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By Patricia L Johnson and Richard E Walrath
Fox News, reporting with their usual fair and [un]balanced flair published a special report Monday titled “Pelosi Did Nothing With Knowledge About Enhanced Interrogation Techniques” [1]
The story indicates Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi “says she was made aware seven years ago that the CIA was contemplating using so-called enhanced interrogation techniques -- including waterboarding -- and that Justice Department lawyers had advised that such methods would be legal.”
The article goes on to state that Speaker Pelosi did “nothing” with the information, but is now supporting an investigation into the legality of the advice the Justice Department provided.
This originally began with controversy over the date Speaker Pelosi was first notified by the CIA that the US was involved in torture, and has now turned into an accusation that even if she wasn’t told on the date the CIA stated, she was subsequently advised by the CIA [2]; therefore she should have done “something”.
The GOP has gone hog wild on the Pelosi subject. John Boehner has demanded Pelosi provide evidence in support of her accusations, while Former Speaker Newt Gingrich is doing no less than calling for her resignation.
The GOP attack on Speaker Pelosi is absurd. Republicans have a history of attacks anytime there is anything that could be remotely construed as controversial while keeping their closets filled to the brim with skeletons. They appear to operate under two sets of rules. Operating rules for them v. operating rules for the Democrats. Two incidents immediately come to mind.
· Former Speaker Gingrich was front and center leading the attack on President Clinton over his marital indiscretions; all while Gingrich was having an affair of his own. [3]
· During the 911 Commission hearings most of us learned that, on an almost daily basis during the summer of 2001 Condoleezza Rice met with CIA Director, George Tenet, and on July 10, 2001 Director Tenet requested an emergency meeting to brief Rice and her staff on the possibility of a pending attack by Al Qaeda. At the time Condoleezza Rice was National Security Advisor, and claimed she did not recall the meeting. White House records later confirmed the meeting was, in fact, held. [4]
GOP members are complaining that Speaker Pelosi did nothing after being advised of the [legality] of water boarding, yet did not find any fault with National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice doing nothing after being informed in an emergency CIA meeting of the possibility of a potential attack on US soil by terrorists. 60-days later, on 9/11/2001 the US was attacked.
Republicans were in charge when the CIA was committing torture. What’s the media running on at the mouth about? Not that the Republicans were in charge and George Bush was president when the CIA was committing torture. No, the big story is they told Nancy so she’s the one to blame.
The sad part of all this is it's not that they're interested in what's right and wrong for the county, it's that they want to make the Democrats look bad. And anybody that is anybody in their party is chomping at the bit to have their 10 minutes of fame at the expense of Democrats.
The mindset of Republicans is anything goes with them, as long as they think they will benefit. The country? They don’t care. The people? They don’t care.
The Republican Party has set this country back 50 years. That is how long it will take to undo the damage incurred while President Bush was in office.
They lost control of the White House, they lost control of the US House of Representatives and they lost control of the US Senate.
How long is it going to take them to figure out their childish allegations are hurting the Republican party more than the opposing party?
[1] http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,520586,00.html
[2] http://www.speaker.gov/newsroom/pressreleases?id=1168
[3] http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2007/03/09/sot.newt.gingrich.affair.fami
[4] http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/02/washington/03ricecd.html?ex=1164430800&en=b2b94cdf2a4ebea0&ei=5070
© 2009
Richard E Walrath and Patricia L Johnson are co-owners of the Articles and Answers News and Information site Articles and Answers
GOP - Going Overboard on Pelosi
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Posted By: Patricia L Johnson Posted on: May. 20, 2009 at 11:05 AM  34 Comments
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Based on 3 ratings.
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May. 20, 2009 at 01:57:33 PM
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| Patricia, You have pointed out the hypocrisy of Republicans pointing the finger at Pelosi. Agreed. You have also pointed out the salient fact that Republicans are blaming Pelosi for remaining silent about a crime that the Republicans perpetrated. My understanding of the legal system is that it is more important to prosecute the perpetrator than it is the witness, since if you ignore the culprit, he is free to commit the crime again. So there does seem to be a disconnect in priorities here, and the offenders are hoping the American public is idiotic enough to not notice it. But what you didn't mention in your article is that said CIA briefings to select members of Congress were undoubtedly highly classified, and that those being briefed were sworn to secrecy. So regardless of whether Pelosi knew what and when, it would have been treason if Pelosi came forward. One way or another, Pelosi had to do "nothing," or risk immediate impeachment and prosecution. Of course this is all the sideshow. The real treason is the torture performed in our name, and the real traitors are the ones who authorized it. I suppose that Fox News forgot to reiterate this simple fact. If Republicans want Pelosi's head for keeping her mouth shut, what parts of Bush and Cheney will we be extracting? |
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May. 20, 2009 at 04:11:12 PM
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| They (Republicans) appear to operate under two sets of rules. Operating rules for them v. operating rules for the Democrats. You mean like Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R) MI who accused the CIA of lying. Oh, yes he used different terminology.... But Hoekstra said that may not be true. "I have learned of some alleged intelligence community activities about which our committee has not been briefed," Mr. Hoesktra wrote. "If these allegations are true, they may represent a breach of responsibility by the administration, a violation of the law, and, just as importantly, a direct affront to me and the members of this committee who have so ardently supported efforts to collect information on our enemies." He added: "The U.S. Congress simply should not have to play Twenty Questions to get the information that it deserves under our Constitution."
