Rep. Dana Rohrbacher, Torture Apologist Extraordinaire
By SilentPatriot Monday Oct 22, 2007 9:15pm
Watching Maher Arar's Congressional testimony last week -- via satellite from Canada, because the Bush administration still refuses to allow him entry to this country despite being acquitted of all terror charges -- made me sick to my stomach. Putting aside what the administration has done to this wholly innocent man -- which is deplorable and cringe-inducing enough in and of itself -- for Rep. Dana Rohrbacher the ends justify the means. He has the audacity to defend the rendition and dismiss the subsequent torture of a family man who was guilty of nothing but having a similar name with a suspected terrorist and being in the wrong place at the wrong time as a "mistake." Absolutely shameful.
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Is this the transformation our country has undergone? Have we really gone from the world's #1 human rights crusader to a nation of torture apologists? How do these people sleep at night?
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Habeas Corpus?
First
Danm
According to the 36%-ers, those tortured are just brown people; i.e. unworthy of the same level of human rights as good white Christian folk.
Manifest Destiny anyone?
He should sue the shit out of this country..and that I would not resent the tax's being paid out to him..and while he's at it he should sue the Preznit...just for good measure.
"9/11 changed everything" is no doubt how they excuse themselves.......
And you wonder why "they hate us?"
The Abu Ghraib scandal in Iraq has immensely contributed to the Iraqis lack of confidence of America being there for altruistic reasons such as bringing them "democracy" or being there because they wanted to "bring freedom to Iraqis."
I listened to an Iraqi expert yesterday who said the Iraqis want America out of Iraq and that as long as America remains in Iraq there will be chaos and violence. The Iraqis no longer and have not believed that the American government has been there for them since June of 2003, when the Bush administration failed to restore basic services like electricity and water yet started the torture regime for which many Iraqis say is worse than it was under Saddam Hussein.
I just posted a link to this on the thread below, but it belongs here even more so.
Let's see if a Democrat introduces a censure resolution against this Nazi scumbag.
injustice is ok as long as we say we're sorry...or..
injustice is ok as long as injustice has been done to you first..take your pick
we sure do set a good example to anyone looking to do injustice to us again dont we.
Just an Old Lady @ 6:
9-11 did change everything.
I used to be proud of my country.
I can't honestly say that anymore.
This is so disturbing. When you read the thread below where the blowhard Liar in Chief says this has stopped attacks you have to do the math. Hundreds have been rendered and tortured and they only got a few confessions, none of which we are sure are real.
This asshole saying we were attacked so we were justified in torturing you just in case should be kicked out of office.
I don't know how they sleep. I am literally shaking with anger hearing this.
This is disgusting to listen to. This is a "colateral damage" argument. I suppose Maher Arar should be thanking us for not torturing him on purpose.
Silent Patriot
Well said. After listening to this Republican apologist, it is enough to make one purchase a shirt that got Raed Jarrar arrested at JFK airport, the one that said in English and Arabic script "We Will Not Be Silent."
Maybe Nancy Pelosi will apologize for Rohrbacher, too....
my favorite part is this idiot rep asking the rendered guy if the supposed terrorist is part of Al Quaeda. I thought all of our brilliant intelligence would have provided that answer... And I'm sure our efforts are keeping Canada's cities safe from attack, like this assclown suggests.
I"m sure his precious triplets might not be so happy if Daddy was renditioned to Syria or Egypt or Morocco.
you can go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dana_Rohrabacher and read about this Orange County politico.
how can anyone right this off to a 911 mistake.
shame on the USA for letting this happen.
suppose they did this to you!
think about it.
"How do these people sleep at night?"
They sleep like a babe in their mothers' arms. Asking questions like this is blindly pointless. People who excuse things like this suffer a complete and fundamental misunderstanding of what the founding of the U.S.A. was intended for, and of a complete disconnect from basic morality in general.
There is no point in lamenting "how do they sleep". They sleep fine. They are the good soldiers and will facilitate the burning down of the sacred trust given to us.
The man is scum. (that, "me so sorry" routine made me wanna puke.)
