Help us protest the DISGUSTING segment on 60 Minutes that allowed the torturer

[annabanana]

Jose Rodriguez state, unopposed, that the torture was legal and appropriate:

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2162/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=10338

Sign & send (link included)

Dear “60 Minutes”:

The segment you did last night with Jose Rodriguez, former chief of the CIA’s Counter Terrorism Center, was enlightening about Mr. Rodriguez' central role in the CIA interrogations program and his support for the use of torture. But it did not provide an opportunity for those who challenge Mr. Rodriguez' view or his statement of facts -- of whom there are many. Important facts were missing:

The legal memo Mr. Rodriguez relied on was withdrawn by his own administration and has been widely discredited as shockingly poor legal analysis.

Experienced interrogators and Senator John McCain, a victim of torture himself, strongly disagree with Mr. Rodriguez' claim that torture works.

The UN Convention Against Torture, which we signed in 1994, prohibits torture by any country under any circumstance, even the threat of terrorism.

I urge you to produce another segment that presents the facts on torture by knowledgeable and well-respected persons who will emphasize that torture is immoral and illegal.

Torture is wrong, and your program should not leave the impression that it may be permissible in certain circumstances.

Thank you,

Please.. Do it, rec it, kick it, tweet it, face it...etc etc

I love you guys.

[orpupilofnature57]

1. Misleading Sycophant Monsters ,MSM

Rec & Kick !!!!!!!!!

[annabanana]

3. It's a wonder that I have an intact

TV screen in the house after that repulsive segment.

[Royal Sloan 09]

2. k & r, nt

[tabatha]

4. Done. I felt like doing this while watching

[NoMoreWarNow]

8. you and me both

my god, what have we become in this country?

[zeemike]

19. The Forth Reich?

That is what happened in Germany...they allowed their leaders to lead them down the path of the end justifying the means ...and abandoned all morality and decency.
And they are trying to sell it to us right now....with the same sales pitch.

[annabanana]

23. Only The People can insist on fixing this.

The leaders won't do it unless WE insist.

[LittleGirl]

5. On the 60 Minutes web site

there is a link to the FBI's side of this story (taped Sept 2011) and everyone who saw that segment last night should view the FBI one too. Some of the claims of Mr. Rodriquez's are disputed in that FBI video.

I agree torture is wrong, always and I'm ashamed my country was involved in it.

But I've been reading Howard Zinn's book "The People's History of the United States" and it leads me to believe that this has been our way (or humans' way) for a long time. Sadly.

[annabanana]

9. Then it has required push back for a long time.

And we cannot deem civilization achieved until we manage to get it stopped.

Thanks.

[Voice for Peace]

32. thank you annabanana

we keep going forward.

[NoMoreWarNow]

10. yes-- it's hardly new, but it still needs to be condemned

we HAVE to protest this abuse of our name.

[chervilant]

29. The American Age

by Walter LaFeber is an exceptional book, detailing US Foreign Policy. Our nation has long been the Bully in the Global Sandbox.

[LittleGirl]

33. thanks.

I'll put that one on my to-read list.

cheers.

[LASlibinSC]

6. Done!! Thanks for the link

That email and a shower will make the sick feeling go away I hope.

[Uncle Joe]

7. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, annabanana.

[steve2470]

11. done ! nt

[Rhiannon12866]

12. K&R and Done!

[NoMoreWarNow]

13. also a sickening part of this story--

Rodriguez's book (for which the 60 Minutes appearance a promotional appearance) is being published by Simon & Schuster - a division of CBS.

[LuckyLib]

14. Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner. This obvious

promotion of the book caused me to ask my SO if CBS was linked to the publisher. Bingo! These so-called journalists are disgusting. The book should have been allowed to hit the remainder bin within 3 days of arriving at a bookstore. Instead, CBS gives it 30 minutes of free advertising -- for a foray into criminal behavior and blatant disregard for human rights that now signifies who we have become.

[Hermes Daughter]

18. I think it's time to say good-bye to 60 Minutes. n/t

[SunSeeker]

40. +1,000!!

[annabanana]

16. Is there a word for "more shameless than shameless"?

We need one to cover this.

[SunSeeker]

41. Did they disclose this when they ran the story?

Sorry, I could not bring myself to watch the story, so I'm hoping you know....

[fascisthunter]

50. the media has many conflicts of interest

this is a prime example of just that.

[raouldukelives]

15. K&R

"When you stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back at you."

To top it off I wouldn't shocked if Mr. Rodriguez self identified as a Christian.

[Hermes Daughter]

17. Done! Thanks!

A disgusting segment. Will tweet your petition.

[annabanana]

30. Thank you. spreading the outrage is our best weapon. . .n/t

[MrMickeysMom]

20. Done.... This enraged everybody in the room watching it with me

All I could say was, "How DARE you get your 15 minutes of fame with this bullshit?"

Of course, Current TV was wasting no time going after it with TYT and Eliot doing their follow up.... but, where is the outrage for this junk?

Kick this often and write 60 minutes, please!

[spanone]

21. k&r...