Then John Boehner got in on the act:
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May. 21, 2009 at 04:26:43 AM
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[This is a reply to comment by Phaedrus on May. 20, 2009 at 11:42:01 AM]
Phaedrus
May. 20, 2009 at 11:42:01 AM The mindset of Republicans is anything goes with them, as long as they think they will benefit. The country? They don’t care. The people? They don’t care. That perfectly summarizes the position the GOP has taken. Anything... View this Comment There's a time and place for everything. When the country is moving along like it should be, that's the time for the various political parties to act like fools, but not now. Thank you for your comment. P. |
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May. 21, 2009 at 04:48:46 AM
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[This is a reply to comment by ObamaInCharge on May. 20, 2009 at 01:57:33 PM]
ObamaInCharge
May. 20, 2009 at 01:57:33 PM Patricia, You have pointed out the hypocrisy of Republicans pointing the finger at Pelosi. Agreed. You have also pointed out the salient fact that Republicans are blaming Pelosi for remaining silent about a crime that the Republicans... View this Comment Voters are getting smarter and smarter as time passes, but the fact remains that most of us believe what we hear, if we hear it often enough. That's one of the reasons why we're in this mess - Bush talked and we listened. I'm hoping there will eventually be a complete and total investigation into everything associated with Iraq and the perpetrators brought to justice, but that's probably just wishful thinking on my part. You're absolutely correct - I neglected to mention that key fact. Pelosi couldn't come forward even if she wanted to. This is the first thing we've written in quite a while - so maybe we'll get better the next time around :) It's hard to imagine what hell captured members of our military and/or civilians may have to go through in the future due to the fact that we tortured others. Richard made the same point you did in a comment: "Republicans still come out ahead because what the media should be telling people about is the waterboarding torture committed by the CIA as authorized by the Bush Administration. Instead, what we're hearing and reading about is bu**sh** that the Republicans are feeding the media" Thank you for your comment. P. |
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May. 21, 2009 at 05:11:00 AM
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[This is a reply to comment by indie616 on May. 20, 2009 at 04:11:12 PM]
indie616
May. 20, 2009 at 04:11:12 PM They to operate under two sets of rules. Operating rules for them v. operating rules for the Democrats. You mean like Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R) MI who accused the CIA of lying. Oh, yes he used different terminology.... But Hoekstra said that... View this Comment Almost inconceivable that 10 separate planes could be shot down and civilians killed before an investigation was even begun. Thank you Indie - interesting reads. P. |
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May. 21, 2009 at 08:21:38 AM
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[This is a reply to comment by Patricia L Johnson on May. 21, 2009 at 04:48:46 AM]
Patricia L Johnson
May. 21, 2009 at 04:48:46 AM Voters are getting smarter and smarter as time passes, but the fact remains that most of us believe what we hear, if we hear it often enough. That's one of the reasons why we're in this mess - Bush talked and we listened. I'm hoping there will... View this Comment You're welcome Patricia. And welcome back. |
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May. 21, 2009 at 08:36:24 AM
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| The deeper puzzling thing about thiswhole "the CIA lied" outrage is, since when has the radical right not pushed the meme that the govt can't do anything right, scariest words in the English language - "i'm from the govmint, and I'm here to help", "how can you tell when a politician is lying" thing? |
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Cancelled Account
May. 21, 2009 at 04:05:15 PM
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| This user has cancelled their account with Voice of North America. | |
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May. 22, 2009 at 09:54:40 AM
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Rating for this article
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| Welcome back, Patricia! Can't resist responding to your rhetorical question: How long is it going to take them to figure out their childish allegations are hurting the Republican party more than the opposing party? The answer is 2010 - when the party vaporizes! A high 5 for a good read! |
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That perfectly summarizes the position the GOP has taken. Anything goes if it benefits them, but the country and the American people can, in Dick Cheney's words "go f#ck themselves."
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