture. Mancow didn’t do so well and the Enhanced Interrogation Method changed his mind on the definition of torture…

"I want to find out if it's torture," Mancow told his listeners Friday morning, adding that he hoped his on-air test would help prove that waterboarding did not, in fact, constitute torture.

The debate over whether waterboarding constitutes torture reached a fever pitch this week as re-ignited claims that Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) knew as early as 2002 about waterboarding techniques being used, and former Vice President Dick Cheney and President Barack Obama gave "dueling speeches" Thursday.

Snip and Drip…

Turns out the stunt wasn't so funny. Witnesses said Muller thrashed on the table, and even instantly threw the toy cow he was holding as his emergency tool to signify when he wanted the experiment to stop. He only lasted 6 or 7 seconds.

"It is way worse than I thought it would be, and that's no joke,"Mancow said, likening it to a time when he nearly drowned as a child. "It is such an odd feeling to have water poured down your nose with your head back...It was instantaneous...and I don't want to say this: absolutely torture."
"I wanted to prove it wasn't torture," Mancow said. "They cut off our heads, we put water on their face...I got voted to do this but I really thought 'I'm going to laugh this off.' " - NBC Chicago

Video Link

And here is the actual video of Mancow being waterboarded on You Tube...


I happen to agree with the GTL in his summation that anyone that thinks waterboarding isn’t torture should take the plunge and volunteer for the Enhanced Interrogation Method. Aka “EIM”. Doesn’t EIM sound so much better than waterboarding or just using the word that it actually is? Mancow knows what that word is now and it is TORTURE! The GOP and Dick Cheney are running from that difference of definition. White washing or painting it as a bed of roses.

It’s kind of ironic that this is Memorial Day weekend where we as American’s remember all of our brave soldiers that died in service to the American way of life in our military. Defending torture isn’t anything that they fought for and died for. For their memory alone is why I honestly believe that everyone that authorized torture by any American’s hand needs to be prosecuted as a criminal. President, Vice President included. If they are not prosecuted, then what will stop the next monster that believes our Constitution and laws are just guidelines or words on some really old paper?

Papamoka

Other folks piping in on Waterboarding is TORTURE:
Think Progress
Crooks and Liars
Wonkette
Taylor Marsh

Exclusive: Virginity for Sale

No this is not a post about the open Senate Seat’s in Illinois, New York or Ohio. I was just perusing some of the stories in the press today and came across a piece on a young lady from San Diego willing to auction off her virginity to the highest bidder to pay for her higher education. Her auction is up into the millions and poor Heidi Fleiss is I’m sure livid. Natalie Dylan is getting her fifteen minutes of fame via an online auction for just saying “No!” Finally, somebody listened to Nancy Reagan. All I can say is I’m disgusted and Natalie’s Auction isn’t on Ebay.

Then I find out that the hard times here in America have hit home and my best friend down in Alabama, the one and only Gun Toting Liberal is auctioning off his virginity too! Ladies are only allowed to bid in his auction if you were wondering. It’s like a damn plague. Damn you George Bush for causing this financial crisis in our nation. If you have the time you might want to check out his post on it. You have to promise not to tell his wife though. She would kick his butt from here to the moon! That and I’m trying to extort lunch money from him. Funniest thing I’ve read lately. Kudos to GTL for a twisted way to profit from this story on his blog. Although, I hear word that the highest bidder right now is someone that used to be named Verne but had one of them operations and goes by Laverne now. Not that there is anything wrong with that. I’ll keep you posted.

I’m pretty sure both of the folks noted in this post will be going to jail for the oldest profession in the world but what the hell if they get out in a couple of years millions of dollars richer. Kudos to GTL for a gut wrenching belly laugh spin on this story.

Papamoka

*****Memeorandum has linked in... Thank You!

McCain Making Reverend Wright an Issue

One of the biggest things in politics not to do is bring up religion when it comes to any Presidential candidate. John F. Kennedy had to explain to the American people that he was not beholding to the Pope if elected President of this very religious nation as a Catholic. Governor Mitt Romney, a Mormon, had to explain that his faith as a Republican would not intervene if elected President. Mike Huckabee, well, we are all going to hell for not voting for him in the primaries and Fox News gave him his own “News” show.