All I could think of listening to that was "what if the tables were turned and the Congressman had been sent to Syria and tortured?" How do you think *he'd* react to some foreign politician saying, "Oops, but you've got to look at it from our point of view."?
Again, what a load of crap.
Ya know, I wonder how much of this is due to the fact that Dana Rohrbacher has so few friends whose names could be confused with Maher Arar.
Really, if the authorities had carelessly picked up and tortured an innocent Jimmy McKay when they were looking for a terrorist Timmy McVeigh...I think he (and many, many others) would be much more worried about a repeat.
xoites -
> ... This is a “colateral damage” argument. ...
I call it a two wrongs make a right argument.
Are there any terrorists with a similar name to Rohrbacher???
I'd like to deport him and see how he likes it.
Reich-wingers.....are you proud?
The reach of 9/11 is long and total.
It will expose all as they truly are.
Rohrbacher....the surfing politician....which completely confounds me....those guys in Orange County have got it backwards......the guy is a hack.
Let's not forget that Rohrabacher was the Taliban's biggest supporter back in the 90's.
Okay this is today...What about five years from now, what about God help us, we get attacked again? They will torture us all, make no mistake, they are just getting warmed up.
One day even Republicans will look back and realize these torture loving men were monsters.
Rohrbacker is German for bottom of zee barrel
Republicans have long been the modern day facists who would fit right in with the Nazi's of world war II, the Nazi's too deemed the end justified the means...., if the USA was ever defeated in a war, one can bet Nuremburg style trials would be held in America for war criminals going back many decades not just for recent events...., war criminals are never brought too justice until the country they serve is defeated..., Bush's grandfather was a pro-Nazi advocate during world war II, so for the elite republicans too advocate, and justify torture and rendition [kidnapping], is not surprising, how ironic Bushites use the term rogue nations on enemies, when it seems Republicans have become the very thing they rant and rave about, human rights violators, torturers, murderers, the list is too long too detail, but they will unlikely ever face a earthly justice, but one can bet they will fit right in where Hitler resides today in that lake of fire, and they can all debate on how the end justified the means....., I would be willing too bet Jesus will not know them and god will be so disgusted he will not look upon them for their evil...
looks to me like the fat bastard could skip a few meals and wipe that i just ate a bucket of shit smile off his face!
Wrong link. This one details Rohrabacher's support for the Taliban.
cobwebhead @ 26:
this is good stuff.......thanks.
mudshark @ 33:
this one works.
cobwebhead @ 26:
Exactly. Dana's got some 9-11 related questions he needs to answer.
Here's a little more about his pre-9/11 secret meeting with the Taliban right after Bush took office.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/000233.php
justabill @ 11:
Actually, 9-11 changed nothing.
This has been happening incrementally since the Maine blew up mysteriously in Havana Harbor; since the Lusitania was sent out on a suicide mission to get the US into WW1; since the Roosevelt administration practically forced the Japanese attack and withheld vital information from Kimmel and Husband; since the phony attack in the Gulf of Tonkin; since the coup in Dallas 1963; since the misleading of Saddam by the US Ambassador that the US had no interest in the plans of Iraq to acquire Kuwait...
no, 9-11 changed nothing in the old elite playbook.
...
...
Wow. Rep. Dana Rohrbacher, IMO, is an incredible scumbag.
To so casually dismiss what that man went thru and blame the Canadians blows my mind.
To further Justify Rendition and torture by bringing up 9/11 is disgusting.
That was my countryman your guys tortured. This is the stuff that makes us go "Fascists" whenever we hear US news or see US propoganda.
We have to, to keep from getting sucked into the idea that we are constantly in need of the fear-box's (TV) guidance.
http://newsok.com/article/3155215/1193188809
I am truly embarrassed to live in Oklahoma. I am so damn tired of the stupidity, the generalizations, and the hatred.
This man is worst than a scumbag.He's a repugnant evil SOB.
The torture is like friendly fire in a war? The congressman VISITED communist political prisoner camps, so he understands that innocents should not be tortured? Christ I'm gonna vomit. Somebody PLEASE tell me I misunderstood the video.
"How old are your kids"? Good one, THAT's a good apology. Hope your kids are safe because we torture.
