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   Memo: The way forward on health care reform in 2010.
 A dark legacy of the Vietnam War is creating a whole new set of problems.
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May 13, 2009
WASN'T THAT DEBUNKED ALREADY?.... Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) cited in a committee hearing the infamous ABC News interview with John Kiriakou. It was a 2007 report in which Kiriakou, a former CIA interrogator, said Abu Zubaydah broke quickly under Bush-endorsed "enhanced interrogation techniques." The report was a conservative favorite, since it seems to support the right's principal argument -- morality and the law notwithstanding, the administration's torture tactics produced valuable results. What Graham neglected to mention is that the ABC News report has since been debunked. Even the network itself has followed up by disavowing its report.
When told that the ABC report he was relying on had already been debunked, Graham apologized, acknowledged that he wasn't prepared for today's hearing, and conceded he didn't know what he was talking about. No, no, I'm just kidding. Graham actually just stared blankly for a moment before changing the subject, unwilling to admit his humiliating mistake. There's also, of course, the larger question of why Graham is going down this road in the first place. He's one of the handful of GOP lawmakers who pretends to find torture offensive. Why, then, would it matter if torture broke Abu Zubaydah in 35 seconds? The claim itself is clearly wrong, but is Graham's new argument that torture is now acceptable just so long as it's brief? —Steve Benen 2:05 PM Permalink | Trackbacks | Comments (18)Comments
Graham appears to be the using the Richard Cohen line of reasoning. "Torture is really bad, but let's talk about how effective it is." You have to understand that these religious zealot/neocons believe that there is a "higher truth" than common facts. If the facts do not support their interests, then their "higher truth" And FDR caused the Great Depression. And Reagan toppled the Evil Empire by calling it the Evil Empire. And withdrawing from Vietnam put Pol Pot in charge of Cambodia. And the invasion of Iraq was justifiable. [/stupid] These people live in a fantasy world. Posted by: JM on May 13, 2009 at 2:12 PM | PERMALINKhuckleberry makes 'political animal' twice today... way to go, huckleberry... dumbass... Posted by: neill on May 13, 2009 at 2:15 PM | PERMALINKI would like to apologize on Graham's behalf. I've been too busy doing interviews lately to update the official Republican talking points list of do's and don'ts. Ooopsie. Posted by: michael steele on May 13, 2009 at 2:18 PM | PERMALINK"unwilling to admit his humiliating mistake" The only thing humiliating for a rethug is to admit to a mistake. Which is why they don't. Repeating a lie is not making a mistake! For how many months did we hear about China drilling off the Cuban coast? It is not a mistake when a rethug repeats a lie, it is intentional. Posted by: AngryOldVet on May 13, 2009 at 2:18 PM | PERMALINKTorture broke him in seconds, but they waterboarded him 79 times more just for grins. Do Senators pay any attention to anything? Posted by: Ron Byers on May 13, 2009 at 2:21 PM | PERMALINKMaybe Abu "broke" after 35 seconds had elapsed in his eighty-first waterboarding session? Or maybe be "broke" during his first session and the last eighty were just for fun and practice. To be fair, President Obama could arguably be seen as pretending to find torture offensive. To the praise of Dick Cheney, he appointed torturing war criminal Stanley McCrystal as Commander of U.S. Forces in Afganistan, and just today reversed his position on releasing additional torture photos. He also threatened the British courts into concealing torture evidence. What's more, he's tortured Pakistani citizens by burning them to death with drones. Their suffering might be brief, but as you say, that doesn't mean it's not torture. And Obama hasn't apologized either. Posted by: Torture Fan on May 13, 2009 at 2:34 PM | PERMALINKTruthiness as an art form Those fuckers never give up. If it sounds kinda good , its worth repeating. Posted by: John R on May 13, 2009 at 3:04 PM | PERMALINKSo Cheney says torture saves lives, now with the impending release of more torture pics, the military have said that by releasing them American troops would be killed.Obama is not releasing them in order to save the troops, while Cheney is singing the praises of torture to anyone who will listen,which will probably be on Al Arabiya, and more troops will be killed. And so it goes on. Posters - If you disagree with Graham then please take a few seconds to send him an email before posting here. The right has learned that complaints make a difference in discourse. Posted by: Tom on May 13, 2009 at 3:20 PM | PERMALINKPosters - If you disagree with Graham then please take a few seconds to send him an email before posting here. The right has learned that complaints make a difference in discourse. Posted by: TJ on May 13, 2009 at 3:21 PM | PERMALINKHere's a related, self-explanatory link just below the one given, but handy: Wow Steve. I think you are a bit off of the humiliation aspect of Graham's response. I think having a conscience is required to feel humiliation. Also TJ and the right has learned that complaints make a difference. I see no proof of that. Perhaps when the right complains about Rush. But the right worrying about liberal criticism or complaints. Not going to happen. I am not seeing nor hearing it. The right only responds to criticism from its base really. Posted by: mickster on May 13, 2009 at 11:48 PM | PERMALINKIs there anything the Republicans have any credibility on? Seriously, anything?? And Cheney is an utter moron. 
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