Over at the Gun Toting Liberal, a site I proudly once wrote for, they have a great piece on playing the religion card from the McCain campaign double speak from Rick Davis. They intend on or are implying that they will bring up Reverend Jeremiah Wright once more against Barack Obama. I have to ask an honest question here, when did they stop bringing up Reverend Jeremiah Wright? Not for nothing, but I honestly believe that I have seen more than a couple of television advertisements a week for the past couple of months citing Reverend Wright?

GTL (Gun Toting Liberal) brought up these key points and I think he nailed this topic down cold and hard…

Obama Team Rethinks Playing The “McCain’s Spiritual Guides” (I.E. — Revends Rob Parsely And Ted Hagee) Card

Question: Should Barry Obama Go After John McCain’s Wacko “Spiritual Guides” Or Should That Be Considered “Off-Limits”?

Thus far, Señor Juan Sidney McCain Of Arizona Panama’s long-standing ties to the VERY controversial (to say the least) self-proclaimed “spiritual guides”, Reverends Rob Parsely and Ted Hagee, who were (in)famous for some of their recent remarks, have been considered “off-limits” by the Barry Obama Campaign. To re-wind a bit, let’s take a look at some “greatest hits” from these two “highly-respected (by Señor McCain) reverends:

Rod Parsely: “America was founded, in part, with the intention of seeing this false religion [of Islam] destroyed.” …

John Hagee: “Hurricane Katrina was, in fact, the judgment of God against the city of New Orleans.” …

Not to mention the fact Sarah Barracuda Palin’s spiritual advisers have been known to play around with rattlesnakes, daring them to pierce the “Inpenetrable Veil of Jesus” and bite them as rumor has it. - Gun Toting Liberal

Many Catholics across this nation are looking at John McCain in a very favorable light based on just one issue. Abortion. In our faith this is an open and shut question but our government in America is not, can not, and should not be based on faith alone and your vote as a Catholic should not be based on just one issue. There is a much larger picture to this Presidential race and it is bigger than all of our faiths combined. No religion can win all of its dogma and belief with any candidate for President. It is the ultimate Catch 22 if you blindly vote your faith but hand over your government to those that would ultimate ignore your faith. As Christians we are taught to look out for and care for the poor. Republican Presidential candidates and the poor is the ultimate Oxymoron.

Video Link



If John McCain, Rick Davis and Karl Rove and company want to bring up faith then let’s go to the facts. John McCain accepted an endorsement by John Hagee for President and later had to slap Reverend Hagee upside the head with a “Thanks, but no Thanks” after numerous reports cited Hagee as calling the Catholic Religion pretty much Satan worshipers. Mind you, my Jesus is your Jesus no matter what Christian Church pew you sit in, but all of us Catholics were damned to hell by Hagee! I didn’t like it, I don’t accept his apology because I think he wasn’t sincere and honest. With that one statement by Hagee he sent my five baby girls to hell and he was and is in John McCain’s corner. That was when many Independent and Moderate Catholic voters moved to Obama’s corner in this election.

Don’t even get me started on all of the ways that McCain is enabling big business to screw over the poorest amongst us and leave the cleanup for faith based organizations to take up the slack. From homeless veterans, cutting VA benefits for our troops, voting against minimum wage every single time. John McCain really does not care about feeding the homeless, or offering them shelter till they get on their feet which is what faith based kitchens and shelters all across America are doing 365 days a year now.

John McCain is a very angry man and if he wants to use Jesus Christ as a weapon against Barack Obama, a fellow Christian, then I have just one question. What would Jesus say?

Pitting one form of Christianity against the other is not a smart political strategy and it makes your political campaign look more than just desperate. It’s lining up Christian against Christian and that is not what our faith and belief in Jesus Christ is all about.

Papamoka

Related post...
Catholics, McCain, and Hagee

Blog Roll Up

From time to time I like to suggest must read blogs or just a blog with a different view than most rants you see on the internet. Real thinkers and real people with a real opinion. People that care about their community and their nation. This time around I was snagged by a friend with an award so I have to participate in the award and pay it forward. Check out the blogs I love and become addicted…

Gun Toting Liberal has an Independent view that comes from being raised in Alaska and moved to Alabama. He in fact went to school with Sarah Palin and her husband and is not taking any questions on that subject. So don’t even think of asking questions! Believe it or not he is also in fact a card carrying member of the ACLU and the NRA. If that isn’t a moderate voter then I don’t know what one is! When he covers a topic he is not afraid to show the skeletons in anybodies closets. Love him or hate him, he makes you think! That is the magic that keeps people reading the GTL over and over again. I thank him for reading here as well daily. My brotha from anotha motha!