Hit send. Saying clever stuff in a Crooks and Liars comment section just doesn't make me feel any better about what I saw in this video.
torture denials video compilation here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaK3a3XSPA8 and here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrjYJY7wOic and a poem set to music
Extraordinary Rendition
We write a new rendition everyday
By what we do not what we say
What are you doing in our name?
Kidnap and tortures all the same
Extraordinary Rendition
When Freedom’s price is Freedom
We have no rights when we most need them
We are becoming what we fight
We kidnap, torture, kill for right
Extraordinary Rendition
Do you believe their rendition of the truth?
whatcha gonna do when them come for you?
Do you believe their rendition of the truth?
whatcha gonna do when them come for you?
We write a new rendition everyday
By what we do not what we say
We ought to stand for what is right
But our greatest weakness is our might
Extraordinary Rendition
Dana Rohrabacher is a rotten soul who had an all too cozy relationship with, and his (surprise) continued defense of, convicted mega-lobbyist Jack Abramoff. This is the same guy who applauded Scooter Libby's sentence commutation by Bush and today defends Blackwater CEO Erik Prince and thinks Ollie North (yeah, THAT Ollie North) is a hero. Go figure.
They really ought to give that man some sort of award for his IOKIYARianism.
First you put on the previous subject and not this. You have ruined my night. Thanks a lot.
I hope all the repubs in Orange County are proud of their boy...me... I won't even stop there
This is so sad... Does anyone have a link to a transcript of this please? Thanks in advance...
The safety of America's children and families will not be furthered for us to step away from conducting operations even knowing mistakes will be made in those operations.
This was not just a "mistake". This was a deliberate choice to step away from decades of common law.
If the idiots in charge had NOT stepped away from the rule of law and habeas corpus, this crap would not have happened.
I want to rendition this asshole. Right now. To my house.
Rohrbacher:
This was not just a "mistake". This was a deliberate choice to step away from decades of common law.
If the idiots in charge had NOT stepped away from the rule of law and habeas corpus, this crap would not have happened.
Idiot
Captain Kangaroo @ 48:
Yes, let's have the government rendition him away for torture for 8 months or so, and then see what the arrogant little snob has to say.
This is a fear-based culture, and the Republicans and many Democrats escalate the fear to justify any evil. The truth is torture does not make the guilty confess, and fear of torture does not prevent terrorists from killing or destroying. The tortured innocent will confess to anything. The guilty will fight to the death. If you knew that capture meant torture, wouldn't your only choice be fight to the death?
Truth Be Told @ 36:
No, it didn't really *change* anything.
But it did put everything into stark relief. 9/11 is like nuclear fallout. It's effects are invisible, but will last generations and eat away at the very core. Eventually, what was built and given to us in trust will decay beyond all recognition.
The effects will be simple. All masks are shed. From the highest to the lowest, everyone will act as they truly are.
Dana Rohrbacher absolutely defends rendition.
Hey Dana: Go F yourself.
john @ 42:
Good stuff.
"Torture in the name of the free...more misery for you and me...they ship 'em out so we can't see...the way they bring 'em to their knees..."
-Wackiavelli
I am so pissed off and angry right now. I have to get out of here.
I live in Canada and am confused by this whole situation. I also feel sorry that you all have to be punished by the 1% of the idiots.
Maybe the Congressman is sleep-deprived (due to the triplets & keeping them safe) but when he tries to compare TORTURE to friendly fire, it's just all apples & oranges. I feel so sorry for that poor man who was tortured thanks to the New & Current Policy of the so-called Land of the Free. For SHAME, America. The Statue of Liberty really ought to be wearing a blindfold by now.
So.. at what point do you determine that the U.S. has become a rogue authoritarian state with wmds? Can we do that now or wait until torture is the norm and the 3rd aggressive invasion of a sovereign state (Iran) has occurred?
When do we accept that the entire political spectrum has moved to the extreme far right and those who maintain a respect for law & human rights are on the outside fringe?
