Will The Neverending Horrors Of Republican Imperialism Ever End?

Well, it's 2010, there's a Democrat in the White House, and none of the progressive, liberal or Democratic Partisan Hacks give a hoot about this sort of thing anymore:

GUANTANAMO BAY - Welcome to the first courtroom logjam of what officials here call military commissions 4.2.

Omar Khadr’s pre-trial hearing this morning experienced an unexplained hour-long delay. Court officers filtered in at 10 a.m., without a certain important individual: Omar Khadr.

Probably got mugged by a rampant Dick Cheney.

Wait a second... Military commissions. Gitmo. Democratic president. That doesn't compute!

Or should I say that isn't supposed to compute.

Anyway:

Prosecution promptly called a Marine Corps captain, Laura Bruzzese, to testify that she informed Khadr at 5:15 a.m. that there was a hearing scheduled for this morning. Khadr had a blanket over his head and complained of pain in his left eye, which has been sightless after an injury sustained during his 2002 capture in Afghanistan. She had him escorted to the infirmary, where he received an eyedrop for the pain, and in Camp Delta security officers attempted to load Khadr into a van to transport him to court. Part of that transfer involved putting what Bruzzese called “Eyes and Ears” on Khadr: blackout ski goggles and earmuffs to block out his senses while in transit.

Hey! Andrew Sullivan! That's sensory deprivation. Where's the outrage?

The Cheney sadism endures. To Obama's shame.

Wow. That's some serious outrage you got there, Andrew. Hell hath no fury, eh?

(Note to Andrew: It's 2010. If there's sadism involved in this... It's Obama's. Period.)

Things continue apace:

Only Khadr refused. When Bruzzese asked him why he wouldn’t wear the Eyes and Ears — standard operating procedure for transiting a detainee, she testified — Khadr responded, “The only purpose is to humiliate me.” Under cross-examination, she testified that the van used for transport has no windows. Khadr wouldn’t, in other words, be able to understand where he was going even without the Eyes and Ears.

You have to read the whole thing to get the true Keystone Kops flavor of the proceedings. Of course, if it was 2005 and George W. Bush was still president, the Partisan Hacks would be in an uproar. But it's 2010, so today?

Not so much. Not even "Mr. Torture" himself, Andrew Sullivan.

Comments

[aelfheld]

Odd.

I couldn't get worked up when Bush was in office and the poor widdle misunderstood head-hackers were in durance vile.

Now that Obama's in office I still can't get worked up about the their tender widdle selves.

I guess I don't possess the necessary selective outrage to be an Atlantic columnist.

[Susan H.]

I get worked up over those vans with no windows. They're creepy in general, but the white ones always belong to kidnapper pervs, unless there's Randy's Venting and Plumbing written on the side. Or, maybe I mean "especially" if.

[Dennis the Peasant]

Well, we all have our faults, don't we?

[Allen]

I'll have you know Gitmo is closed. Obama said so in an Executive Order. Unless Palin's Plumbing opened it back up on the sly.

[Nodrog]

Well, Dennis, this tells me you think Bambi is a stinking hypocrite. And he appears to be.

But it doesn't tell me whether you think it's OK to torture "enemy combatants," whether is GWB or BHO that does it.

I can guess what some of your more troglodyte blog followers (the ones who used to be LGF'ers under different nicks) think about it, but I'm clueless as to what you think about it.

But then, maybe I'm just clueless in general.

[wombat]

Sully knows sensory deprivation doesn't rise to the level of torture, as long as enforcers break out the incense and ostrich feathers.

[aelfheld]

Nodrog, is this a poll?

I vote for the latter.

[Randy Rager]

Make that two votes in favor of Nodrog being generally clueless.

Let's not forget rude and obnoxious, to boot.

[Bob (which is 'Bob' backwards)]

That's 2 votes for 'clueless in general'.

The subject of Dennis' post is liberal hypocrisy regarding Gitmo. Try to stick to the subject, OK?

BTW Nodrog, betcha nobody ever figures out your real name is Gordon. Spelling it backwards was genius.

[Mary W.]

Sullivan's still flogging the evil Republican whips and cheneys because Biden has to be minded like a toddler and O's smoking in the boys' room.

[Richard McEnroe]

I have it on good authority Cheney and Bush organized the Trail of Tears.

[JeffS]

Maybe Andy is upset that he wasn't invited for a session of “Eyes and Ears”, and long rides in white vans.

[jwest]

1. The comments are better than the posting.
2. Esp. Nodrog and Bob. Or is that Bob?
3. Am obviously overcome by the serious implications of the affair.
4. 'Course, no one I care about is in the slammer.
5. Plenty of folks I care about are hypocrites, tho.
6. If they get jugged, my tone just might change.
7. Thanks guys.
V/R JWest

[BillT]

Well, it's 2010, there's a Democrat in the White House...

...and Democrat majorities in both houses of Congress.

The only outrage I can muster over Gitmo is that all the Lib posturing over What A House of Horrors Bush Created™ slowed down the process of getting its inmates in front of the bench.

[BillT]

Let's not forget rude and obnoxious, to boot.

He's a troll. It's his *job* to be rude and obnoxious.

[Wm T Sherman]

I don't think prisoners in the United States are treated with such punctilious care when being hauled out of their cells to stand in front of a judge.

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After Charles' Johnson took on the role of foremost deranged troll at LGF, Nodrog had to move on to other venues. And the offering he just left on the carpet here stands alone, as usual - pure drive-by. Delineate the torture problem why don't you, Gordon.

[PDS]

Actually, Glenn Greenwald at Salon is covering much of this from a Lefty perspective quite admirably. Whatever else one might say about GG, he is addressing this matter with integrity.

[Richard McEnroe]

Thank God, a gay pedophile with integrity. The republic is saved!