Bring It On is a great collection of liberal leaning writers and I love the friendship of each and everyone of the friends I have been able to write with over there. You have to check out the many posters that SteveO puts up. It cracks me up because they are so true. Jet, Cranky, Dusty and the rest of the writers are great and Dan Delrito’s pieces have been picked up by Crooks and Liars a couple of times. You don't get that kind of attention if you don't have legitimate points that make sense.

Worm Town Taxi is the premier site for Worcester, Mass news and information on the goings on. I’ve been following his pieces on the wind turbine going up at Holy Name in the city and the coverage he has on it is top notch. Then again, anything Jeff is covering is breaking news in the local community.

Atlantic Review just added this site to their blog roll and all I know about them is that they are huge in Europe and like what they read here at Papamoka.

Our Rants and Raves is a new blog and the writer has his heart in the right place. Talking about the issues and putting his opinion out there to read. Liberal in content but strong in his values and topics that he covers. You can feel the passion in his writing and I like his style.

I’m From Worcester, my sister from another mother covers everything local and sometimes covers national politics when she feels the winds of politics need her voice. Which reminds me that Ms. Crystal joined us as a contributing writer and she has a clear understanding of the issues facing America too! Two woman, great writers both.

Paper May. I saved the best for last, my good friend from Minnesota that helped me out more than she even knows. She helped me out with my pet project as a friend and since then has started her own voice on life in politics called Paper May. If you want to talk to someone with a firm grasp on life then talk to Chell and read her site. I’m addicted.

Now it seems that all of you must award seven other people this great honor from your heart as a fellow blogger. I don’t usually do this but my sista from another motha put me up to it! I’m ignoring the click your heals three times and say there is no place like home requirement. Not going there Chell!

Papamoka

Al Franken Gas Price Plan

Although gas prices have backed away from the $4.00 per gallon bench mark gasoline still has a long way to go to be affordable again for most American’s. As of today’s date, the cost for a barrel of oil is at $115.10 according to FT.Com. That is still double what most American’s can comfortably afford and with the coming winter, with far too many homes heated by oil, it will be a budget buster for everyone in the middle and lower classes of America.

While the Republican’s in Congress are invading an empty House of Representatives on summer vacation and screaming about an energy plan now for America they are refusing to face the fact that the price of oil is market driven and not supply driven. Saudi Arabia is not having a problem meeting supply, Hugo Chavez is not having a problem meeting oil supply demand? The same thing goes for every oil producing nation in the world. The only people that are having a problem with the price of oil and the supply of it is the many people and big oil businesses that benefit with record prices for oil and profit reports never seen before in the oil markets. Canceling loop holes for greedy investors on Wall Street is what needs to be done and Al Franken who is running for the Senate in Minnesota is 100% correct in thinking that tapping the Strategic Petroleum Reserves (SPR) is the beginning of the path needed to take to see gas prices drop dramatically!

Over at the Star Tribune based in Minneapolis - St. Paul, Minnesota they have this on Al Franken and his realistic opinion on dropping gas prices at the pump…

To lower gas prices, Franken proposes selling oil from reserves

GOP Sen. Norm Coleman's campaign disputes that the move would do much to ease pain at the pump.

By PATRICIA LOPEZ, Star Tribune
Last update: July 28, 2008 - 7:44 PM


With Minnesotans squeezed at every turn by high fuel prices, DFL U.S. Senate candidate Al Franken pumped his own energy proposals on Monday while taking another swipe at rival U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman.

Franken said the United States should sell 50 million barrels of crude oil from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve between now and Election Day -- a move that he said would lower gas prices, generate revenue and deflate the speculator bubble that has helped send oil prices skyward.

Coleman, he said, refused last week to back legislation that would have lowered speculation and instead supports offshore oil drilling that Franken said would take 20 years to affect gas prices.

"People are hurting now," Franken said Monday at a news conference outside a St. Paul gas station, accusing Coleman of setting a Minnesota senatorial record for the most donations from oil companies.

