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Obviously, the Republican leadership has gotten to Sen. Kit Bond with the message: You’re. Not. Helping. Our. Cause. by likening waterboarding to swimming. So Bond goes on C-Span’s Washington Journal and tries to clarify his comment with increasing incoherence.
Apparently, he meant that there was as much variety in waterboarding techniques as there are swimming strokes–still not helping, Senator Bond. The kind of waterboarding the Japanese did to our soldiers in WWII–bad…the kind we did (?–have we stopped?) to our soldiers in training–fine. Not particularly sure that’s helpful either, Sen. Bond. Unfortunately for those of us who actually understand the issue at hand, he doesn’t specify which kind we’ve done to detainees like Maher Arar, or if it’s acceptable. That glaring omission is certainly helpful to the Republicans torture apologist platform.
However, he does feel a blanket banning on waterboarding–such as the one in the Geneva Conventions that we signed–is bad, because it then prevents us from using it in an extreme national emergency–the Jack Bauer scenario raising its ugly head again. Bingo, Sen. Bond! You found the party line. How amoral of you.
No Trackbacks To “Washington Journal: Kit Bond Tries To Backpedal From Waterboarding Comments“
Shouldn’t the title read, “Kit Bond tries to ‘backstroke’ from waterboarding comments”?
Best argument I’ve heard so far: If waterboarding isn’t torture, then how does it get people to divulge information against their will?
Based on physical evidence in the form of video tape sir, you are guilty of conspiracy to commit torture.
see…that’s the thing. The Geneva Convention…now the world looks at us with disdain.This admin and nutcases like Bond up there…have made it so that when we travel abroad..we could be subjected to verbal abuse and violence.There was already the term”ugly American” floating around…now it’s worse.
if waterboarding isn’t torture…listening to the explanations from the right-wing idiots is!
I don’t want to unload on American’s for the crap their government does in their names….BUT….what is REALLY the surprise? Anyone from around the globe that knows American history (real American history and not American versions) knows how US governments have been doing this, and way more for decades. Face it, American leaders for decades have been evil, corrupt, murderous thugs. Thank god the internet has perhaps brought SOME of it to the attention of the American electorate that votes for these idiots.
and to try to reason out what they are saying the difference is between good torture and bad torture…torture to American Soldiers by a foreign enemy is bad torture…but a foreign enemy being tortured by an American is good torture. OK? does everybody understand now? that’s OK, neither do I.
You said it asshole. Can’t take it back now. Live with it you amoral freak.
just one more repuke criminal that uses a douchbag as a waterpick!
Ah. I love neo-con blather like this. I always think the same thing when I hear crap like this… the same thing I think every time I see big rigs with signs on the back that say “We Support Our Troops Wherever They Go [well, duh. we all do, Mr. More-Patriotic-Than-Thou] No Aid Or Comfort To The Enemy — No Way!” Ok, fine and dandy. You do realize, however, that you look like the biggest a$$holes when one of our troops get captured and tortured, then you cry and expect the enemy to act like we’re SUPPOSED to act. Fcking morons.
What utter horseshit!!
Kit Bond is on the Intelligence Committee? Now that an oxymoron for you.
Awk-ward!
Even after making such asinine statements he’s still smarter than the people who voted for Bush .
This immoral prick just admitted that waterboarding, as the Japanese used it in WWII, where water enters the lungs, was “clearly torture”. By that criteria, if water entered the lungs when the CIA used “enhanced interrogation”, then they DID CLEARLY TORTURE!! What a dumbass…
It’s time that people ON BOTH SIDES of this utterly non-sensical “issue” admit what the bottom line is. THE BOTTOM LINE is whether “W” and “Dead-Eye Dick” and “Gonzo” go to prison as WAR CRIMINALS… or not.
It seems the Republicans don’t want such a prosecution, so they bend over backwards to justify waterboarding and make it acceptible retro-actively without acknowledgeing the 400-pound gorrilla in the room (this being the fact that the SPECIAL FORCES and the CIA have been FULLY AUTHORIZED by the White House to waterboard prisoners while it is specifically ILLEGAL TO DO SO.)
The Democrats, however, are SO AFRAID OF THEIR OWN SHADOWS that they will not take the necessary actions to bring charges against said war criminals.
He’s Actually Proposing Waterboarding as an Olympic Sport
“Kit Bond.” Sounds like a cross-dressing secret agent.
terry740 @ 13:
that’s not sayng very much……..but then you have to throw in the morons who voted TWICEfor the nitwit Preznit.
mudshark @ 18:
Actually, I’d rather throw those morons out.