[Dick Cheney]

I hate little dogs, too. And I bake a mean apple pie. Ask Snow White.

[Dick Cheney]

And don't get me started on those damn Bugaloos!

But to be fair, there IS at least ONE real difference between Obama and me...

[Coomanche Voter]

We're going to torture that sumbitch--we'll put the eyes and ears on him, and stick him in the "white van" with Andy Sullivan in the back! Oh no--not the Club Gitmo inmate--we're going to stick Dick Cheney in there with Andy.

[PDS]

Mr. McEnroe:

I don't know about GG's sexual preferences or pedophalia (seems like a pretty strong accusation without a link), but was simply contrasting his consistency on this issue, no matter who occupies with White House, with DTP's appropriate contempt for Andrew.

The republic could be saved (but probably still won't) if more of the "intelligentsia" possessed intellectual integrity, even when their particular conclusions happen to be off the mark.

[Bilejones]

I've never understood the mindset of self styled "conservatives" who rightly are suspicious of everything that government does with the exception of murdering, torturing or throwing people in cages where the State gets a free pass.

[Richard McEnroe]

PDS -- A. I find it hard to believe you don't know Glenn Greenwald is gay.
B. I find it hard to believe you don't know he moved to Sao Paulo, Brazil.
C. I find it hard to believe you don't know Sao Paulo, Brazil is one of the child-sex hotspots of South America.
D. I find it hard to believe you can't add 1 + 1 + 1 and get 3.
E. I find it hard to believe you're posting here in good faith.

[mojo]

So slap him around, shove the do-hickey over his pointy little head, and bundle him aboard the bus. What, we're caring what prisoners think about security procedures now?

[PDS]

Richard:

I believe profanity is allowed around here, so kiss my ass.

I have followed your comments (and Dennis') since the old days at Roger Simon's blog. Don't make presumptions about me. You are a much smarter guy than your last two comments are letting on, so give it a rest. This isn't your website, and I don't see anywhere on Dennis' site that you have been appointed Hall Monitor.

Oddly enough, I wasn't aware of B and C above; nor do they show anything whatsoever about Greenwald being a "pedophile", so drop that crap, as if any gay guy who moves a big city is ipso facto a child molestor. Sheesh.

I don't agree with much of what Greenwald says, but one doesn't have to resort to calling him names to take up his argument, nor do you have standing to question my good faith in making a limited comment about his integrity.

[jwest]

1. Call names.
2. Call more names.
3. Screw civilized discourse.
4. Adult behavioral conventions are the enemy of hate and discontent.
5. Need far more of the latter.
6. Can't see anything wrong with a reasoning process that leads to accusations of homosexual pederasty.
7. Good job all. Including those of you who are whining about it.
V/R JWest

[wombat]

You know, inflicting the Eyes and Ears thing on women, jihadist or Methodist, would actually be welcome by those otherwise having to endure their man's fave ice-fishing or curling sport shows on ESPN-Latvia.

[tough call]

Name-callers: "Illegal immigrants, mass-murdering jihadists!"

Conventionally behaved adults: "Racists and imperialists! You discontented uncivilized right-wing haters, have you no respect for humanity or international World Court prescribed rights for the terrorist downtrodden that would kill you to tell you how illegitimate your parochial redneck sensibilites and methods are?"

[Eric Blair]

I don't understand why they haven't all just been shot, like is permitted under the Geneva conventions, when you capture bandits.

[Mr. Guy]

What I don't understand is why males don't cite The View and Lifeime as humane justification for Eyes and Ears sensory deprivation.

[Mr. Guy]

For what it's worth, I don't know who McEnroe is- only that he dislikes me- but still I gotta say his remarks are rarely cheaply thrown and are nearly always on mark, ruefully and truthfully.

[katja s.]

Wearing blackout (fogged) ski googles and earmuffs to block out everything in transit is the ONLY way I've ever made it down black slopes. Fast. In the hopes that what you don't know won't kill you.

[BillT]

I don't understand why they haven't all just been shot...

Have you priced ammo, lately?

[Richard McEnroe]

Guy, I don't know whether I like you or not; I've never met you. If I've disagreed with you, um, vigorously in the past, it's because I've grown tired of trying to have civil discussions with leftists/liberals/progressives/whatever the hell they are this week only to find out I've wasted my time because they are not interested in having a honest discussion. Sooner or later I get a lapful of fuckyous,racist and Hitler salutes every damn time, pretty much without fail. 'Party' libertarians are pretty much the same if you suggest that bringing home the troops and legalizing pot are all we need to turn this country around.

In this particular case, Greenwald is not only gay, openly gay -- which is his business and no one else's -- but he's written about at length and about how he and his peeps moved to Sao Paulo, from which point blank perspective he will continue to bestow his wisdom on us racist breeders of the northern hemisphere. If someone has read enough Greenwald to form an opinion of his integrity, then it is disingenuous to suggest one doesn't know this.

[Mr. Guy]

Richard, we hear you, especially re the constant projection of black-heartedness onto Republicans by unhappy people. I only weighed in to say your remarks have always seemed well-reasoned, sharp and pointed, often laugh out loud funny.

No one seems to be who they say they are on the net, so I've given up assuming anything's real on my monitor. Maybe you're not a gamer or a bot, bought a book from you once.

[MS Office Richard McEnroe]

"Maybe your're not a gamer or a bot, bought a book from you once."

Amazing what you can do with the right plug-ins... which one?

[Mr. Guy]

Ha. Richard, I got it as a gift a few years back, so I can't lay my hand on it. Comic style, boy-girl stuff, satire? He really enjoyed it.

[MS Office Richard McEnroe]

Probably "The Invisible Dirty Old Man"...

[Alex Trebek]

Phrasing, Richard...