Coleman spokesman Mark Drake said that the reserves are for emergencies and that little would be gained from such a sell-off. The United States consumes oil at the rate of 20 million barrels daily. Tapping the reserves, Drake said, would make an "incremental difference" in gas prices.

Drake said that Coleman supports increases in offshore oil drilling and nuclear, wind and "clean coal" power, and voted against last week's speculator proposal because it lacked an offshore provision.

Franken said that he supports renewable energy but that oil prices have risen to a crisis level, warranting a release from the reserve. Previous sell-offs under Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton lowered prices by as much as a third, he said. - Star Tribune

I’m all for Al Franken’s plan and if the prices don’t drop to $2.50 a gallon or lower we should release another 50 million barrels! The cost of oil is killing the American Plastic industry and in doing so killing millions of hard earned jobs that can be outsourced to China where the cost of oil is offset by a government that regulates pricing to make its industry almost impossible to compete with.

Investing in America’s future means investing in alternative energy sources Al Franken has that thought and more built into his plan which also includes funds to insulate northern states homes to help them save on the high cost of heating in the coming winter.

If you think Norm Coleman is going to save Minnesota from the oil busting business on Wall Street then you need to look at his voting record and his current campaign financing. Norm Coleman has been a Bush clone long before McCain even thought it was “Hip”. When push comes to shove, Coleman has pushed the interest of American’s to the curb and his reward for doing so was noticed by his latest campaign contributors.

If you want to save money on next winters heating bill or the bottomless pit of your checking account and the gas tank of your car then vote for Al Franken and someone that will actually do something to CHANGE our nations energy policies! Even if you don’t live in Minnesota, send the guy five dollars to help him kick Coleman’s butt come November.

Enough is enough of this family values crap! All of the crew following George Bush make Tony Soprano look like a freaking saint! Smile in your face as they screw you over just one more time. Enough is enough protecting millionaires and the idiotic thought that trickle down economics actually works.

Somebody call Myth Buster’s and have them do a show on it and maybe then people will actually see the screwing over they are getting!

My thanks go out to the Gun Toting Liberal once more for inspiring me to write this post based on his post on Al Franken talking to just one Veteran for over an hour at an event. A must read if you ask me.

Papamoka

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Blogging, Blog, Writing On Line

Many of the friends that read this site are from all over the world. With Papamoka Straight Talk being a national political blog we talk about and write about politics that is not on the local over the fence level. In retrospect, many of my readers are from the heart of New England, Worcester Massachusetts. Proudly, and locally we can boast politically that our states Lieutenant Governor is the former Mayor of Worcester, Tim Murray. For the record I think he and Governor Deval Patrick are cleaning up the Mitt Romney mess very well. But I digress. My five year old had breakfast with Lieutenant Governor Murray last year at a local event so that is my local connection to politics in Mass-a-two-sticks. A phrase I use often to describe the taxation status of Bay State residents and what we have left over after we pay all the damn taxes tossed on us.

Getting back to my original point… Many local blogs and people visit this site day after day and all of the contributors and I appreciate that. They are the reason we write day after day and offer opinion on national politics but in the same perspective I have built many personal relationships with people that link to this blog, write for this blog, and email me on their blogs latest posts. Some I have never met and some I think as my brother or sister with a DNA link with a high speed internet connection.

In the format that the “This Blog is Rated E for Excellent” I offer the following ten amazing reads, some local and others around the world. Punishment if you receive this award and have to pay it forward.

My number one "E for Excellent" award goes to someone that I consider one of my closest online friends and that is Michael Linn Jones who is also a contributor hear at Papamoka Straight Talk. No matter how many times I scream at him to write a book he refuses. Through him alone I personally have grown as a political writer and following his lead is why he is my number one E for Excellent nominee. If you love Mark Twain, one of my favorite authors of all time, then you will love visiting Michael Linn Jones.

My number two link "E for Excellent" is yet another group of folks that reached out to me and caught me when I was down and I will never forget that. Bring IT ON is a national site with writers from all over the United States that write from the heart on a moderate to left leaning perspective and each one has a unique view on national politics. Pick an issues and Bring IT ON has it coming up on the radar. My thanks to Jet and Cranky for believing in me and letting this writer cross post on their site. If you have a left sensing personality then Bring IT ON is a must visit site.