Allegations of Afghan human rights abuses have also been laid against the country north of you. We all live with the shame of our failure to stand against darkness in a timely fashion. The opposition played their role however meekly, resulting in an airing of dirty laundry and a shocking look at the morass into which we have been drawn.
From here we must move forward.
Righto.
So torture is A-OK if we do it because we don’t do it the same way the Khmer Rouge or The Stasi or the Gestapo or our oh so good buddies the Saudi’s do, we use new and improved “humane” methods of causing mind numbing fear, exquisite pain and extreme suffering.
Right?
So are they planning on parading all 201 Repug Congresstards in front of the cameras to cement our status as barbarians to the world? They could do one a day until the next elections!
Just to let everyone know what they really stand for.
In the fall of 2007 Bond’s son Sam an officer in the United States Marine Corps returned from his second tour of duty in Iraq.
Sam may be called to serve again at any time.
If I was Kit I’d be scared to death of what would happen to my son were he to be taken prisoner after I had supported torture.
ConcernedCanuck @ 6:
I right there with you…being one of the Americans who pays attention and keeps it in perspective…I’ve always thought of Thanks Giving as a celebration of genocides, I know what we’ve done and it drive me crazy to hear other Americans propelling the lies that America only does good in the world.
I will say when we do good we are great, but when we do bad it’s bad for everyone, including Americans.
.
Oh, I get it…
“It’s not illegal when America does it.”
.
No question watching that has made me dumber.
If there’s one thing I find astonishing it’s the fact that the “ticking bomb” scenario is always used to justify torture, yet in the last 6 years, for all we know, there hasn’t been a single case of a “ticking bomb” scenario that would have warranted “enhanced interrogation techniques” being used. The lack of said scenario hasn’t prevented ANYONE in the current administration from using such techniques.
This leads me to conclude that, even if water boarding were defined as torture and torture in all its forms was outlawed, what’s to stop these people from continuing to use these methods on suspects?
There is no oversight now, what guarantees do we have that there will be oversight when the laws are changed? What’s the point of arguing over the legality of a technique if the law isn’t followed and there’s no one to enforce it? It’s a moot point.
.
The Congress of 1955 ratified the Third and Fourth Geneva Conventions.
WHEN DID TORTURE BECOME LEGAL?
The definition, as ratified by that Congress, defines waterboarding AS torture. Where they wrong? Can this Senator prove that, as his case rests on a definition that, as he puts it, does NOT apply to the USA. Then why was a US service member successfully Court Marshaled during Vietnam for… W A T E R B O A R D I N G?
.
Sorry Kit, but you can’t fix stupid.
Kit don’t look so good, either half drowned or waterboarded, hard to say which!!!
Kit Bond’s political career is over! What a moron. I can’t believe how low the bar must be set for one to become a Congressmen.
Term limits are a must along with campaign finance reform. Get the disgusting corporations out of running our government!!
What we’ve descended to is simply “Theocratic Fascism” - plain and simple. No democracy left here.
This endless argument can be solved IMMEDIATELY! All the supporters of waterboarding should submit to a waterboarding session on national TV. Then they can fill out a debriefing form, if they are still alive, explaining why they don’t think waterboarding is torture. To embrace the sports angle, as inferred by Sen. Bond, medals should be awarded based on some criteria such as elapsed time without screaming or crapping in their pants.
I say that anyone who supports waterbording needs first hand experience before they can make this statement. Let’s begin with Kit Bond. This rotting old codger has no place in helping to run out government. He’s brain.
And, yes, since when did we decide that torture is legal? I’m just wondering here because the last time I checked, it was highly illegal. Last time I checked we subscribed to the Geneva Conventions on Torture. Last time I checked we were using the Army Field Manual as our guide. Last time I looked at the Field Manual, it specified that “waterboarding is torture”.
So what the hell is congress doing here actually? Just tell your rep in congress that we already have defined torture and it includes waterboarding. What congress is trying to do here is to redefine waterboarding and thus redefine torture in order to get the Bush Cabal’s asses off the grill and out of prison.
What we failed to realize initially is that the Dems in Congress also knew about what we were doing and, other than Jane Harman, didn’t make a peep about it - even after watching the videos which makes them “complicit”. This is the reason why (Miss Pelosi who needs to step down or be impeached herself) they are waffling about what torture actually is.
Contact your reps today and tell them that, just like our immigration laws, we have laws regarding torture. They need to do their damned jobs and uphold the rule of law which already exists.
