When The Party Of Nixon Breaks Laws, They Say Laws Don't Matter

Last Monday, TheHill.com reported:

The ranking member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Sen. Kit Bond (R-Mo.), and the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), were among nine GOP senators who sent a letter last week to Holder urging him to back off from the idea of appointing the special prosecutor.(TheHill.com)

Way to go, guys!!! Ehrlichman, Haldeman, G. Gordon and the boys would have loved to have you in the senate, way back when!!!

Torture and potential crimes have been discussed here on MnProgressive Project recently. I’ve posted two; once last Friday in a post entitled “The GOP’s Tortured Logic” and again last Monday, in a post entitled Special Prosecutor Appointed To Probe Potential Bush Administration Crimes, Grace Kelly weighed in yesterday, in a post entitled “St. Thomas Law Professor Robert Delahunty’s “Torture Memos””, and twice by former FBI Agent Coleen Rowley; last Friday in a post entitled “Homework Assignment for St. Thomas Law School on Torture” and again yesterday, in a post entitled “Calling Out the Torture Enablers at St. Thomas Law School”. The facts are there….sadly, so are GOPer “talking points”. And no one carries the water does the talking points for GOPers better than Billo The Clown Bill O’Reilly. Let’s watch!

Now, here’s the exchange that “highlights” the GOP’s position that when they break laws, laws don’t matter:

FLOYD: That pressure has been on to investigate what went on in these interrogations since long before Eric Holder had this job. And yes, it is correct that Obama has said from the beginning that he wants to look forward.

O’REILLY: Yeah, and he’s smart to do that. Right.

FLOYD: And he doesn’t want to look back.

O’REILLY: Right.

FLOYD: And that’s a political choice. And it’s probably a wise strategy, but Eric Holder is not in a political job.

O’REILLY: Yeah, but he can get fired.

FLOYD: That’s right, he can, but you can’t make decisions as attorney general because you’re afraid of getting fired.

O’REILLY: But how many attorney generals did Nixon fire? He fired one a week.

O
M
G.

Not only is Billo The Clown claiming that “prosecutorial discretion” should preclude Attorney General Holder from investigating torture crimes, Billo The Clown is using Nixon – NIXON – as a reason why Attorney General Holder shouldn’t be investigating crimes of torure!!!

(Hat Tip to CrooksAndLiars.com)

O’REILLY: “Unresolved problem” segment tonight, President Obama’s on record as saying he does not want to prosecute CIA agents, who may have broken rules and laws and interrogating terror suspects after 9/11. However, Attorney General Eric Holder has now decided to appoint a prosecutor to investigate about dozen cases of alleged CIA wrongdoing, while interrogating the terror suspects. And he wants to see if crimes were committed.

Justice Department official John Durham will head the probe. And with us now to analyze, attorney and Democratic strategist Jami Floyd.

So this will make the ACLU happy, but I don’t think it’s going to make Barack Obama happy.

JAMI FLOYD, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, that’s not Holder’s job. You know, I think being A.G. is the hardest job in the administration because you’re not working for the president. You’re working for us. You’re working for the constitution. You’ve got to do what’s right by the constitution and by the laws of the United States. And if the special prosecutor is what’s needed here, that’s what he’s got to do.

O’REILLY: Yeah, but you know.

FLOYD: .whether Obama likes it or not.

O’REILLY: .there are – I just don’t know. I know Holder and Obama are friends. So I’m not going to say that Holder did – they’re not playing some subterfuge game. They may be, excuse, but you know there’s prosecutional discretion on most everything.

And in this case, all the polls show that Americans do not want this. They think it’s a witch-hunt. And even the old memos that he’s going by, this is at the end of the memo. And you will not see this on any other news program. The memo that Holder is going by to appoint the special prosecutor says, “The CIA’s interrogation program was an absolute success in protecting Americans from another attack and that includes waterboarding and all of that. “Absolute success. ”

FLOYD: The 2004 memo.

O’REILLY: That’s what this is.

FLOYD: .goes back to 2004.

O’REILLY: Right.

FLOYD: .in the Bush administration.

O’REILLY: Right.

FLOYD: That pressure has been on to investigate what went on in these interrogations since long before Eric Holder had this job. And yes, it is correct that Obama has said from the beginning that he wants to look forward.

O’REILLY: Yeah, and he’s smart to do that. Right.

FLOYD: And he doesn’t want to look back.

O’REILLY: Right.

FLOYD: And that’s a political choice. And it’s probably a wise strategy, but Eric Holder is not in a political job.

O’REILLY: Yeah, but he can get fired.

FLOYD: That’s right, he can, but you can’t make decisions as attorney general because you’re afraid of getting fired.

O’REILLY: But how many attorney generals did Nixon fire? He fired one a week.

