Filed Under “Obviously!”
weet Jebus on a pony: Cheney, Others OK’d Harsh Interrogations.
Bush administration officials from Vice President Dick Cheney on down signed off on using harsh interrogation techniques against suspected terrorists after asking the Justice Department to endorse their legality, The Associated Press has learned.
The officials also took care to insulate President Bush from a series of meetings where CIA interrogation methods, including waterboarding, which simulates drowning, were discussed and ultimately approved.
A former senior U.S. intelligence official familiar with the meetings described them Thursday to the AP to confirm details first reported by ABC News on Wednesday. The intelligence official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to publicly discuss the issue.
Please, for the love of ponies and puppies, don’t anyone tell me they were surprised by this. My head might explode. Article: “Bush official says, ‘Torture? Yeah, we totally did it, we totally planned it, we totally lied about it.’” My Response: “Yeah, asshole, we totally know that! Goddammit!”
Here’s the money shot: “Who would have thought that in the United States of America in the 21st century, the top officials of the executive branch would routinely gather in the White House to approve torture?” Kennedy said in a statement. “Long after President Bush has left office, our country will continue to pay the price for his administration’s renegade repudiation of the rule of law and fundamental human rights.”
Who would have thought . . . ? Ooo, ooo, pick me Alex! Pick me! I know! Jesus fucking Christ.
In other, non-head-explodey, news, I picked up Small Favor, the brand spanking new Dresden Files novel, yesterday, and read it while sweating out the start of a nasty cold last night. It was full of awesome. (The novel, not the cold.) In this book, we actually pick up some plot resolution, finally, while meantime kicking off several new twists and turns. It’s action-packed and has a really neat plot twist at the end that I didn’t see coming. (Of course, the cold meds muddled my thinking, and I was drunk on gallons of hot tea, so that might have contributed to my missing the clues.) It was a great read, full of some really agonizing stuff, and I even got a little sniffly and teary there at the end, because something really rotten happens to one of my all-time favorite characters. Go forth, purchase the book, and read. I command it!
(Photo credit: Chris McGrath.)
April 11th, 2008 at 1:08 pm
I can’t, I’m only through Death Masks.
JavaElemental Reply:
April 19th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
Keep reading. These books do nothing but get better. Seriously, I can’t gush enough praise for the Dresden Files novels.