Almost speechless. Norway’s mass killer – who killed 77 people 13 months ago after setting off a bomb in Oslo and moving on to a teen camp where he went on a shooting rampage – is being moved to a high security prison area that features more than 250 square feet of living space, with a treadmill, computer access, a TV and daily newspaper deliveries.
The video explains it all.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVXM7nwRiWI
So painful is this segment from White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs regarding the White House sudden reversal about the release of detainee photos that I figured if I had to watch it … so do you. Read more
I’m not going to let this stand. Does the left really think that if they keep saying it over and over again it will be true? Bob Shieffer interviewed Vice President Dick Cheney on Face the Nation Sunday morning and tried – once again – to warp the Bush administration’s enhanced interrogation techniques into being the same as chopping off heads and gauging eyes out with a spoon.
“What do you say to those, Mr. Vice President, who say that when we employ these kinds of tactics, which are after all the tactics that the other side uses, that when we adopt their methods, that we’re weakening security, not enhancing security, because it sort of makes a mockery of what we tell the rest of the world?” asked Schieffer.
“Well, then you’d have to say that, in effect, we’re prepared to sacrifice American lives rather than run an intelligent interrogation program that would provide us the information we need to protect
America.”
I refuse to accept Shieffer’s premise that we have adopted their methods.
Cheney did a pretty good job during the interview. What’s interesting is the left’s annoyance that CBS and other media outlets are providing the vice president an opportunity to speak. It just drives them nuts. Their media is inviting Cheney to come and speak!
On top of that, they are claiming that Cheney is somehow breaking protocol by not just slithering away into retirement. Did they forget that the Clinton family started the trend?
Others writing… Power Line, Hot Air, and Gateway Pundit, who all noted the zing on Colin Powell.
For those interested, here’s the video from Face the Nation.
Update (Jim): I have the specific portion of the interview here. The question is key, but Cheney’s answer is classic.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1A0mvwLuak
Update (Jim): Erik indeed asks the relevant question. Some video to chew on when considering that question yourself. Read more
UPDATE: You can hear Speaker Pelosi’s comments for yourself below … but Congressman Peter Hoekstra says either the Speaker was asleep or she just wasn’t paying attention because the intelligence briefing laid it all out. Asleep or not paying attention, either way, with Nancy in charge … we are doomed. Read more
Any investigation into the Bush Administration authorization of enhanced interrogation will center on the definition of torture. The left will try to define torture as anything above a coercive conversation and in so doing will be able to position Bush officials as law breakers or “war criminals”.
The jumping off point will be a Carl Levin report detailing the techniques used by intelligence officers. But as Senator John Ensign pointed last night on Hardball, while waterboarding may be off the table now, what CIA officers did at GITMO, can hardly be considered torture when put in context.
The smack down in this video clip comes early here, when Ensign takes the Levin report apart. Inflammatory!
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hhynP7tNT0
The Bush administration torture memos were released last Thursday, and for those of you who want to follow the Obama administration’s bouncing ball, here we go.
On Thursday, Obama elected not to fight the release of the memos and stated he wanted to move beyond “a dark and painful chapter in our history.” It was done. CIA officials would not be prosecuted.
On Friday and Saturday, former CIA directors – including current director Leon Panetta – renew their objections to the release of the memos. The release of these memos would compromise future intelligence operations.
Administration spokespersons – but nobody from Obama’s intelligence staff – heads out to the Sunday morning talk shows to tell everyone that this is a good thing for America. Rahm Emanuel states, my emphasis added.
Asked if Obama believes that those who devised the policies should be prosecuted, Emanuel said “no“:
“Yes, but those who devised policy, he believes that they were — should not be prosecuted either, and that’s not the place that we go — as he said in that letter, and I would really recommend people look at the full statement — not the letter, the statement –in that second paragraph, “this is not a time for retribution.” It’s time for reflection. It’s not a time to use our energy and our time in looking back and any sense of anger and retribution.
Obama runs over to the CIA to shake some hands on Monday. Panetta lets them know that they can all still succeed at their job.
The White House sought to show that it is leaving the past behind by announcing that no CIA agents would be prosecuted for interrogations sanctioned under the Bush administration. Obama’s advisors also have suggested that the highest-level officials who authorized the practices will be immune.
On Monday night, former Vice President Dick Cheney calls for other memos to be released. They would show what intelligence was gathered and how well it worked to save American lives. Later that night, left wing groups are expressing their dissatisfaction that Cheney would not have a date with a firing squad.
By Tuesday, Obama had changed his mind.
“With respect to those who formulated those legal decisions, I would say that is going to be more a decision for the attorney general within the parameter of various laws, and I don’t want to prejudge that,” Obama said during a meeting with Jordan’s King Abdullah II at the White House.
Today – Wednesday – nobody knows what he’s gonna do next. Do readers understand how this is a clear example that Obama does not have the executive experience to run the Executive Branch of the greatest country in the world? They have no idea what they are doing.
Even if you simply describe these differences as some “mixed messages” instead of expired promises, that still shows how clueless this bunch is.
Hey – Jim’s got more posted just four hours ago with video.
When the young President changed his mind in less than 48 hours in regard to prosecuting lawyers and Bush Administration officials who authorized enhanced interrogation techniques, it caused confusion even among the White House Press Corps (no jokes please).
So why, after sending out your chief of staff on Sunday and your press secretary on Monday, to make it clear that there would be no prosecution of those who formulated EIT policies, would Obama make a U turn and not only allow such prosecutions … but include President Bush in the mix as well. Why?
Here’s the clip I played on the show today from Charles Krauthammer. It’s politics, it’s a distraction, it’s … you guessed it … all about George Bush.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzWAu0KChT0
All Bush, all the time, and why? When you having nothing to offer yourself, or when what you offer is incredibly ineffective or naive (refer to Fidel Castro’s smack down of Obama just 48 hours after his famous Latin American apology) … best to fall back on your old fall back, “It’s W’s fault.”
Update: (Steve) Oh heck, I finished writing this recap and just saw Jim’s post above. Hey, two post for the price of none!
UPDATE: Fred Thompson weighs in on the whole matter here. (via instapundit) Read more