FLOYD: I’m thinking about Nixon. I’m thinking about Nixon.

O’REILLY: Okay. All right, now.

FLOYD: But you can’t be thinking about Nixon if you’re attorney general.

O’REILLY: I don’t trust Eric Holder. I’ll tell you why. He’s the guy that wanted Marc Rich to be pardoned. Do you know who Marc Rich is?

FLOYD: I know all about Mark Rich.

O’REILLY: Okay, he’s.

FLOYD: I know about Scooter Libby, too.

O’REILLY: Who went to Bill Clinton on the last day of the Clinton administration, who pleaded Marc Rich.

FLOYD: This is not.

O’REILLY: Wait, wait, wait, Jami, who pleaded Marc Rich’s case. The biggest tax cheat in American history, Holder goes in second in command in the Justice Department.

FLOYD: Bill.

O’REILLY: .says Mr. President.

FLOYD: Bill?

O’REILLY: .give this giant tax cheat a pardon.

FLOYD: Bill, the big news of today is the memo. It’s not Marc Rich.

O’REILLY: But it’s.

FLOYD: It’s the 2004 memo.

O’REILLY: I just tell you why I don’t trust him.

FLOYD: Look.

O’REILLY: Unless you can explain to me why he did that, I don’t trust this guy.

FLOYD: But here’s the good news if you don’t trust him. Here’s the good news. He has now appointed.

O’REILLY: Yeah?

FLOYD: .another man, a prosecutor, independent of Eric Holder, a prosecutor, independent.

O’REILLY: Yeah.

FLOYD: .who is a special prosecutor.

O’REILLY: Yeah.

FLOYD: .who is now going to look into this matter.

O’REILLY: Right.

FLOYD: .that has been on the table since 2004. Since before Eric Holder’s time. The pressure has been on the Justice Department for years.

O’REILLY: From whom? The ACLU.

FLOYD: No.

O’REILLY: Not from the folks.

FLOYD: No, no, no.

O’REILLY: The folks don’t want it.

FLOYD: But the pressure has been on from all sectors.

O’REILLY: What sectors?

FLOYD: Having to do with the memos of John, you, and others. Having to do with what went on in Abu Ghraib.

O’REILLY: There’s no – wait, wait, Jami, you’re crazy.

FLOYD: Having to do.

O’REILLY: Obama doesn’t want it. O’Reilly doesn’t want it. Those are the two most powerful people in the country. All right?

(LAUGHTER)

FLOYD: The big O’s aren’t the question.

O’REILLY: All the polls say 65 percent.

FLOYD: The big goal.

O’REILLY: .don’t want it.

FLOYD: The big goal is not the question.

O’REILLY: There is no pressure.

FLOYD: The big O’s aren’t the question. The question is the constitution and the federal law on torture.

O’REILLY: Oh, stop, stop.

FLOYD: .and whether it’s violated.

O’REILLY: It’s totally discretionary.

FLOYD: All that’s being looked at here is whether or not there’s enough evidence to investigate.

O’REILLY: That’s true.

FLOYD: If there’s not enough evidence.

O’REILLY: That’s true.

FLOYD: .we move on.

O’REILLY: All right.

FLOYD: If there’s evidence, we indict.

O’REILLY: Leon Panetta issues a statement today to his guys and says we don’t want this. And then.

FLOYD: Well.

O’REILLY: Mukasey.

FLOYD: See, that’s a CIA.

O’REILLY: Right.

FLOYD: Of course he doesn’t want it.

O’REILLY: That’s a good point, but Panetta’s a Democrat. Says I don’t want. Mukasey, the former CIA guys go, hey, if do you this, Holder, no foreign country is going to cooperate with the United States and intel gathering because they don’t want to be dragged into any scandal. So we’re going to lose all intel drying up around the world. And you might be killed because of it, Jami.

FLOYD: This is not about politics. This is not about party.

O’REILLY: See, you’re totally ignoring my question.

FLOYD: This is about — you didn’t ask a question.

O’REILLY: I did. You made a statement.

O’REILLY: You made statement.

O’REILLY: You may be killed because of this crazy decision by Holder.

FLOYD: We have federal laws on torture for a reason. We can’t just violate them willy-nilly. And if they’ve been violated, we need to prosecute.

O’REILLY: You go any war, you could have prosecuted Abraham Lincoln for suspending habeas corpus.

FLOYD: Okay, look, they’re going to investigate.

O’REILLY: Okay?

FLOYD: We’ll see what they find.

O’REILLY: Yeah.

FLOYD: And then you’ll have me back. And we’ll talk about what they found.

O’REILLY: I’ll have you back if you’re alive.

FLOYD: I’ll be alive, Bill.

O’REILLY: You may be killed because the terrorists — all of that stuff’s going to dry up according to Mukasey.