They’re all complicit sickos - Dems and Reps alike which is why there are now about 39% registered Independents and, after the primaries, I expect this number to near 50% due to total disgust with our representation in this White House and Congress.
#30 Kit Bond’s political career is over! What a moron. I can’t believe how low the bar must be set for one to become a Congressmen.
Doesn’t matter how low the bar is, only matters how much money you have to spend to buy the office. Just because your’re rich doesn’t make you smart!
The People will take back this government. Have your voice be heard by registering Independent after the primaries (if that’s important to you). This is THE ONLY WAY the people will have power at this point. And, if neither of the candidates is willing to listen to this already-huge bloc of independent voters, then from our ranks will rise a great one who will run and win- simply by sheer numbers. This will be history making in this country and may signal the end to this ridiculous two party system of ours which are wholly owned subsidiaries of Big Oil, Big Pharma, Big Insurance. These corporations OWN OUR REPRESENTATIVES. Be not fooled. They are all owned by the corporations who have feathered their nests.
In the past the argument, particularly among dems, was that old “spoiler routine” where Nadar and Perot ran and took votes away from the Dem candidate. When you’ve got numbers like the Independent have right now, all we need is a man like Gore to run as an I and the game is over! The I’s will be the voting bloc which will call the shots in this election. The I’s will be the bloc who will choose our next president. We’ll definitely have plenty of power to get some of these goons to at least listen.
I hate to label all republicans as liars, bigots, cowards, war-mongers, stingey, ignorant fools, and just not good people, but they are. They want a war but don’t want to fight in it. They want to torture everybody. They want to execute anybody. They want to hand over everyones constitutional rights (expect don’t take their pistols) over to fascists neocon bullies. And they are so totally stupid they can never see when some smart ass conservatives take them down the road to stupid knee jerk issues during voting time while they rob them blind. For example, how many homosexuals do they know that want to marry? Probably none. But out of fear of queer sex they vote for the conservatives to give all our money to Halliburton, etc. I am so sick and tired of the GOP.
Bill and Hillary Clinton
My way or the highway
Give me MY seat in the White House or kiss the Democratic party
good-bye.
“I am in it to win it”
orion @ 30:
THOROUGH, COMPLETE, PERFECT are the words that come to mind when I contemplate the damage that this republican government has done to the reputation and political capital of our country and as a result to the cause of the civilized movement itself. We have played directly into the hands of those who would destroy us in every way by proving their case against us through our actions. IDIOTS!!!! “Please forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Where is the moral outrage from the Christian Right?? There is none. You don’t hear it from that Bozo Pat Robertson because he is the Perfect Hypocite Bobblehead! The Republicans never realized that many in the rest of the world are not as stupid as the 30% of Americans who still approve of the Bushies’ policies and that therefore they see these policies for what they are: Morally bankrupt and serving the economic interests of the big American Corporation. Period. The world was with us after 9/11/2001. Where are they now? I’ll tell you where. They are disgusted with us. Even those of us who see this administration for what it is are no longer spared because we did not do more to kick Bush and Cheney out on their asses. The damage is done. There are no good solutions. Bush is now just kicking the can down the road so his party’s spin doctors can try to blame it all on the democrats when they are forced to follow through with one of the bad options left to them by this horrible administration. And that same 30% will believe everything they say.
But but but… Clinton!
Very nicely done #36.
kings+queens @ 36:
Yes Kit the old fossil is still around.
That is. IDIOT.
kings+queens @ 36:
Symes @ 39:
google: Sociopath
You have no clue the type of people you are defending. I voted straight Democratic party for 36 years. I worked 10 years in a state run Psychiatric Hospital (male Forensic unit) as a social worker (MSW). I know what I’m talking about, and so do a lot of other people. Their defenders mean absolutely nothing to them.
He sounds like that guy on the movie, Best in Show, talking about Bloodhounds in the beginning. “This here dawg.. he’s the best dawg in the world. And.. I would thank… that if ye was to go to venus.. another planet.. then he’d be the best dawg…” ramble ramble ramble.
He goes from one incoherent rambling thought to another.
kings+queens @ 36:
Whats your point?
I think that Kit (is that short for kitten or kittel?) Bond is sinking and we’re all out of lifesavers…
ConcernedCanuck @ 6:
So true, CC! And let’s remember: these sociopathic murderer-by-proxy U.S. politicians come from American homes, American schools, and—yes—American churches. We’re screwed.
TimeForNewLeadership @ 38: