October 27, 2006

Yesterday: "Q Would you agree a dunk in water is a no-brainer if it can save lives? THE VICE PRESIDENT: It's a no-brainer for me . . " Today: White House denies Cheney hailed 'water boarding' Tony Snow, White House Press Secretary: "You know as a matter of common sense that the vice president of the United States is not going to be talking about water boarding. Never would, never does, never will," Snow said. "You think Dick Cheney's going to slip up on something like this? No, come on." (emphasis added) And now today's Pop Quiz: How Dumb Do They Think We Are?

Here's a larger section of that interview where the Vice President (that's the VPOTUS, for those of you scoring at home): "Q I've heard from a lot of listeners -- that's what we do for a living, talk to good folks in the Heartland every day -- and I've talked to as many who want an increased military presence in Iraq as want us out, which seems to be the larger debate, at least coming from the left -- cut and run, get out of there. One fax said, when you talk to the Vice President, ask him when shock and awe is coming back to Iraq. Let's finish the job once and for all. And terrorist interrogations and that debate is another example. And I've had people call and say, please, let the Vice President know that if it takes dunking a terrorist in water, we're all for it, if it saves American lives. Again, this debate seems a little silly given the threat we face, would you agree? THE VICE PRESIDENT: I do agree. And I think the terrorist threat, for example, with respect to our ability to interrogate high value detainees like Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, that's been a very important tool that we've had to be able to secure the nation. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed provided us with enormously valuable information about how many there are, about how they plan, what their training processes are and so forth, we've learned a lot. We need to be able to continue that. The Congress recently voted on this question of military commissions and our authority to continue the interrogation program. It passed both Houses, fortunately. The President signed it into law, but the fact is 177 Democrats in the House -- or excuse me, 162 Democrats in the House voted against it, and 32 out of 44 senators -- Democratic senators voted against it. We wouldn't have that authority today if they were in charge. That's a very important issue in this campaign. Are we going to allow the executive branch to have the authority granted and authorized by the Congress to be able to continue to collect the intelligence we need to defend the nation. Q Would you agree a dunk in water is a no-brainer if it can save lives? THE VICE PRESIDENT: It's a no-brainer for me, but for a while there, I was criticized as being the Vice President "for torture." We don't torture. That's not what we're involved in. We live up to our obligations in international treaties that we're party to and so forth. But the fact is, you can have a fairly robust interrogation program without torture, and we need to be able to do that. And thanks to the leadership of the President now, and the action of the Congress, we have that authority, and we are able to continue to program. " Now let me just repeat the OFFICIAL statement from this Bush Administration: "'You know as a matter of common sense that the vice president of the United States is not going to be talking about water boarding. Never would, never does, never will,' Snow said. 'You think Dick Cheney's going to slip up on something like this? No, come on.'" I'm not suggesting this administration hasn't been lying 24x7 since they fraudulently slithered into office. I'm just saying they've reached a new low in their creativity to spin it. "We didn't just say what we just said. Vote Republican."

