Citizens must insist that the government do its duty

The header for this post has many applications.

This morning we have an example of a letter written by several citizens urging the FBI to act upon the evidence that Condoleezza Rice is guilty of conspiracy to commit torture.

Clearly, there is probable cause to believe a crime has been committed, and Condoleezza Rice, among others, is one of the perpetrators. If you do not come to a similar conclusion, surely there is enough evidence to bring her in for questioning. Frankly, Ms. Rice has been a fairly public person, and we are surprised that she has managed to evade federal authorities thus far. Please feel free to email us if we can be of further assistance.

You may read the letter and other comments at this post by youmayberight. If you are in Minnesota, there is an invitation:

Join us for a peaceful candlelight demonstration outside Beth El Synagogue, 5224 W. 26th St., St. Louis Park, Minnesota, at 5:15 Nov. 8.

Where there is no enforcement, law is meaningless.

--the BB

It wasn't just the frat boys

Let's not forget Madame Chevron:



Yes, Condaliar Rice uttered this Nixonian nonsense:

"The United States was told, we were told, nothing that violates our obligations under the Convention Against Torture, and so by definition, if it was authorized by the president, it did not violate our obligations under the Convention Against Torture."

As to culpabilty....

"I didn't authorize anything. I conveyed the authorization of the administration to the agency, that they had policy authorization, subject to the Justice Department's clearance. That's what I did."

Just carrying water for ... was that your boyfriend W or the Dark Lord hisself? Ooh, that nose is growing.

Girlfriend, we so have a seat for you at the Hague.

Check out Cenk Uygur's full article at HuffPo.

When the war crimes trials are held I definitely want her among the defendants.

I remember screaming "*** ******* liar" when she was testifying, on more than one occasion, before Congress. She was saying things I knew were untrue. And oh, the offense she takes if you impugn her "integrity"! She is among the worst of them. (Chevron took her name off their tanker, btw.)

--the BB

I've been wanting to share this

The photo in this graphic has shown up at several sites and I could resist sharing it no longer. It brings together two story lines:

One is that we have learned that when torture methodologies and what and would not be allowed at Guantánamo, the woman facilitating the meeting noticed that some of the younger men present got aroused over the mere thought of torture.

The other, of course, is that prominent war criminal and fashionista (I should trademark this phrase) Condi has now been shown to be in the center of the torture deliberation in the White House and told the CIA: "It's This is your baby, go do it."

h/t to the General
--the BB

Condi's "bring it on" moment

Prominent war criminal, fashionista, former Stanford Provost, and sometime namesake of the Altair Voyager Condoleezza Rice made one of her appearances in the Green Zone of Baghdad where she taunted Muqtada al Sadr about sending others to their death while remaining at a safe distance.

The mind reels.

There begin to be so many layers of irony, projection, and utter lack of self-awareness in the Bush Crime Machine that one would need a computer to track it all.

Of course when Bush, in his faux machismo, uttered "Bring it on," they did. And American troops died. Having a woman taunt Sadr so publicly seems designed to goad him into action, thereby inflaming an already tense and violent situation - hardly the stuff diplomacy is made of. More Iraqis and more US troops are likely to perish because of her remark.

She, of course, flies blithely back to DC, leaving the mess in Iraq behind her.

I have seen comments on this at several blogs. Dday covers it nicely at Hullabaloo.

Brandon Friedman, an Iraq War veteran, has this to say:

But it's not just about Rice's dismissive, provocative tone, either. It's also this continuing, obnoxious Bush-brand of hypocrisy that the whole world sees: If Sadr had said the same thing of Rice--that she's a Washington, D.C. bureaucrat who sends others to fight her own battles--the Bush administration would freak out. And that fact isn't lost on Iraqis.

As Rice is one who will not have to stay and fight the Mahdi Army side-by-side with our troops, I suggest that she keep her mouth shut if she's not going to say anything helpful. Because statements like these are certainly not.

