Kean Jr. "Pleased" Torture of American Citizens is Legal

Bob says almost the same thing (3.00 / 1)

Great.  Now all those voters who were going to switch from Junior to Bob because Bob supported the bill can stick with Junior. & Bob can just use Junior's statement by removing the word "would."

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by: Wesleylake @ Sat Sep 30, 2006 at 12:16:04 PM CDT

Not the same thing. (4.00 / 1)

Senator Menendez clearly stated that this was "not the bill I wanted - as evidenced by the way I voted on the amendments" and that, as part of what will hopefully be a Democratic majority in the Senate, he will work "to make necessary improvements to this legislation to protect the civil liberties of all Americans."

That is absolutely not "almost the same thing" as Tom Kean Jr's position, who was "pleased the Senate passed the bill."

I totally respect the dissent on this vote. However, it's just unfair to say that they hold the same position.

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by: Scott Shields @ Sat Sep 30, 2006 at 16:55:12 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Oh, horsepuckey. (0.00 / 0)

This is like Frank Pallone voting for the net neutrality amendment and then when it doesn't pass, voting for the telecom bill anyway.  This kind of vote-splitting doesn't mean jack.  I don't care one iota how he voted on the amendment.  When the time came to put his money where his mouth is, he voted to give George W. Bush the power to snatch anyone off the street, at any time, name that person an enemy combatant, toss that person in prison without charges, outside the judicial system, with no recourse, no ability to consult a lawyer, no ability to see the evidence against him.

You can spin it however you want to, but Bob Menendez voted to make George W. Bush a dictator. 

Of course the bill was going to pass anyway because the Democrats are not a majority.  That doesn't mean Menendez had to switch sides.  He could still do the right thing -- but rather than put out the effort to explain why this bill was do dangerous, he took the craven, chicken way out and sold our civil liberties down the river for what he believed would be short-term political expediency.

And in doing so, he made George W. Bush Der Führer of the United States of America.

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by: brilliantatbreakfast @ Sat Sep 30, 2006 at 18:21:25 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

keep it classy (4.00 / 1)

nice

Meanwhile, I’m gonna go fight with the morons on Blue Jersey who are defending Bob Menendez’ vote to turn Bush into Hitler.

Comment by brilliantatbreakfast — September 30, 2006 @ 9:12 am

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by: Juan Melli @ Sat Sep 30, 2006 at 18:35:20 PM CDT

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Ftom the left (0.00 / 0)

"And in doing so, he made George W. Bush Der Führer of the United States of America."

And you still wonder why many of you are referred to as left wingnuts?

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by: finger @ Sun Oct 08, 2006 at 09:56:06 AM CDT

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And you wonder why Bush is compared to totalitarians. (0.00 / 0)

Look, I hate Nazi references because there is only one real comparison to the horrors they committed -- Stalin's Soviet Union purges.

But the fact is, both Hitler and Stalin sought and received the power to declare someone an enemy of the state, to imprison them with no trial or means of proving they aren't an enemy of the state, to torture them and even put them to death.  Saddam Hussein claimed the same power.

The bill legalized torture that doesn't result in permanent bodily or mental damage (as if you can judge the latter at the time), rescinds habeus corpus so people can be taken off the street if the President calls them an enemy combatant, allows for them to be held without any court review, and creates secret trial courts to determine if they are guilty or not. 

Maybe you can understand why someone would make comparisons between totalitarian states and the result of this terrible bill.

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by: huntsu @ Mon Oct 23, 2006 at 12:09:27 PM CDT

[ Parent ]