My number three "E for Excellent" is of course the Gun Toting Liberal. If you want to read real opinion and real thoughts then Gunny has it covered when it comes to national politics. I consider the GTL my mentor and my brother from another mother. We are kindred political and personal friends. I absolutely loved writing for the Gun Toting Liberal and the site is just amazing with all of the posts that make you think out side of the box. Visit the Gun Toting Liberal and be enlightened. Private message to Gunny, you’ve been tagged bro so pay up and you better link back here… LOL!

Number four for "E for Excellent" is all of my friends from Poli Gazette to Chells Roost to Pissed on Politics to Vim and Vinegar which reminds me...

Number five is of course Vim and Vinegar. If you want from the heart political news and opinion then she has it covered in spades! She also contributes when she can here at Papamoka and when she does it is always a great read. Just Wondering has a spin on politics with a Southern twist and she calls it like it is. Painting a fire in her words is what she does best on her site at Vim and Vinegar and yet another must read.

Next on my list for "E for Excellent" is at number six my good friend BJ at I See My Dreams. One of the things that makes me read a blog is the love of writing from the site owner. BJ is a retired news paper editor in South Carolina and I just love reading her posts. Liberal leaning and on topic with facts and links to back up all of her posts. In her heart is what is right and from her perspective is always an amazing read. I just love her work. Who loves ya BJ!… Tag, your it my friend! You can see her work at I See My Dreams and get addicted yourself.

Number seven "E for Excellent" who I will personally forever email all of the emails that demands you forward to twelve thousand friends or your head will pop off is I’m From Worcester. Photographs out of this world and local events and culture is her heartbeat. This is where I go to find out what is actually happening in the real world in Worcester culturally.

Claudia is an amazing person and she has a gift that she hasn’t tapped to its full potential as a blogger yet. That reminds me, I have to forward her this great opportunity to get a piece of the action from a dead banker with $26 million dollars in escrow with no family in Africa email…LOL! I’m thankful to the author and blogger of I’m From Worcester for putting Papamoka Straight Talk on the local scene. Visit I’m from Worcester and check out her insight and thoughts on life in Worcester. Thank you Claudia for including this little blog.

Number eight "E for Excellent" comes in as Worm Town Taxi. This a great blog by yet another on line friend. Jeff drives a cab keeps us all posted on the goings on in Worcester. He doesn’t just end it with what’s going on but has some great tips on the latest electronic gadgets out there. In-between all the great pictures he puts up on Worm Town Taxi is his personal thoughts and opinion where the local paper is way off the mark and that is why I read his posts daily. That and the fact that this is one site that has inspired me to write many national related posts. You don’t have to pay the fare for visiting the Worm Town Taxi but it is worth the ride.

Number nine is A View From Battleship Cove. This site has a great writer in Lefty covering everything that is Fall River in Massachusetts. If you want to know what is going on in Fall River then you need to read A View From Battleship Cove. My personal thanks go out to the site owner for contributing here and linking to this site where he has. If you want to know the truth about Lizzie Borden then Lefty at A View From Battleship Cove has it covered. If you like Fall River Politics, or love great photography of Fall River he has that nailed!

Number ten is my email friend that has linked to this site time and time again from Crooks and Liars. Mikes Blog Roundup is an inkling to small fish in the sea that are not on the radar. When it comes down to blogging there is no better sense of making it to the big time than being linked on Crooks and Liars. Mike has been kind to me at Papamoka Straight Talk and I do appreciate it more than he will ever know. If you want the latest politically the Crooks and Liars is a daily must see.

That is my list of ten blog’s that I think stand for Excellent in content and worth your reading. If I listed your site then I am immune from the tag so go get the blogs you think are worth reading. You can mention this blog and I would appreciate that.

If you clicked on any of the links here I thank you for visiting sites that are all friends and favorites of Papamoka Straight Talk. Each one is a gem and if you find yourself addicted to them then please let the writer know that. Comment on the sites and just let them know what you think. Bloggers do not make much money if any for the most part for what they write and this is just something we do. If it entertains you then that is a plus. Visiting their sponsors helps though. For all the people I listed today, tag, you have been chosen as an Excellent Blog and now it is your turn to pay it forward. Ten Blogs you love or appreciate.

