When it comes to all things vile, the Republican Party
leaders are in a class of their own. They make the Democrats look like
neophytes.
Yesterday, no sooner had their psychopathic torturer in
chief, George W. Bush, signed the dastardly Military Commissions Act of 2005,
which circumvents the US Constitution and all Americans claim to cherish, the
Republican National Committee issued the following press release:
Democrats
Would Let Terrorists Free
Vast
Majority Voted Against Program That Stops Attacks, Saves Lives, And
Interrogates Dangerous Terrorist Leaders
Today, The President Signed The GOP-Backed
Military Commissions Act:
"President
Bush Is Signing A Law That Sets Tough Standards For Interrogation And Prosecution
Of Terror Suspects . . . The Legislation, Which Sets The Rules For Court
Proceedings, Applies To Those Selected By The Military For Prosecution And
Leaves Mostly Unaffected The Majority Of The 14,000 Prisoners In U.S. Custody .
. ." (Nedra Pickler, "Bush Signing Terror Bill In Major Victory For
White House," The Associated Press, 10/17/06)
- "Many
Democrats Opposed The Legislation Because They Said It Eliminated Rights
Of Defendants . . ." (Nedra Pickler, "Bush Signing Terror Bill
In Major Victory For White House," The Associated Press,
10/17/06)
Military
Commissions Act Will Stop Attacks, Save Lives, And Allow Interrogation Of
Dangerous Terrorists:
"The
Pentagon Had Previously Selected 10 Prisoners At Guantanamo Bay Prison To Be
Tried. Bush Is Expected Also To Try Some Or All Of The 14 Suspects Held By The
CIA In Secret Prisons And Recently Transferred To Military Custody At
Guantanamo Including The Mastermind Of The Sept. 11 Attacks And Architects Of
The 2000 Bombing Of The USS Cole And The U.S. Embassy Bombings In Kenya And
Tanzania." (Nedra Pickler, "Bush Signing Terror Bill In Major Victory For
White House," The Associated Press, 10/17/06)
- Dana
Perino, White House Spokeswoman: "President Bush is going to mark this bill signing as a
historic moment because it is a law that he knows will be effective in
preventing terrorist attacks and keeping Americans safe." (Nedra
Pickler, "Bush Signing Terror Bill In Major Victory For White
House," The Associated Press, 10/17/06)
"The Bill
Would Protect Detainees From Blatant Abuses During Questioning Such As Rape,
Torture And 'Cruel And Inhuman' Treatment But Does Not Require That Each Of
Them Be Granted Legal Counsel And Specifically Bars Detainees From Protesting
Their Detentions In Federal Courts." (Nedra Pickler, "Bush Signing Terror
Bill In Major Victory For White House," The Associated Press,
10/17/06)
Vast
Majority Of House Democrats Voted Against Military Tribunals For Dangerous
Terrorists:
162 House
Democrats Voted Against Authorizing Military Tribunals For Dangerous Terrorist
Suspects, Including Alleged 9/11 Mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammad. (S. 3930, CQ Vote
#508: Adopted 250-170: R 218-7; D 32-162; I 0-1, 9/29/06)
House Democrats
Who Voted Against Military Commissions Act Included:
Rep. Ben Cardin
(D-MD)
Rep. Jim Davis (D-FL)
Rep. Darlene Hooley (D-OR)
Rep. Charlie Melancon (D-LA)
Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-WV)
Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC)
Rep. John Conyers (D-MI)
Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-IL)
Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-FL)
Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD)
Rep. John Murtha (D-PA)
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)
Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY)
Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA)
House
Democrats Said They Did Not Believe In Interrogating Terrorists:
Rep. Solomon
Ortiz (D-TX): "Why are
we rushing into this? . . . we should not be in a hurry." (Rep. Solomon
Ortiz, Congressional Record, 9/27/06, p. H7536)
Rep. Maurice
Hinchey (D-NY): "[T]hroughout
the course of our history the most respected and revered Americans have
consistently warned us that the greatest threat facing or country was not
external but internal. We could not be conquered from abroad, but we do have
the capacity to erode what constitutes this country from within. . . . and
that's what we see happening here today. We see the erosion of the basic
principles of this country." (Rep. Maurice Hinchey, Congressional Record, 9/28/06,
p. H7864)
Rep. Jerry
Nadler (D-NY): "This
bill makes the President a dictator." (Rep. Jerrold Nadler, Congressional
Record, 9/28/06, p. H7550)
Rep. Dennis
Kucinich (D-OH): "This
bill is everything we don't believe in." (Anne Plummer Flaherty, "House Approves
Bill On Terror Detainees," The Associated Press, 9/27/06)
Vast
Majority Of Senate Democrats Voted Against Military Tribunals For Dangerous
Terrorists:
32 Senate
Democrats Voted Against Authorizing Military Tribunals For Dangerous Terrorist
Suspects, Including Alleged 9/11 Mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammad. (S. 3930, CQ Vote
#259: Passed 65-34: R 53-1; D 12-32; I 0-1, 9/28/06)
Senate Democrats
Who Voted Against Military Commissions Act Included:
Sen. Daniel Akaka
(D-HI)
Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT)
Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN)
Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE)
Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM)
Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA)
Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV)
Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA)
Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY)
Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND)
Sen. Mark Dayton (D-MN)
Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT)
Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND)
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL)
Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI)
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)
Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA)
Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-HI)
Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA)
Sen. John Kerry (D-MA)
Sen. Herb Kohl (D-WI)
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT)
Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI)
Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR)
Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD)
Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA)
Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL)
Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI)
Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV)
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY)
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR)
Senate
Democrats Said They Did Not Believe In Interrogating Terrorists:
Sen. Patrick
Leahy (D-VT): "Now
that may sound like an experience from some oppressive and authoritarian
regime, something that may have happened under the Taliban, something that
Saddam Hussein might have ordered or in the fiction of Kafka." (Sen. Patrick
Leahy, Congressional Record, 9/28/06, p. S10356)
Sen. Ted Kennedy
(D-MA): "The bill that
has reached the floor would diminish the security and safety of Americans
everywhere." ("Bush Pushes For Senate's OK On Detainee Bill," The
Associated Press, 9/28/06)
Sen. Dick Durbin
(D-IL): "If I . . . didn't
tell you that it was an FBI agent describing what Americans had done to
prisoners [at Guantanamo] 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." (PBS' "The Newshour," 6/17/05)
Sen. Chris Dodd
(D-CT): "We have been
known as the nation of Nuremberg. My fear is now we will be known as the nation
of Guantanamo . . ." (Sen. Chris Dodd, Congressional Record,
9/28/06, p. S10354)
Sen. Dianne
Feinstein (D-CA): "I
do not believe that the bill before us is constitutional." (Sen. Dianne
Feinstein, Congressional Rerord, 9/28/06, p. S10363)
Sen. Carl Levin
(D-MI): "[This bill
will be] used by our terrorist enemies as evidence of U.S. hypocrisy when it
comes to proclamations of human rights." (Richard Simon and Julian E. Barnes,
"Detainee Bill Now Goes To Senate," Los Angeles Times, 9/28/06)
Sen. John Kerry
(D-MA): "This bill
permits torture." (Sen. John Kerry, Congressional Record,
9/28/06, p. S10371)
- Sen.
Kerry Said The Bush Administration "Lobbied For Torture." (Sen. John
Kerry, Congressional Record, 9/28/06, p. S10371)
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