Obama Was For Prosecuting People For Torture Before He Was Against It

• April 22, 2009

Here comes another Barack Obama Position Expiration Date (BOPED):

President Obama suggested today that it remained a possibility that the Justice Department might bring charges against officials of the Bush administration who devised harsh interrogation policies that some see as torture. …
The Bush-era memos providing legal justifications for enhanced interrogation methods “reflected us losing our moral bearings.” The president said that he did not think it was “appropriate” to prosecute those CIA officers who “carried out some of these operations within the four corners of the legal opinions or guidance that had been provided by the White House.”
But in clear change from language he and members of his administration have used in the past, the president said that “with respect to those who formulated those legal decisions, I would say that is going to be more of a decision for the Attorney General within the parameters of various laws and I don’t want to prejudge that. I think that there are a host of very complicated issues involved there.”
Just yesterday, asked by a reporter as to why the administration was not seeking to “hold accountable” Bush administration lawyers who may have “twisted the law,” White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said, “the president is focused on looking forward, that’s why.”

So Obama was going to “look forward.” Now we’re looking to the past.
Agree or disagree with this decision to contemplate what would amount to political show trials aimed more at punishing the liberals’ political opponents than anything else, can we at least agree that Obama is a terrible leader and seems to have no idea what he’s doing?

Tags: Asshats, Domestic Issues, Politics

http://Array carrick

Keynes clearly was using the word “fact” in this sense:

fact (n): (4) something said to be true or supposed to have happened: “The facts given by the witness are highly questionable.”

Facts are mutable, because unless we are referring mathematical law, they are based on observation and human bias.

That’s not saying there’s underlying truth, just that it isn’t always knowable.
robert108

From Merriam-Webster:

fact Listen to the pronunciation of fact
Pronunciation:
\Ëˆfakt\
Function:
noun
Etymology:
Latin factum, from neuter of factus, past participle of facere
Date:
15th century

1: a thing done: as aobsolete : feat b: crime carchaic : action
2archaic : performance, doing
3: the quality of being actual : actuality
4 a: something that has actual existence b: an actual occurrence 5: a piece of information presented as having objective reality
– in fact: in truth

Definitely not fungible.
dfwpike

Obama Was For Prosecuting People For Torture Before He Was Against It

The headline should be “Obama Was Against Prosecuting People For Torture Before He Was For It”

The stance marked a shift for the Obama administration, which has emphasized it does not want to dwell on the past with lengthy probes into policies put in place by President George W. Bush after the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Rezistik

When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?

John Keynes.
robert108

Carrick: Your definition of “fact” seems to be more about “opinion”. That would be a change in the definition of “fact”.
erick1740

When the terrorists launch a successful attack on us it will all be on obama.
carrick

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/fact
lastofthepatriots

I think everyone is entitled to have an opinion on whether these “techniques” are “torture”, and whether they should be employed or not. What I think is absolutely absurd and irresponsible to do is to let our enemies know the extent to which the United States will interrogate terrorists. Any fool can see that this is just baiting another attack by an emboldened enemy.

Also, the threat of prosecution will hamper any future agents and personnel in “doing the right thing…” to keep our country safe.

Since the current administration is so intent on making friends with our enemies and trying to show that America is on the “high ground” that they spend their energies on sending the Attorney General to meet with the Taliban and tell them that they need to also follow the “high ground” make them stop beheading people, pulling their teeth and nails out and chopping off limbs to get intel. Here’s the naive dem idological dream bit… I’m sure they will be more then happy to comply…

It’s also just interesting that something may have changed Obama’s mind from the previous day with the CIA…could it be that he JUST met with King Abdullah before the flip-flop?
Hey, he bowed to the Saudi Muslim King…perhaps he’s just “following orders…”
robert108

Rez: Real facts don’t change; that’s why they are called “facts”. This particular statement wasn’t as toxic as other mistakes by Keynes; not by a long shot.
In case you want to play word games, the English word “fact” comes from the Latin “factum”, which means “deed”, in the sense of something that is actually done.
As such, facts don’t change; they are just facts.
carrick

Whatever Robert108.
http://sayanythingblog.com/readers/entry/homosexuality_is_wrong_-_a_compendium move_zig

Leftards cannot change the facts objectively.

