Congress Debates Fresh Investigation Of Interrogations

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Source: Washington Post

White House Tries to Quell Controversy

By Dan Balz and Perry Bacon Jr.
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, April 23, 2009

"The legacy of George W. Bush continued to dog President Obama and his administration yesterday, as Congress divided over creating a panel to investigate the harsh interrogation techniques employed under Bush's authorization and the White House tried to contain the controversy over the president's decision to release Justice Department memos justifying and outlining those procedures.

'Obama had hoped to put the whole matter behind him, first by banning those interrogation methods early in his presidency and then by releasing the memos last week with the proviso that no CIA official who carried out interrogations should be prosecuted.

"Instead, the latest decision has stirred controversy on the right and the left. Obama has drawn sharp criticism from former vice president Richard B. Cheney, former CIA directors and Republican elected officials for releasing the memos. Those critics see softness in the commander in chief. He faces equally strong reaction from the left, where there is a desire to punish Bush administration officials for their actions and to conduct a more thorough investigation of what happened.

"The controversy moved to Capitol Hill yesterday as lawmakers debated the wisdom of beginning a fresh investigation of the Bush-era practices. Several top Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (Nev.) and Sen. Richard J. Durbin (Ill.), withheld judgment, noting that the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence has begun an inquiry."

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/22/AR2009042204032.html?hpid=topnews

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MC: What would you say to the president if you had the opportunity?

VB: If I were to speak to President Obama, I would inform him of one thing and advise him of a couple of other things. I’d inform him, and I guess this sounds a little sarcastic, but I would inform him that when he talks about only looking forward and not backwards, I agree that most of his efforts have to be towards the future. I’m not quarreling with him on that, but you can’t forget the past.

When he says that he intends to give Bush a free pass simply because whatever crime Bush may have committed was in the past, I would inform him of something he already knows: that all criminal prosecutions, without exception and by definition, have to deal, obviously, with past criminal behavior. Obviously we cannot prosecute someone for a crime that they may commit in the future.

[link:www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0904/S00097.htm|Vincent Bugliosi Apr. 9,2009

[Vidar]

1. Story of Reid's life: "withheld judgement".

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4. Hey Vidar. What's the phrase from Reid's predecessor that

applies to Reid, "miserable failure."

With the money "disappeared" into banks that won't lend and people looking over their shoulders
everywhere in the country, there's going to be a mood of real anger building. This is one place
to take it out and it would serve truth too. No Nixon b.s. -- no Ford b.s. Just a tough prosecutor
and a jury of 12 citizens. That's the magic and that's their worst fear.

:hi:

[No Elephants]

2. Forget the Congressional investigations. They're nothing but showboating. Forget the

Commissions. They're just a way to bury stuff until the public calms down some, like the Warren Commission and the 911 Commission.

Appoint a Special Prosecutor who can hire staff, private detectives, whatever he or she needs. Get him or her to either find evidence or get Dummya to lie under oath about why he REALLY fell off the courh and choked on a pretzel--whatever it takes to kick the Bush Legacy Project in the nuts.

I will personally donate enough money to give every man, woman and child who visits the Bush Presidential Library a souvenir box of Crayola's.

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3. AMEN

The 911 Commission was a rigged deal from the start. But how about that Warren Commission. They
all suck because they're protecting the collaborators. Get Bugliosi or his choice as prosecutor.
It's a criminal case, after all. That would rock.