I think they thought they could get away with breaking laws,

[shraby]

and torturing because they believed their own propaganda. That the Republicans would be in the majority for a long long time into the future. If they had been, all inquiries into torture would have been quashed before they even got started. No reports or anything else would have come to light unless someone leaked them. They were so sure of it that they didn't even bother shredding as much stuff as they should have to cover their tracks. Now they are all in danger of being prosecuted within an inch of their lives.

[Patsy Stone]

1. They rewrote the laws in their image

Much, much easier -- and much, much worse.

[Bandit]

2. Very few people that break or ignore the Law believe they will get caught

or in these guys case pay a price.. I am pretty sure they will walk...They will have forever a stigma attached to their names though. Something like Justice Breyer said after the Bush* v Gore ruling. That because of that ruling Bush* would always have an asterisk following his name and I personally have done my share to promote that..

[kentuck]

4. They were arrogantly flagrant in their disregard for the laws...

Because absolute power corrupts absolutely.

[liberalmuse]

3. They took an awful lot of pictures.

And made videos of the torture, which of course they later destroyed when they realized the American people weren't too keen on the atrocities. I think they were compiling a 'How To' manual. It's really sickening when you think about lawyers and people in government putting this shit together in such a cold, calculating manner. They remind me of the Nazi's, except the Nazi's were smart enough to know that torture, as a means of extracting information, didn't work, so they didn't practice it. Of course they had no problem with death camps and human experimentation, but that's another story altogether. On edit: I wonder if that's where Cheney, Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz were headed. I remember in '90 when Cheney would come out and talk about the 'smart bombs'. His suppressed glee when he showed the press the films clips was absolutely sickening. They are nothing less than sadistic monsters, and I hope they do not escape justice for their crimes. Raping children. They also abused an elderly woman in ways that will make you absolutely sick. You don't do that to a grandma. The people who took part in these crimes are like pedophiles. There is no cure when you cross that line. You've lost your soul forever. I want to know who wrote these particular memos: 'Raping children in front of their parents'. And just who in the fuck thought it was their 'patriotic duty' to participate in this? They should not be exempt. These despicable human beings should be punished to the full extent of the law.

[C_U_L8R]

5. tyrants always do

in fact, they don't even acknowledge that they did anything wrong.

Does this sound familiar...
Grandiose sense of self-worth
Superficial charm
Criminal versatility
Reckless disregard for the safety of self or others
Impulse control problems
Irresponsibility
Inability to tolerate boredom
Pathological narcissism
Pathological lying
Shallow affect
Deceitfulness/manipulativeness
Aggressive or violent tendencies, repeated physical fights or assaults on others
Lack of empathy
Lack of remorse, indifferent to or rationalizes having hurt or mistreated others
A sense of extreme entitlement
Lack of or diminished levels of anxiety/nervousness and other emotions
Promiscuous sexual behavior, sexually deviant lifestyle
Poor judgment, failure to learn from experience
Lack of personal insight
Failure to follow any life plan
Abuse of drugs including alcohol
Inability to distinguish right from wrong

(from the wiki definition of psychopathy - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychopathy )

[lunatica]

6. They were so sure that they wrote PNAC and made it public

It's because they believe they know human nature when the fact is they only know their own reality which is based entirely on power. Even their insatiable greed is only to gain wealth so they can have more power.

[rucky]

7. They just thought we were dumb enough to believe it.

or it would just never go public.

These are scoundrels we're talking about - sadists and psychopaths looking for a way to get their jollies. I don't see how they could honestly think they were doing the right thing - as long as they keep us fooled.

[Karenina]

8. May the American people show them that they will NOT.

Impeach, indict, imprison.

[Marr]

9. I think so, too. The same irrational optimism that colored their "plans" in Iraq

also colored their domestic actions. I think they assumed the best case scenario; that the Republicans would be the permanent majority in US politics and its leaders need not worry about law. Very much like the old Soviet government, oddly enough.

[tanyev]

10. I think they really believe "It's not illegal if the president does it."

As long as it's a Republican president, of course.

[KharmaTrain]

11. The "Smartest" In The Room

Ya gotta get a little political perspective as to when these memos were written and when the worst abuses occured. 9/11 opened the door for abuses cheeeney was already hoping to accomplish and the rushpublican victories in 2002 and 2004 gave that regime the feeling of invinsibility. They were just a few votes shy of veto-proof majorities in both Houses and the Democratic party was weak and easily bullied. The Mighty Wurlitzer controlled the corporate media that didn't hesitate to berate any critic and spread lies that made a majority of people believe that Iraq was tied into 9/11. It was Orwellian beyond even Orwell's concepts...and one these criminals felt they could get away with. They felt they could continue to win or steal elections and their majority and stranglehold on power would endure beyond 2008...and enough space to allow those who wanted to slip away to do so and others to gain further power and riches.

The party came to a carshing thud with the '06 elections...the momentum was stopped and people started to look over their shoulders. The getaway wasn't going to be as clean. But they still think they can and will get away with war crimes and other violations of civil rights and the Constitution. The more they flaunt it, the more compelling the case is for the Justice Department to take a closer took.

[msongs]

12. "they" are getting away with. any indictments or convictions? nt

[zeemike]

13. I think that part of what gave them confidence in a permanent

Majority was their ability to steal elections.
But what they did not count on was a massive turn out of voters that make that imposable.

[malaise]

14. The bigger problem is that they thought they would never lose power

Arrogance and hubris got them in the end.
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Rove_Funny_how_911_came_our_0222.html
<snip>

<...>. On Iraq especially, the political strategist found it behooved him to underscore the unique circumstances under which the decision to go to war was made.

"History has a funny way of deciding things," he said. "Sometimes history sends you things, and 9/11 came our way."

Americans should not forget, he counseled, that every act of war sends a poignant political message and that any statement the U.S. could send by reluctance to fight Islamic extremists abroad will be taken as a sign of diminished will.<...>
----------------

Justice is coming Rove!!!

[CanonRay]

15. So far they have!

Just sayin' :shrug:

[underpants]

16. The newest thing DC has come up with is - WHAT laws were broken?

I think we are going to see a self-created cloud of ambiguity about laws so everyone in DC gets protected

[tbyg52]

17. I think you are right.

They tried like hell to steal 2008, as they *did* 2000 and 2004. Just too many angry people out there for it to work in 2008.