In an update Friedman notes the NYT quoting Rice on Sadr thus:

“I don’t know whether to take him seriously or not,” Ms. Rice said.

If she doesn't take him seriously she is a damned fool, which is a genuine possibility based on her inept diplomacy hitherto. But since she is also a notorious liar, this could all be some elaborate game, one in which the cost is real human lives, variously ended or shattered.

Were she herself not so dangerous, I doubt that any sane person would take Rice seriously.

Of course, she belongs in prison, but it will take the world a while to catch up with her crimes.
--the BB

Iran, Iraq, and the region in general

Professor Juan Cole reports:

Secretary of State Condi Rice wants the Arab states to shield Iraq from Iran's "nefarious influence." Rice seems unaware that she has installed in Baghdad parties like the Islamic Mission Party (al-Da'wa) and the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI) that are very close to Tehran, and that Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia advised her not [to] invade Iraq because this would happen. And Sunnis, Salafis and Wahhabis would dissuade Iraq's Shiite majority from good relations with their Iranian Shiite neighbors . . . how? Whenever I hear Bush administration officials say something about the Middle East, it is as though I am listening to bad fiction read with a drunken slur. Opinion polling does not find that the Arab publics are afraid of or worried about Iran in any numbers, and in fact Israel's attack on largely defenseless little Lebanon in 2006 made Iran and Hizbullah more popular in the region.

[Emphasis mine]

I cringe every time I see a headline or paragraph starting out with Rice's name. I just assume either a gross lie or some stupidity with very bad consequences is coming next.

Btw, Stanford will probably take her back so they can have bragging rights against Cal, with its John Yoo. The Torture Twins of the Bay Area. Sigh.

Why do we have idiots running this country?

[That's a rhetorical question. You don't have to depress me by answering.]

UPDATE:
Speaking of reality checks, Cole also noted this at the top of his post:

A suicide bombing at a funeral for pro-American militiamen in a village northeast of Baghdad in Diyala province killed at least 60 persons on Thursday and wounded a similar number. This attack follows a previous bombing in the provincial capital of Baquba that had killed 60.

--the BB

We need to shift public attention to things that matter

It will come as no surprise to sentient beings that the current Secretary of State is a habitual liar. (She works for George W. Bush, after all, and it's a prerequisite for employment.)

She is condemned by her own words.



UPDATE:
Digby comments (and I agree):

At the very least, even if nothing else is done, Condoleeza Rice must never be mentioned as a possible candidate for public office ever again. She should be radioactive in American politics after this.

h/t to Robert Greenwald for the video
--the BB

Ah, free and fair elections... remember them?

Condiliar had this to say:

”At this significant moment in Cuba’s history,” Rice said, “we reaffirm our belief that the Cuban people have an inalienable right to participate in an open and comprehensive dialogue about their country’s future, free of fear and repression, and to choose their leaders in democratic elections.”

John Amato at Crooks and Liars observes:

I have no problem with that, but I guess she forgot that our Supreme Court stepped in and decided the 2000 election for the very free and fair people of America.

Do members of the Bush maladministration ever listen to themselves?

Oh, right. Their heads would explode.

And their would be shit everywhere.
--the BB

Questions about the strength of the Duma

Atrios notes that the Secretary of State has made certain recent utterances without any evident awareness of irony.

MOSCOW -
The Russian government under Vladimir Putin has amassed so much central authority that the power-grab may undermine Moscow's commitment to democracy, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Saturday.

"In any country, if you don't have countervailing institutions, the power of any one president is problematic for democratic development," Rice told reporters after meeting with human-rights activists.

"I think there is too much concentration of power in the Kremlin. I have told the Russians that. Everybody has doubts about the full independence of the judiciary. There are clearly questions about the independence of the electronic media and there are, I think, questions about the strength of the Duma," said Rice, referring to the Russian parliament.

(Associated Press via Forbes)

Let's run that by one more time: "In any country, if you don't have countervailing institutions, the power of any one president is problematic for democratic development."

SSJOAS = Sweet Suffering Jesus on a Stick