Papamoka

Screw You MSNBC Blog Advertising

Papamoka Straight Talk is not a big fish in the sea of the blog world but we have standards. The contributors and I write what we feel and from our own perspective. Pick any topic in the news and we write about it if it has a political twist. In that context I try and ad things in the sidebar that might interest our readers and most of it is informative. Google ranking, Technorati links, Blog Cluster Maps, Widgets to different directories and of course Feedburner. A link that makes it easier for our readers to pick up the site in a quick read format. User friendly stuff like that. Any of the links are what you call blog candy or eye candy for the site.

Recently, I added the MSNBC widget to the sidebar simply because I thought readers would enjoy the latest video or topic that MSNBC is covering. This is a political site and video is great eye candy. Supposedly, there was some benefit that Papamoka Straight Talk would get out of having this MSNBC widget on the site and yet I haven’t seen it other than something neat for readers to click on. They have not paid this site one penny to have this free advertising.

How would you feel if you received this email from a posted for free link on your site?

Good Day,

We are writing to let you know that upon a routine review we have found that the MSNBC ad unit is currently placed towards the bottom of your website.

Please let us know if you are able to raise the units to a higher point on the website, as we are unable to let the unit run in its current position.

It is suggested that the unit be displayed about 800 pixels from the top but we understand that this does not have to be exact and we would be happy to assist you in any way that we can.

My blood was boiling mad! Who the hell does MSNBC think they are dictating where there widget appears on this site? Not for just giggles I emailed them back with my opinion and this is the email I sent to the nice folks over at MSNBC…

Excuse ME? I'll just pull your free to MSNBC advertising unit from my site. You are not paying ME to be up on my site and I will not be censored by anyone on MY Website! Your advertisement was put on my site for my readers and you can take your demands and file them as never to be seen on Papamoka Straight Talk ever again.

By the way, Crooks and Liars links to my site, Gun Toting Liberal links to my site, The Moderate Voice links to my site, Bring IT ON links to my site, Michael Linn Jones links to my site, The Left Coaster links to my site as well as every newspaper in the country that I write about. By the way, Imus was right, MSNBC has no balls and no class and for the record he has linked to my site on the air!

Don't threaten me with your position requirements. When you are handed free advertising on my site you have no say where the hell I place your ad unit. I'll put my readers needs over your demands any day of the week and as for the rest of the friends that link to my site, I respect them because they have honest opinions and not bias.

Your free advertisement will be deleted. Thanks for playing nice in the blogosphere. See this email at Papamoka Straight Talk... Screw you MSNBC!


Regards,
Matthew O'Keefe
Owner of Papamoka Straight Talk
http:/papamokastraighttalk.blogspot.com


As a blogger that writes for the love of writing I do not and will not tolerate anyone telling me that they demand my site bend to their requirements or loose the link. Screw you MSNBC or anyone else that wants to put me in a corner! The audacity of the email threw me over the cliff. I will delete the MSNBC link just out of spite for the bullying tactic they used in their email to me as the owner of this site. I have put my heart and soul into this blog and nobody is going to tell this political writer that they deserve a better spot on the sidebar over writers and blogger’s that have befriended me personally or simply linked to Papamoka Straight Talk.

I wonder how many other blogger’s that loaded the free MSNBC advertising up on their private sites have been threatened by this kind of email from MSNBC?

Deleted MSNBC Advertisement…

My apologies to any of our readers that liked it. I’ll find something to replace it in the next couple of days.

Papamoka

Feel free to link to or borrow this post…

By the way, I recently added an email link to the sidebar where you can have any of the post’s at Papamoka Straight Talk sent right to your in box. Feel free to sign up via Feedburner but come back for the candy.

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Bush and Cheney Burn the Constitution

Picture courtesy of the White House





Pardon me for being so pissed off at this story in the New York Times on President Bush and Vice President Cheney breaking the laws of our nation by secretly setting up torture in the good old USA. Burn the damn Constitution and the Bill of Rights and full speed ahead for the new born King (s)! Most folks have mortgage burning parties, Bush and Cheney are having a Constitution burning party but it’s all hush hush. Don’t tell anyone but they broke the law.