FLOYD: I`ll be alive Bill O’Reilly.

O’REILLY: I’m sorry, Hayden . I made a mistake. I said it’s Mukasey. It’s Hayden. Michael Hayden. All right? Do I have that right? I hope I do. Yes, Hayden.

FLOYD: Yes, it’s Hayden.

O’REILLY: Michael.

FLOYD: Mukasey was at Justice.

O’REILLY: You know, I can’t keep track of them all. Jami Floyd, everybody.

(crossposted from MnProgressiveProject.com)

Special Prosecutor Appointed To Probe Potential Bush Administration Crimes

The Blog of Legal Times is reporting AG Eric Holder has just appointed career federal prosecutor John Durham to review CIA Detainee actions regarding torture.

The Department of Justice internal watchdog, the Office of Professional Responsibility, submitted to Holder a report today that recommended the department re-examination earlier decisions, made under the Bush administration, to decline to prosecute apparent violations of anti-torture laws.

In reaching his decision to appoint a prosecutor, Holder also reviewed a 2004 report compiled by the CIA inspector general’s office. “As a result of my analysis of all of this material, I have concluded that the information known to me warrants opening a preliminary review into whether federal laws were violated in connection with the interrogation of specific detainees at overseas locations,” Holder said in a statement today. (Law.com)

So, what do the Obstructionists in Party Of No have to say? Let’s look!

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, expressed his strong disagreement with the appointment.

“I respectfully regret this decision by Attorney General Holder and fear our country will come to regret it too, because an open-ended criminal investigation of past CIA activity, which has already been condemned and prohibited, will have a chilling effect on the men and women agents of our intelligence community whose uninhibited bravery and skill we depend on every day to protect our homeland from the next terrorist attack,” Lieberman said in the statement.

…

The ranking member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Sen. Kit Bond (R-Mo.), and the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), were among nine GOP senators who sent a letter last week to Holder urging him to back off from the idea of appointing the special prosecutor. (TheHill.com)

There you have it, ladies and gentlemen: The Part Of No, demonstrating once again that when they break laws, laws don’t matter.

Which, of course, is but one reason why GOP now stands for GreedOverPrinciples.

(crossposted from MnProgressiveProject)

The GOP's Tortured Logic

The video includes appearances by Oliver Stone, 9/11 family member Patricia Perry, actors Rosie Perez, Noah Emmerich, John Doman and Reg E. Cathey, and musical composer Philip Glass, among others, reading directly from a memo authored by Jay Bybee, former head of the Justice Departments Office of Legal Counsel under the Bush administration. The memo was released in April as part of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by the ACLU.

For more information, visit:
http://www.aclu.org/torturedlogic

Ladies and Gentlemen, I received the following via e-mail:

Opponents of torture will rally at the University of St. Thomas School of Law, LaSalle Ave and 11th Street, Minneapolis, on Monday, August 24, 9 – 11 AM to bring letters and voices of discontent to Dean Thomas Mengler regarding Professor Robert Delahunty. Prior to his current stint as professor of constitutional law for St.Thomas University, Robert Delahunty, along with John Yoo, authored an infamous memo (1/9/02) for the U.S. Justice Department which advised that the Geneva Conventions do not apply to the war against al Qaeda, the Taliban, and terrorism. The ‘legal’ advice of this memo helped the Bush administration to legitimize harsh methods of interrogation, which are widely understood to be torture.

The mission statement of St. Thomas University School of Law, posted currently at the University web site, reads, “The University of St. Thomas School of Law, as a Catholic law school, is dedicated to integrating faith and reason in the search for truth through a focus on morality and social justice”. Given this mission statement, many of us who also care about morality and social justice, wonder how the University of St.Thomas can justify maintaining Professor Delahunty on its teaching staff. We also wonder why Dean Mengler finds it necessary to defend Professor Delahunty. Is it the position of the University of St.Thomas Law School that Professor Delahunty’s position on torture is morally correct? Come to the rally August 24 (first day of classes) to hold Professor Delahunty and The University of St. Thomas Law School accountable.

For those who are willing to make it a slightly longer day, some of us will be marching with our banners and letters of discontent from The Center for Human Rights at the U of M to the rally at St. Thomas School of Law. We will be also carrying a copy of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, given to us by The Center for Human Rights. We hope that Dean Mengler and Robert Delahunty will read it. The Center for Human Rights is located in Mondale Hall, University of Minnesota, on the west bank (229 19th Ave. So). We will gather outside the north entrance of Mondale Hall at 7AM. The 2 mile march will begin promptly at 7:15. The march will go straight down Washington Avenue to Nicollet, turn left on Nicollet to 11th Ave, then turn right to St. Thomas University.

That’s next Monday morning; see you there.

(crossposted from MnProgressiveProject)