Go Durbin.... Go Durbin..... Rile the Bastards Up!

Of course the White House is screaming. It's no wonder Repuglicans are jumping up and down. They are raising Cain about Senator Durbin's remarks on the Senate Floor.

He quoted a memo from an FBI Agent that said,

"On a couple of occasions, I entered interview rooms to find a detainee chained hand and foot in a fetal position to the floor, with no chair, food or water. Most times they urinated or defecated on themselves, and had been left there for 18–24 hours or more. On one occasion, the air conditioning had been turned down so far and the temperature was so cold in the room, that the barefooted detainee was shaking with cold. . . . On another occasion, the [air conditioner] had been turned off, making the temperature in the unventilated room well over 100 degrees. The detainee was almost unconscious on the floor, with a pile of hair next to him. He had apparently been literally pulling his hair out throughout the night. On another occasion, not only was the temperature unbearably hot, but extremely loud rap music was being played in the room, and had been since the day before, with the detainee chained hand and foot in the fetal position on the tile floor.

And then in his own words said:

If I read this to you and did not tell you that it was an FBI agent describing what Americans had done to prisoners in their control, you would most certainly believe this must have been done by Nazis, Soviets in their gulags, or some mad regime—Pol Pot or others —that had no concern for human beings. Sadly, that is not the case. This was the action of Americans in the treatment of their prisoners.

But, they are not quoting the real admonition that he made:

It is not too late. I hope we will learn from history. I hope we will change course. The President could declare the United States will apply the Geneva Conventions to the war on terrorism. He could declare, as he should, that the United States will not, under any circumstances, subject any detainee to torture, or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment. The administration could give all detainees a meaningful opportunity to challenge their detention before a neutral decisionmaker.

Because the real admonition was to the President, not our soldiers.

They are calling for him to apologize; even questioning his wisdom or suitability to hold office.

All of this is to distract a completely obedient media from the real story. That is, President Bush's rush to war; the manipulation of intelligence data to suit his predisposed policy; the capitulation of a willing and culpable Dick "Go Fuck Yourself" Cheney and Condoleeeeeeeeza "the lizard" Rice!

Now that they are talking about The Downing Street Memo, it's just a matter of time. The castle walls are falling.

We'll try not to gloat... too much.

posted by Stash @ 9:57 PM