But they are wonderfully adept at lying.

Short of out-and-out lying, they can weathervane definitions of words and their political stances in the blink of an eye.

The key is, which stance or manner of skewing the facts serves their best interests at that moment.

‘When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said, in a rather scornful tone,’ it means just what I choose it to mean, neither more nor less.’

‘The question is,’ said Alice, ‘whether you can make words mean so many different things.’

‘The question is,’ said Humpty Dumpty, ‘which is to be master – that’s all.’
Hannitized

So what if the Red Chinese and North Koreans got a couple No Dong missiles off before we got them. Taking out Portland, Berkeley and Oahu would have been good for the country in the long run.

Move_Zig on April 20, 2009 at 11:39 pm
2Hotel9

And now he is for it, he is against it, he is for, he is against it, he for it, he is against it,,,,,,,,,,,,,
SigFan

Interesting article on Drudge from CSN about the CIA and their contention that waterboarding KSM thwarted a 9/11 follow-on attack on Los Angeles. The article also explains the rules and restrictions the CIA had to follow before using the technique. Seems to me to be a pretty fair trade-off, KSM gets his face wet and LA gets to keep it’s buildings intact and people alive. The entire article can be found here:

http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=46949

Prosecuting people for this would be a very serious mistake for many reasons, not the least of which is what other intel would be revealed in the process that would be better kept under wraps?
robert108

Whatever Robert108.

I had hoped for something a bit more substantial from you in defending Keynes’ distortion of the word “fact”, but…whatever.

I have studied Keynes and his theories extensively, which is why I regard that saying the way I do. It’s not just about how a particular word is used, IMO, but his overall disregard for solid reality in economics.
robert108

Keynes clearly was using the word “fact” in this sense:

Even if you’re correct about what he meant, it renders his saying meaningless. Did he really mean that when someone’s testimony changes, he changes his mind? I don’t think so.
It seems pretty clear that his sense of factual knowledge was actually relativistic, and he didn’t believe that the basic principles of economics could be altered by political means, and his economic theories reflect exactly that thinking.
After all, he did believe that govt spending other peoples’ money could create economic growth. He pretended the real components of economic growth could be magically suspended by govt action.
lastofthepatriots

This seems to be Obama’s MO – say one thing to a small group, gain their confidence and have them drink the cool-aid. This will be the seed to saying the same thing a lot “softer” to a larger group using the smaller group to rally around him and provide him with the credibility and “instant groupie crowd” to turn the larger group into disciples an and have them drink the cool-aid…silencing the few who wake up and start to question. Then “BAM” throw out his real agenda item to the rest of the country with these previous groups rallying around him, worshiping him blindly, not even listening to the “new/differing” message he is putting out.

Some of us see through the hype and are watching this occur, though with Janet in power now we are on the authorities watch list labeled as “Right wing extremists” because we disagree with the “messiah” and have the audacity to voice our concerns.

I have faith that we will only have to endure one term of this presidency….
carrick

Rezistik:

When the facts change,

The facts didn’t change.

The only thing that changed was that Obama is president now, and he wasn’t then.
lastofthepatriots

If the facts did change, why was Gibbs unable to articulate this at the recent press conference? He bumbled through the thing attempting to make a joke of things by saying that he was confused by the questions and didn’t understand them….

Obama seems to be censoring which documents he wants to publish and which he would not. Why is he not publishing the CIA document that shows that the interrogation techniques worked to obtain very important and critical information that thwarted attacks on the United States?

Again, Obama says one thing and then does something else…

How do the dems follow this guy so blindly?
http://sayanythingblog.com robport

I think Obama changed his mind because he needs something to distract from his failing economic policies.

Bread and circuses. This is a circus.
WOOFX

Looks like 9th Circuit Judge Bybee’s impeachment will initiate any proceedings.

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Obama Was For Prosecuting People For Torture Before He Was Against It

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