tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19614248.post9125964930272056954..comments2023-05-30T05:16:03.894-04:00Comments on The Barbershop: Dennis Byrne, proprietor: Torturous definitions of detainee "torture"Dennis Byrne...http://www.blogger.com/profile/12684119518936854024noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19614248.post-76345090136058997312009-05-03T10:50:00.000-04:002009-05-03T10:50:00.000-04:00So If waterboarding is not torture why did the CIA...So If waterboarding is not torture why did the CIA find it necessary to destroy their torture tapes. Ps I used to like reading your stories before the Fascist took over and you said nothing.Gregory A Danielsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19614248.post-66044982672513157072009-04-29T16:55:00.000-04:002009-04-29T16:55:00.000-04:00Hey hows about you and me get together and I do a ...Hey hows about you and me get together and I do a little water boarding on you. Then you can write another column about how easy it was---Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19614248.post-49010177805224887112009-04-28T14:59:00.000-04:002009-04-28T14:59:00.000-04:00For those who think wingnuts are all on the right,...For those who think wingnuts are all on the right, here is one from the left wing. It is not atypical of the ravings that I receive.<br /><br />"while reading your simpleminded column,i kept wondering...why is the constitution such a joke to your clan? why is the rule of law such a funny concept to you? why are treaties the US has committed to irrelevant to clowns like you? why do have such utter contempt for american ideals and the american track record on things like torture? why are you gleeful now that we have joined-in writing- a fraternity which includes the likes of north korea,burma,saudi arabia,laos,morocco,libya,uzbekistan,cuba,china,maylasia,syria and others....i know why--because you are just another smirking punk of a right wing coward. you've never served your country and the american way of life and ideals are repugnant to you. you would have had an honored seat at the Wannsee Conference. and by the way,you little shit-under torture of ANY kind,you would soil yourself and admit to the lindbergh kidnapping in about 2 minutes. now,if you really believe the garbage you wrote ,write a column defending those few enlisted soldiers involved in the abu ghraib scandal who were screwed over and abandoned by AWOL bush and "the duke of derferment" cheney. you won't--you've never done anything in life that takes any guts. well..at least your species is fading quickly(quickly? i mean "at light speed") into regional oblivion. just ask arlen specter.Dennis Byrne...https://www.blogger.com/profile/12684119518936854024noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19614248.post-56440751902487092622009-04-28T14:48:00.000-04:002009-04-28T14:48:00.000-04:00There is a very simple answer to this question, on...There is a very simple answer to this question, one posed by Kathleen Parker recently: If you have to ask, it is. Just because your high school spanish teacher was a sadist doesn't mean we need to be. I had nuns torture me in school, as well.<br /><br />The reason the legal opinions "bulged with caveats, qualifications, exceptions and conditions" had nothing to do with the safety of the prisoners (quit calling them detainees). It left the higher ups, including Bush and Cheney, with plausible deniability ("We told them not to be so rough!"). I don't think it's going to work for them.<br /><br />The lawyers should not be prosecuted, as they didn't and couldn't order anything be done. They should be dealt with by the legal profession if they committed any kind of malpractice. Only the lawyers can answer that one.<br /><br />As for Rahm Emanuel being our President's "brain", that's ridiculous. Mr. Obama has a very good brain and uses it to it's fullest every day. Just because George Bush outsourced his political thinking to Karl Rove and everything else to the Prince of Darkness, don't think our current President does.<br /><br />Your statement, "It also reveals to our enemies that they really don't need to worry about real, honest-to-God torture at American hands.", is very telling about the mindset of the right wingers. Our enemies shouldn't fear torture at our hands... we don't do that and the world should know it.<br /><br />Lastly, our enemies from WWII were prosecuted for waterboarding. For Christ's sake (no pun intended), it originated with the Inquisition. Do you think anything they did wasn't torture?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19614248.post-68945580610749310802009-04-28T14:17:00.000-04:002009-04-28T14:17:00.000-04:00Love the jogging back and forth between complete t...Love the jogging back and forth between complete trivialization and resistance to guilt feelings about becoming more like Chile in the 70s. How about something a little more reasonable, like admitting that simulated drowning is indeed torturous? I literally am dumbfounded by all the prevarication and retreating into neo-con lala land around this whole subject. There was such unanimity around Clinton's sexual practices with young women being about the rule of law and lying, but when it comes to simply seeing something for what it simply is, all bets are off. I guess there are different rules for neo-cons and the rest of us.Dennis Newportnoreply@blogger.com