Somebody call the decorator for the White House and get rid of all those old farts that believed in a nation under law. George Washington has to go, he was to much of a moderate liberal and for God’s sake he only had one tooth in his head. Replace George with one of Bugsy Segal smiling at the poker table in Vegas. Jefferson, what a hack! If there was ever a liberal in America this clown topped the cake. Replace his picture with Jesse James of the old west, now that is an American spirit to admire. That pussy footing FDR is a joke and his picture has to go too. Replace him with a real able bodied person that could fend for himself like the Teflon Don John Gotti.

We are a nation of laws and our President took an oath to uphold the Constitution. CNN, or Fox News must have missed the shot where he blew his nose with the Constitution right after the oath. Television blunders happen.

So while the Congress outlawed torture by American military and government agencies, don’t tell anyone but the President, Vice President, and the Attorney General continued on with their version of the law. Like that is a surprise to this writer?

Over at the New York Times they have this to say…


Secret U.S. Endorsement of Severe Interrogations

By SCOTT SHANE, DAVID JOHNSTON and JAMES RISEN
Published: October 4, 2007
This article is by Scott Shane, David Johnston and James Risen.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 3 — When the Justice Department publicly declared torture “abhorrent” in a legal opinion in December 2004, the Bush administration appeared to have abandoned its assertion of nearly unlimited presidential authority to order brutal interrogations.

But soon after Alberto R. Gonzales’s arrival as attorney general in February 2005, the Justice Department issued another opinion, this one in secret. It was a very different document, according to officials briefed on it, an expansive endorsement of the harshest interrogation techniques ever used by the Central Intelligence Agency.

The new opinion, the officials said, for the first time provided explicit authorization to barrage terror suspects with a combination of painful physical and psychological tactics, including head-slapping, simulated drowning and frigid temperatures.

Mr. Gonzales approved the legal memorandum on “combined effects” over the objections of James B. Comey, the deputy attorney general, who was leaving his job after bruising clashes with the White House. Disagreeing with what he viewed as the opinion’s overreaching legal reasoning, Mr. Comey told colleagues at the department that they would all be “ashamed” when the world eventually learned of it.

Later that year, as Congress moved toward outlawing “cruel, inhuman and degrading” treatment, the Justice Department issued another secret opinion, one most lawmakers did not know existed, current and former officials said. The Justice Department document declared that none of the C.I.A. interrogation methods violated that standard.

The classified opinions, never previously disclosed, are a hidden legacy of President Bush’s second term and Mr. Gonzales’s tenure at the Justice Department, where he moved quickly to align it with the White House after a 2004 rebellion by staff lawyers that had thrown policies on surveillance and detention into turmoil. - New York Times

If the laws of our land are not followed by all of our citizens including those from the President down then our nation and our people have a serious problem. Our laws and the legality of them is to be decided by the Supreme Court ultimately and not by a staffer with a law degree at the White House. Congress banned torture but the President probably had one of those pesky signing statements (Making the law written and passed by the Congress void) attached to his signature.

Over at the Gun Toting Liberal they have this to say about this same article...

GTL Comment: Okay, let’s just THINK for a moment — in future conflicts, the way we treat OUR prisoners will set the precedence for how our own troops are treated by our enemies. If you think this brutal, illegal treatment of our enemies is acceptable, then you have ZERO legs to stand on when the enemy inflicts this level of BRUTALITY upon your son, daughter, husband, wife, or friends in uniform. Is this such a “good idea” now? - GTL

One word… IMPEACHMENT! How many ways does the President and the Vice President have to break the law before somebody in the Congress grows some gonads to start the process?

When the laws of our land only apply to the rest of us and not the President or anyone in his administration then our format of government will have no function and that leads to just one thing… Anarchy! Impeach the President and the Vice President for breaking the laws that Congress passed.

Papamoka

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Bloggers Choice Award 2007 Nominee!

Holy f#$@!*# Batman! This fact came totally out of left field for me. My little site has been nominated by a scout from Bloggers Choice Award for best political blog! I am jumping out of my freaking skin with excitement. I never would have thought that my words written here would even show up on the big boys radar but they apparently have. Thank you President Bush for all that you and your people have done to make this all possible.

Thanks to Mom and Dad, God rest their souls, my loving wife for putting up with the clicking of a keyboard at late hours of the night, my children … hold on. I don’t want to get big headed and take the limo ride to the awards just yet. Apparently, I need votes. I just got the email from them telling me that I was nominated so my spirits are very high tonight. I just feel so pumped up that my blog has been nominated so early in the voting process. That is a huge event in itself. That blows my mind and they scouted me from the award agency.