Is this the result of 'Manifest Destiny'? if so, is it a destiny we want?
justabill @ 11:
I'm very proud of my fellow citizens. The vast majority of them reject the vile spewings of scum like this 'Congressman'. If you, as I concede you might, doubt me read: Why I am an Idiot!
It's a big mistake to think that the paid fools and tools you see or read in the corporatist press are doing anything but manufacture a neverending smokescreen to obscure the truth from the citizenry.
The essential gist of which is that Americans are a mob of racist, jingoist, nativist monsters who support the likes of this Congressman.
With Congress at an aggregate approval rating of 11% that's clearly not the case.
Let us blame those responsible: The Colossus of the CodPiece and The Red Queen!
Not 'our country' because if this truly were 'our country' we'd have sent both these monsters to the gallows.
Fortunately....
It's not to late to do so.
Apparently, you don't even have to be remotely intelligent to run and win a seat as a republican in the house. That was some of the stupidest shit I've heard come out of someone's mouth in a long time. I couldn't even watch the whole thing
chopper @ 53:
I would agree with that opinion. I also believe that this is an intentional unmasking of the players involved in this burgeoning tyranny. Its so bad now that they gloat like bully street bosses, daring us commoners to stand up to them, with both the military, and now the private contractors/mercenaries between them and us.
I truly doubt that this will ever be settled without horrendous bloodshed. Elections are a fraud, we've only just begun to see the futility of them, from rigged machines, to phony candidates (or interchangeable ones) to outright fraud.
ooppss..."sorry about that"............jumpin jesus h christ......is that it?.....no moral compass what so ever.
I can't believe there are people in the U.S who willingly voted for douchebags like Roherbacher who sells out his country and calls it patriotism.
Captain Kangaroo @ 57:
Easy Cap'n.....mezzzcalll......the cactus juice works wonders.
rohrbacher is another pervert repug who needs to be run out of office
F#@k Rohrbacher's kids. I am so tired of hearing children being used as an excuse for relieving people of their dignity and human rights.
My kids are among the Americans who comprise the free and the BRAVE. It takes bravery to live in an open and just society. It brings risk, but I'd prefer it for my children to any "24" fantasy the congressman may be living in.
More connie eugenics. They don't consider people that aren't white to be humans so it is fine to torture them
This mau sound sort of reasonable on a dark night to many people in the US, but my god... you have no idea how this looks to people in the western world. And NO, you have not idea how extremely badly this looks.
And then one starts wondering how it looks to the ca. 1.3 billion muslims in the world.
What was the definition of a "rogue state" again?
I read in the Globe & Mail (Canadian National daily newspaper) that when Maher Arar asked the US government for permission to travel to the US for legal purposes in order to further his lawsuit against the government, they responded by saying that they could not guarantee that he would not be deported once again back to Syria. He's a Canadian citizen. WTF is wrong with your government?
Bush and Cheney should be charged with war crimes and as far as I'm concerned neither of them should ever be able to set foot into Canada or Europe because they are war criminals.
All these neoCon idiots like Rohrbacher are complicit in the plot to destroy democracy in America. Wonder how he'd like it if he's been rendered by mistake. wonder if he'd think it was perfectly fine becaue of 9/11. What a twerp.
Any chance the Dems will try to start censure proceedings against Rohrbacher for that sick-making smirk of his?
GDCSer.
kablooie @ 59:
Isn't this idiot too old to have 3-yr-old triplets? he's just braggin'.
Any chance that the torture enablers will ever face the Hague? FUCK THESE ASSHOLES!
redratio1 @ 4:
There are no 36ers. It's down to 24%, California, 21%.
After he makes excuses for torture he must go to some whore, crawls on four, and asks to be whipped -- sicko.
Let's not make this a Republican/Democrat issue because there are Democrats that are just as big criminals as the Republicans. Plus, it appears it takes a Republican, a Presidential candidate for that matter, by the name of Ron Paul to introduce a bill Titled the American Freedom Agenda Act of 2007 (H.R. 3835)
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:h.r.03835:
The following is from... http://www.jbs.org/node/6030
Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX) recently introduced a bill that would restore the Constitution’s system of checks and balances, as envisioned by our Founding Fathers. Titled the American Freedom Agenda Act of 2007 (H.R. 3835), the bill would restore habeas corpus by repealing the Military Commissions Act of 2006.