[EFerrari]

22. Done.

[onestepforward]

24. Done!

[snot]

25. K&R'd.

[lonestarnot]

26. K & R!

[just1voice]

27. 60 Minutes and all other MSMedia whores can KISS MY ASS

They decided a long time ago to act as if torture is a debatable topic so they could pump up their exploitative ratings with all types of human suffering. Read the boards over at 60 minutes at the story's link, it's full of pro-torture comments from like-minded psychopaths who, like the MSM whores, need to think about forcefully making other humans suffer in order to make themselves feel remotely alive.

They are sick and will continue to produce "segments" like that, they only care about their ratings and themselves. A letter, a protest, real information: none of that matters to them.

[duhneece]

28. Done nt

[byeya]

31. No TV

My wife and I threw out our TV 5 years ago and we have not missed it.
As Lilly Tomlin said: "Things will get worse before they get worse."

[Hermes Daughter]

34. K&R n/t

[Ninga]

35. signed, sealed, delivered, kicked

[Swede]

36. I think they did a great job.

If they had been confrontational,he may have clammed up. Instead he sang like a lark.

[dickthegrouch]

37. Can his "testimony" on 60 minutes be turned into an idictment?

Can anyone say "unintended effects" ?

[Dragonfli]

48. I think there was a memo or something that said torturers are now above the law.

Someone filed a writ of "look forward instead of at the criminals".

I am no lawyer but my understanding is that if this is invoked no crimes that are committed in the past can be prosecuted, I think the only way to beat this new defense is to arrest the torturers for crimes they haven't YET committed.

That is pretty hard to do without three precogs in the tub.

[Johonny]

38. For perspective:one of my Republican friends

and his other Republican campaign buddies (many working the Romney campaign) thought the segment was too hard hitting. They felt all the questions were angled like some how torture was illegal! (can you imagine that). They felt the segment was too much a left wing attack on a no brainer great Bush white house move. They laughed off all the questioned techniques as not even torture.

To me the fact our own American interrogation agencies have pretty much all come out against the techniques used and point out they hurt American actions not help. Even if the shit (that is totally torture) were somehow not, who gives a fuck the actions don't work to get good actionable intelligence. The Bush White house legalize torture to do some thing mean spirited that had no positive consequences. Yet some how my Republican friends want me to think in the future people will remember the Bush white house better than it currently is. L O L

[AverageJoe90]

39. Holy shit.......

Believe it or not, I actually heard this guy on the radio this morning......(KSKY 660, Dallas/Ft. Worth for those who wanted to know.).

[SacoMaine61]

42. I watched the segment on 60 mins and had a different impression

I think 60 Minutes did a good job of showing how maladjusted this former CIA chief is. I cannot believe that someone of his (low) caliber was put in charge of anything. Definitely not a deep thinker and clearly someone who was eager to push the envelope on interrogation techniques. He came across as dull-witted and in denial.

[99th_Monkey]

47. I agree. Jose does not come across as a very sane or stable human being

there were even a couple of times where he started to come unglued because the interviewer
asked him something he didn't like. His voice started to raise like he was about to slap the
shit out of her. Quite disturbing to watch actually, knowing what all this guy has been engaged
in and all.

[loyalsister]

43. I don't understand why people expect news to be confrontational

The historically credible informative news outlets reported facts not interrogation.
Now, when anyone tries to gather facts without judgement they are considered biased. It's a sad sad state, not only of journalism but of the expectation of what it should be.

When shouting matches are considered informative, it's no wonder there is a voyeuristic demand for reality TV.

[rhett o rick]

44. Yes "news" should objectively provide the facts. Investigative journalism should

try to present both sides of an issue. If they present only one side, it's propaganda.

[loyalsister]

45. I agree- if they ONLY present one side repeatedly

The alternative is not necessarily to present both sides in a confrontational manner.

[annabanana]

49. No one is expecting Stahl to YELL at him..

But asking him to confront a fact or two during his screed wouldn't have been amiss...

[rhett o rick]

53. I am sick of "interviewers" that do nothing more than enable idiots to spew their crap. nm

[loyalsister]

56. I think the good cop interviewer may get more facts

People put up defenses when they are challenged too much. Fox, round table discussions, interviews with consultants, etc. have led people to believe good journalism isn't about exposing facts. It's about gotcha interviewing that just perpetuates the ridiculous shouting matches people seem to enjoy for some reason.

[99th_Monkey]

46. K&R

[WillyT]

51. K & R !!!

[madisongrace]

52. Covering their a**

I think this was done to protect someone or someone's. It sounded like a cover-up in the making.

[Starboard Tack]

54. K&R

[crunch60]

55. done!

[countryjake]

57. kickety!

[annabanana]

58. Thank you countryjake

[font color="green"]I haven't seen any mention of the distress this broadcast caused. At least not yet.[/font]

[markpkessinger]

59. Will do and will pass it on as well...

I was utterly appalled by that segment. But what was even worse was when I went to 60 Minutes' website to post a comment. The majority of the comments expressed disapproval of CBS, not for the very good reasons you cite, but rather because Lesley Stahl had been permitted to "trash such a fine American." The comments truly sickened me.

As I pointed out in the comment I left, my problem was not that Lesley Stahl had been too hard on Rodriguez, but rather because it was such a soft-ball interview. I also pointed out that I found Ms. Stahl's intimation to the effect that ordinary Americans have no way of knowing who they should believe between the FBI and CIA quite disingenuous. The FBI, after all, had been in the business of interrogations for decades, whereas the CIA is quite new to the game.