Comments on Hope and Change: Thank you Dick Cheney.

Joe, your abstract notion of having your rights th...

2010-01-05T10:01:35.545-08:00

Joe, your abstract notion of having your rights threatened is quite charming. I'd rather have a guy dunked in some water and save innocent lives than not. And I don't call "waterboarding" torture anyway. Want to see real torture look at what the people who were waterboarded do.

Harrison, if the government tortures a single pers...

2010-01-05T09:47:25.261-08:00

Harrison, if the government tortures a single person, that threatens my rights. If the government intercepts telephone calls without a warrant, that threatens my rights. If the government detains anyone without charges and without access to counsel, that also threatens my rights.

Remember this poem about the Nazis?

First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a communist;

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist;

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew;

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak out for me.

Thanks for your comment, Nate.

Really? I haven't lost any rights and neither...

2010-01-05T09:08:49.385-08:00

Really? I haven't lost any rights and neither have you. Tell me one right you have directly lost over the past 10 years.

That's right, the disgraced Bush administratio...

2010-01-05T00:14:05.084-08:00

That's right, the disgraced Bush administration apparently won't be happy until the United States has given up all of its principles. After 9/11, this was supposed to be about the survival of the United States in the face of violent enemies. But after Bush/Cheney, it's become about the survival of the United States as a nation of principle. They authorized extraordinary rendition, they authorized holding accused criminals for years without charge, and they authorized the torture of accused criminals. What's wrong with this picture? Everything. Are we as a nation more interested in mere survival than in our future as an example of freedom and liberty? Really?

I would like to thank Harrison for pointing this a...

2009-12-31T15:31:06.797-08:00

I would like to thank Harrison for pointing this article out to me. I was planning to write something similar about Cheney's comment. While I haven't had too many issues with the comments by the former VP over the past year, his criticism on this issue is wrong and contradictory to what his boss did a few years ago.

On this one we agree. The same process should be ...

2009-12-31T14:11:55.329-08:00

On this one we agree. The same process should be followed with this guy as with the last guy. I agree with Cheney in that Obama doesn't seem to be expressing the need to treat terrorism in the same way as the previous administration but that should not make it okay for him to make these kinds of statements about the current situation.