A legacy of dismantling civilization

The NYT informs us:

WASHINGTON — President Bush on Saturday further cemented his legacy of fighting for strong executive powers, using his veto to shut down a congressional effort to limit the Central Intelligence Agency’s latitude to subject terrorism suspects to harsh interrogation techniques that are prohibited by the military and law enforcement agencies.

Mr. Bush vetoed a bill that would have explicitly prohibited the agency from using such interrogation methods, which include waterboarding, a technique in which restrained prisoners are threatened with drowning and that has been the subject of intense criticism at home and abroad.

Senator Feinstein and I disagree on many things and I protested to her office on several occasions when I lived in California. On this I agree with her:

“This president had the chance to end the torture debate for good,” one of its sponsors, Senator Diane Feinstein of California, said in a statement on Friday evening when it became clear Mr. Bush intended to carry out his veto threat. “Yet, he chose instead to leave the door open to use torture in the future. The United States is not well-served by this.”

The bill Bush vetoed would have restricted American interrogators to terms and methods set forth in the Army Field Manual, conditions that have served us quite adequately.

Bush, however, does not believe in regulation of almost any kind, especially if it might limit what he may or may not do (unless HE gets to regulate our rights, such as limiting free speech to "free speech zones").


I look forward to the day when the United States rejoins the company of civilized nations. In the meantime, impeach his sorry ass!

The Constitution makes it clear that, because we ratified them, the Geneva Conventions are among the supreme laws of this land. George Bush has willfully and knowingly violated them. It constitutes a high crime when the Chief Executive of this nation violates our supreme laws.
--the BB