Maybe, just a maybe this little corner of the world has been heard? I look forward to accepting the 10,345,222 place runner up email notice.

But I sure as hell am posting the nomination notice up in the side bar and if you like what you read here… vote often for Papamoka Straight Talk!

To be honest with you, I haven’t even checked out the fact that my site is even nominated but I think I will just for giggles.

Then again maybe I won’t. It’s like that $100 million dollar lottery ticket you have and you fear to see if you won because the chances are you might have lost are greater.

Papamoka

More than ever please feel free to link to this post! Umm and if this is true vote...

Try this link to vote... you might have to enter papastraighttalk.blogspot.com in the search box.

The Van Der Galien Gazette has linked to and voted for this site...

Vision is more than just seeing...

Politics is not what it should be anymore. We no longer elect the mind of a President and instead we elect a politically correct image of a President as the media sells it. Watching any main stream media news broadcast you will see the perfect image candidates from both parties that sell air time on the networks and it works. It works for them. If the checks clear then it is simply a business decision from a main stream media perspective. Does it or should it work for America?

Would America elect the homeliest son of a bitch you ever saw in your life today? Tall beyond personal belief and skinny as the day is long and according to historians suffered severe depression? Would we elect him based on his wife not being the perfect example of who might be our First Lady or remotely attempting to be a politician’s wife? No, we wouldn’t and the world we all know would be worse off for it. Thank God President Lincoln didn’t have CNN or Fox or CBS or NBC or ABC to answer to in his day. His message to the people would have been lost during the election on issues of Anorexia. Would America have existed today as we know it without President Abraham Lincoln? Would you vote for him today?

Would America elect a man stricken with Polio that could not walk in today’s media driven election process. Turn the tables around and your nation is in the crapper and five out of ten people you know do not have a job. Our economy is in the crapper and this guy has a plan to get us out of it and he knows how to get it done. Toss in your nation and the world at war and ask yourself if you would trust him to lead your nation in that kind of crisis? Would the wheel chair splashed on every television screen in America make you not vote for him? Would America have survived without the political vision for Franklin D. Roosevelt? Would you vote for his mind or his media image of him today?

I can go through this scenario and cover many President’s with great vision and some could argue that history does not fit today and I would have to say that you are wrong. People that are leaders come from all walks of life in America and that is the beauty of our political system. Our political system is being turned into a side show at a carnival and it does not matter what ideas you have to propose more than it does if your check will clear over at the main stream media.

If this is the vision of the American political system then you can start deciding your votes by picking up the grocery store tabloids as to what politician is wearing the right clothes over what politician offers the best theory for America’s future. My friend is loosing his sight but not his vision and these are words to think about from the GTL and Michael Linn Jones...

Having spent some days not without ONE image of any politician has helped my appetite.

Yet is also brings to my mind the fact that while the eyes let us see, they do not help us think. It is almost a cliché to say that we all take our sight for granted. Maybe true and I hope it’s true for everyone. We all should stop now and then and count our blessings, and despite any travail, at least cling to humor. It is not only the spice of life, but its greatest redeeming factor at time.

And humor is in sore need in times like these. I don’t need to watch a TV to hear the parade of promises and bromides by people who KNOW they will have the reins of government to do those things they see fit as best for….their country? Their agenda?

I’ll go with the latter. I believe we live in precarious times; great challenges await us, or our children. Never more than now do I understand “the vision thing” as mentioned in the Bush 41 years. We need more than money. We need a balance, between the enforced security of the nanny state and the chaos of unfettered economic greed. I disagree with Barack Obama; hope is not audacious, but rather a key ingredient of a healthy republic. Its opposite is cynicism, and we have had more than a full dose of that.

In my mind’s eye I see a land of munchkins claiming the height of a Lincoln or a Jefferson. Too many of these “leaders” show less acuity of vision than I do right now. If you have the gift of sight, then for goodness sake use some focus - Gun Toting Liberal

My personal thanks to my friend Michael Linn Jones over at the Gun Toting Liberal for inspiring this thought process and commentary.

Be well soon my friend.

Papamoka

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