posted by petebest 18 years ago
  • This almost broke my brain. The tenure of this administration has been and continues to be a real-life Our Gang. Honestly, I think the real Bush agenda is putting satirists out of work... and eviscerating the Constitution.
  • Hold on, pete -- let's be fair. The interviewer said "a dunk in water" and "dunking a terrorist in water". Strictly speaking, that's not necessarily the same as 'waterboarding'. The VP did not endorse waterboarding as such, only dunking in water. Imagine, if you will, a Venn diagram of big circle with a little circle in it, where the big circle is the set of 'dunking in water', and the little circle the set of 'waterboarding'. We all know that Dick and the interviewer were talking about waterboarding, and in a way the belittles the practice into something found at the county fair, and 'dunking in water' doesn't make much sense as an effective interrogation technique, but there's not enough here to convict him on.
  • Not to mention that torture has been so redefined by this administration that it's not a lie when he says they don't torture -- going by the legal definition they set for themselves. Torture as it's commonly understood, yes -- absolutely. Same way as how Clinton defined himself out of having sex with Monica, only astronomically more immoral.
  • What I don't understand is why we never have vigilante assasination attempts against the evil people. John Lennon, MLK, Kennedy all shot. No has even tried to bust a cap in Dubya or Cheneybot. Fuckers.
  • Well, not never, someone did take a shot at Reagan. And what didn't kill him only made him stronger / more evil. So maybe that's it...
  • Let's see how CNN recaps, shall we? Story Highlights • VP Cheney agrees in interview it's OK to dunk terrorists in water to save lives • White House rejects accusations that statement endorses "water boarding" • Rights group says Cheney statement is a "clear endorsement" • President Bush: "This country doesn't torture" Okay! Any questions?
  • I don't want to say what I really think, in case I am later rounded up & disappeared. Nevertheless, let it be known that even tho' I'm a pacifist, I will maintain.. Those with eyes, those with ears, etc. BOCK BOCK
  • "Peppered with questions about the remarks, Snow said Cheney did not interpret the question as referring to water boarding and the vice president did not make any comments about water boarding. He said the question put to Cheney was loosely worded. The administration has repeatedly refused to say which techniques they believe are permitted under the new law. Asked to define a dunk in water, Snow said, 'It's a dunk in the water.'" Fuckall that's as low as I've ever heard. That's profoundly embarassing for all of us. What utter bastards they are.
  • On Tuesday, Cheney, serving in his role as president of the Senate, appeared in the chamber for a photo session. A chance meeting with Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (Vt.), the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, became an argument about Cheney's ties to Halliburton Co., an international energy services corporation, and President Bush's judicial nominees. The exchange ended when Cheney offered some crass advice. "Fuck yourself," said the man who is a heartbeat from the presidency. Leahy's spokesman, David Carle, yesterday confirmed the brief but fierce exchange. "The vice president seemed to be taking personally the criticism that Senator Leahy and others have leveled against Halliburton's sole-source contracts in Iraq," Carle said.
  • Maybe Cheneybot thinks a "dunk in the water" has something to do with a "dunk tank" like at the county fair.
  • Nice one pete. We seem to have hit enter at the exact same minute. Cool! BTW: Nice to see some Demos still kicking the whole freakin Haliburton thing around. heh.
  • Wait, wait, wait. Few steps back, please. Who is this reporter giving the leading softball questions? And why does he still have a job?
  • Nevermind, answered my own question... *sigh*
  • I need to change my name. It's like having the same name as Hitler. Monkeys, help me.
  • Murray. Great Indian name.
  • [MR]Chip, I believe this is a radio event the white house holds every 2 years to parade the friendly and right-leaning talk show hosts through their splendor. Please note NPR was duly represented by the not-so-hard-hitting Juan Williams. (Who's probably nice enough, but put up or shut up already.)
  • the dunk in the water method of interrogation has a long history: * if they float, they're guilty/terrorists/witches/what have you * if they sink, they're innocent
  • Snow vs. Compton COMPTON: To say that Vice President Cheney doesn't make mistakes like this, he did go up and curse a senator to his face on the Senate floor, and accidentally shot his friend, so he's not perfect. (Laughter.) Sorry, Pete inspired me
  • From the MeFi thread: waterboarding as depicted in the "Jacob the Liar" film. NSFW. If you don't want to sign up, you could use keepvid.com to extract the direct download link, of course.
  • Waterboarding was used by the Germans in Occupied France against members of the French Resistance during World War II. It was torture then. And it is torture now.
  • In the link above, I recalled the book's title incorrectly: it was White Rabbit not pink, and it was about F.F.E. Yeo-Thomas.
  • You could change it to "Chaney" with an "a." Then you could tell people you're related to Lon Chaney. The VP was obviously talking about the well-known interrogation method in which you wait until the suspect is asleep and put his hand in a pan of warm water. Then, when he wakes up he really has to pee, and will tell you anything in exchange for a trip to the loo.
  • What all you 'cut and run' types haven't understood is that TERRORISTS CAN'T SWIM. That's why a harmless little "dunk in water" is effective. They're afraid of splashies. All we're doing is just slowly letting the air out of their ducky innertubes. And yet SOME of us would rather have dry terrorists than a safe nation... We don't use BAD tortures; we only use the not-so-bad ones. It's just bizarre to have to answer statements like these at all...
  • "And now today's Pop Quiz: How Dumb Do They Think We Are?" Very. And it's a strategy that's worked so far, hasn't it? Some of us aren't so much dumb as numb.
  • Hey, kids! Why so down? We need to lighten up in here, have some fun! Ya'll go get your swimsuits, and then we'll go get our friend Cheney, and we'll go waterboarding. Since he's our honored guest, he can go first. When will we get tired of being walked on by this administration? FuckBushCo.
  • If the waterboarding doesn't work, they can read Lynne Cheney's erotica to them.
  • Or Watch the interview between Lynne and Wolf Blitzer (second link, it's javascript so couldnt directly link) She denies there's anything in the book at all. More or less. Just 127 blank pages. All this talk about "lesbian romance" is just lies by the left wing media. LIES I SAID.
  • page with link to the full text of Lynn's masterpiece. yay whitehouse.org! I didn't download the book, I got enough from the excerpts. and I hate PDF.
  • School Bus driver flips Chimpy the bird, gets fired. Firing "not politically motivated".
  • I think his fellow drivers should flip someone else off to test the "not politically motivated" theory.
  • *clicks "Yes"*
  • I take the position that this is mock execution. ... Colloquially speaking, at least it's torture Prescott Prince is a small-town lawyer who has never taken a death penalty case to trial. Yet he finds himself involved in one of the biggest capital punishment cases this century: He's defending the alleged mastermind of the September 11 terror attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. He sounds like a fascinating character. Will be interesting to see how this all plays out.