The Justice Department in 2002 told the CIA that its interrogators would be safe from prosecution for violations of anti-torture laws if they believed "in good faith" that harsh techniques used to break prisoners' will would not cause "prolonged mental harm."
That heavily censored memo, released Thursday, approved the CIA's harsh interrogation techniques method by method, but warned that if the circumstances changed, interrogators could be running afoul of anti-torture laws.
The Aug. 1, 2002, legal opinion signed by then-Assistant Attorney General Jay Bybee was issued the same day he wrote a memo for then-White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales defining torture as only those "extreme acts" that cause pain similar in intensity to that caused by death or organ failure.
Rob Kezelis
Taxes. Ok, Senator, we've planted two questions for you with Andrea Mitchell, one on the economic downturn, which doesn't actually exist, and one about your economic policy. How will you respond?
Phil Hoskins
America is several decades into a revolution that has been all but unreported in our press and is never spoken of in Presidential campaigns. Early Presidents dabbled in it but it was Harry Truman who opened a new front in the revolution when he claimed the authority to start a war without the consent of Congress.
Hal Brown
What if McCain's recent gains in the polls continue over the next few weeks and analysts consider this a trend? What if it looks like Hillary Clinton, despite the obvious reasons for not choosing her, would make the Democratic ticket unbeatable?
The Rant
This country heads into the second half of a Presidential election year a divided nation - divided by war, philosophical differences, political parties, race, religion and societal lines.
Poll
Doug Thompson's Blue Ridge Muse
Most read stories
Barack Obama wants to sound like the voice of reason on U.S. foreign policy — the guy who would abandon Bush administration policies he sees as shortsighted, self-defeating or just plain wrong. Problem is, George Bush keeps beating him to it.
US home foreclosures leapt nearly 14 percent in the second quarter from the previous quarter, research group RealtyTrac said Friday in a sign of deepening housing woes.
On an annual basis, home foreclosure filings soared 121 percent from the same period in 2007, RealtyTrac said in releasing a survey of the country's 100 largest metropolitan areas.
The Pentagon is unable to send additional combat brigades to Afghanistan this year because of constraints imposed by the war in Iraq, leaving a shift of forces to the next president, a spokesman said Wednesday.
One of Washington's odder practices, redolent of the Third World and its autocratic leaders, is having standard-issue portrait photos of the current president plastered all over federal government buildings and offices.
When the media start backing away from supporting a candidate or a cause read this as a sign that the media elite understand the public is seeing through the media's neutrality ruse.
This year marks the 40th anniversary of the publication of Garrett Hardin's extremely influential essay "The Tragedy of the Commons."
Blue's Reader Blogs...
My fellow Americans the time for hoping that the corporate politicians of our time will listen to us is over. They care less for our words than we care for our outrageous taxes which do not go to fund education, healthcare, veterans funds or anything except the war. A war which was entered upon compulsion and anger at the tragedy of 9/11.
Here is the entire text of Senator Obama's speech made yesterday in Berlin. Since he is the target of so many lies and so much disinformation, I believe it is important to read the truth in his very own words. Enjoy!
Ron Paul is having a rally in Minneapolis in September. You can read about it here:
I received this link this morning from a Bush Conservative who is working for McCain. I saw this before but it came in my email last night. Every rotten thing you need to know about Obama is listed for easy reference.
This is a typical Bush Administration campaign for McCain.
It is certain that the remainder of the 2008 Presidential Campaign will focus on the supposed "weaknesses" of the 2 candidates.
Is McCain really "older than dirt" and is he healthy enough to be the next president?
Is Obama so "inexperienced" and "pro-Muslim / pro-Black" that it will hurt America if he is elected?
While the West claim that extremist from developing countries are terrorising them because they are jealous of their advancements, the developing countries claim that developed nations are terrorising them to keep them subservient.Muslims and Christians point fingers at each other. Ruling and opposition parties across the globe shout terror at each others faces.
Bush Bans State Department Officials From Obama Rally
This is such blatant political Bull.... that it must be reported.
It is not new news that our food, our water and our air are tainted. Our air is dirty, our water full of pharmacueticals. Recalls on agricultural products are at their highest in history.
During the darkest days of the Cold War we dreaded that the end was near but we still almost all hoped for a bright future ahead. Nuclear energy was to be so cheap in our, or our children's lifetime, that the roads would be heated to prevent snow and ice, food would be bountiful due to miracle grow. And soon we'd all be satisfied with a small nutrition pill.
Been away for awhile...mostly lurking on this page and others. I think that it's simply time to write again more than anything else.
So much has happened since my last post to this blog....By the way Mr. Thompson, welcome back.
Each registered reader of Capitol Hill Blue is encouraged to join in the political debate by maintaining their own blog. How to become a Blue Blogger.
News Roundup:
LONDON (AP) -- Presidential contender Barack Obama was meeting Saturday with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on the last leg of his European and Middle Eastern tour....
PARIS (AP) -- An aide to Sen. Barack Obama said Friday the Democratic presidential contender believed he could visit wounded troops at a military hospital in Germany without involving them in a campaign controversy and scrapped his plans after the Pentagon raised concerns....
As Salim Hamdan’s war crimes trial opened, the prosecution had its chance to explain what driving Osama bin Laden, the leader of Al Qaeda, meant.
The political fight over high fuel prices produced little progress as Senate Republicans blocked a Democratic effort to force a vote on legislation.
“The American Muslim Teenager’s Handbook,†a book written by Yasmine Hafiz, her younger brother, Imran, and her mother Dilara, aspires to nothing less than bridging a cultural chasm.
President Nicolas Sarkozy of France warmly embraced Barack Obama, saying his presidential candidacy presents a bold moment to change the United States’ image around the world.
John McCain has opposed a timetable for withdrawal and has criticized Barack Obama for suggesting one, but the debate has shifted in recent days as Iraqi officials moved closer to Obama’s position.
President Bush’s decisions on Iraq troop withdrawals and talks with Iran and North Korea have put John McCain on the defensive.
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