The following is an excerpt from the American Freedom Agenda Act:
(a) The Military Commissions Act of 2006 is hereby repealed.
(b) The President is authorized to establish military commissions for the trial of war crimes only in places of active hostilities against the United States where an immediate trial is necessary to preserve fresh evidence or to prevent local anarchy.
(c) The President is prohibited from detaining any individual indefinitely as an unlawful enemy combatant absent proof by substantial evidence that the individual has directly engaged in active hostilities against the United States, provided that no United States citizen shall be detained as an unlawful enemy combatant.
(d) Any individual detained as an enemy combatant by the United States shall be entitled to petition for a writ of habeas corpus under section 2241 of title 28, United States Code.
The American Freedom Agenda Act of 2007 has been referred to the Committee on the Judiciary as well as the Committees on Armed Services, Foreign Affairs, and Intelligence.
Have we really gone from the world’s #1 human rights crusader to a nation of torture apologists?
No. Of course, not!
The USA has NEVER been a human rights crusader, forget about the number 1.
If you are rendered speechless with what your administration is doing, I am rendered speecheless with your naivete.
I'm astounded that this country has come to this. I don't think Eisenhower would recognize the
Republican party. These people are actively defending something that's un-American, inhumane,
and amount to war crimes. Ike would reel. Washington and Jefferson would reel. Jesus, Buddha,
and Gandhi would reel.
That's the most outrageous pile of crap I've ever heard. That's quite a lot these days too. I would have to write a several-page essay to explain everything that is wrong here. This is not news to we Canadians.
One of my biggest questions is, why did it take ten months to decide he was the wrong guy and send him back from Syria? Why not even try to "make things right" now?
It's Imperial arrogance.
I already emailed the Rep. about his comments. Can you post an email link on the main page? I'm sure others would like to send him a comment. Thanks.
Sitemonitor: if you look on the right hand margin, there's a box that says "Contact Congress Go!" You can use that to contact any elected official you'd like.
Leonel @ 79:
I'll second that.
> No, it didn’t really *change* anything.
It's the 3rd Reich repeated.
justabill @ 35:
I had forgotten about that classic TPM post, thanks for the reminder. Norquist has his fingerprints everywhere!
Even Whore-bacher called it "arrogance."
The arrogance of power, unfettered by a Congress elected to CHECK that power. If I weren't so broke here in the Deep South (2007 #1 crime city acc. to FBI, woo-hoo!) then I would camp out on Lady Pelosi's doorstep myself, wringing out water-logged handkerchiefs, in fucking SACKCLOTH and ASHES.
count me in with the following, we have never been a human rights crusader, ask the vietnamese, the koreans, etc etc....
Wow! It's Porky-WarPig! I thought he was all "theeeebaba, theeeebaba, theeeebaba, That's All Folks" back in the day! Oh hooray! He's back, yes sir!
Super power to most dangerous laughing stock of the world ...... in seven years, good job ......... wow.
Going to need a hazmat suit and lot of popcorn to see how far this crazy goes.
The frustration is that no matter what you say to people like this, they will not be influenced or phased. If someone was calling me a fascist, I would go for a hike and do a little soul searching. Not these guys.
Sick! sick! Sick!
I heard about his case a while back now.
SICK that he still has to fight for any sort of recognition and for the people responsible to just come out for the horrifing fact that they ruined this man`s life forever.
May Dana Rohrbacher experience rendition.
seth @ 90:
No. What's scary is that I believe a significant percentage of the US population is just like this guy. Of the 30%ers, I'd say 10-15% are just too stupid to realize what they stand for. The rest are just bigoted, assholes who think that if you aren't white, christian, straight, etc. you aren't human. 15% of about 220,000,000 voters means that there are at least 30 million adults in the US who are just like Rohrbacher. That is why I have no hope for the future of the US.
This very scenario is the basis for my dislike of ANY torture policy. And no one has ever been able to answer this one question:
You torture someone because you think think that he knows something.
What if you are wrong?
Is this the transformation our country has undergone?