Despite repeated requests, Amnesty International has been denied access to all US detention facilities.

"If the administration has nothing to hide, it should immediately end incommunicado detention and grant access to independent human rights monitors, including Amnesty International and the United Nations, to all detention facilities," said Irene Khan, Secretary General of Amnesty International.

"The US administration has shown a consistent disregard for the Geneva Conventions and basic principles of law, human rights and decency. This has created a climate in which US soldiers feel they can dehumanize and degrade prisoners with impunity.

"What we now see in Iraq is the logical consequence of the relentless pursuit of the 'war on terror' regardless of the costs to human rights and the rules of war."

more...

"I think the reaction to the stupid torture is an example of the feminization of this country." -Rush Limbaugh, May 6, 2004


Indeed...
Link

Isn't that like apologizing to the cable company for not paying your phone bill?

He had an opportunity to apologize directly to Iraqis and he didn't- what the hell?

Well, at least now we have some idea what Rummy and Saddam were talking about during this meeting-


The best way to break a man.

Funny, never noticed Bush with that turkey in the background before...

Marshall quoting O'Reilly who had on the New Yorker's Sy Hersh:


Sy Hersh from last night on O'Reilly ...

First of all, it's going to get much worse. This kind of stuff was much more widespread. I can tell you just from the phone calls I've had in the last 24 hours, even more, there are other photos out there. There are many more photos even inside that unit. There are videotapes of stuff that you wouldn't want to mention on national television that was done. There was a lot of problems.

There was a special women's section. There were young boys in there. There were things done to young boys that were videotaped. It's much worse. And the Maj. Gen. Taguba was very tough about it. He said this place was riddled with violent, awful actions against prisoners.

We are in serious, serious trouble folks. What outrage can we have when American soldiers are tortured and raped? The man who escaped Iraqi custody had been given surgery on his arm to repair a gunshot wound. I'm sure that sort of thing is pretty much over. Many, many more people will die because of this. Rumsfeld needs to go. More important, Bush needs to go. It's just not working.

Slate has a cronology of Saddam's "rape rooms" turning into Bush's (America's?) "rape rooms."

Thanks d.

Dan Froomkin passes along an unfortunate metaphor employed by President Bush yesterday:

"I appreciate the grassroots people who are here. Listen, you've got to work hard to turn out the vote, and that's what we call grassroots. I want to thank you. I'm here to fertilize the grassroots today. I'm here to ask you to grow. (Applause.)"

"Now... I wanna say this right to the brown people watching me on Arab TV: Some people say that you brown people can't govern like us white people in America. Well, I disagree with that view. You brown people are as capable of governing as the yellows, the reds, and the really browns."

/fakequote

With a guy so prone to misspeak, I'm worried. This guy can't put a sentence together without embarrassing himself. He really has to stop calling his war a crusade. I have no doubt that's what he thinks it is- a bold crusade as we approach end-of-days, I mean, the guy is a moron, he just shouldn't make it so glaringly obvious to the entire world.

This will quadruple the box office.

Gaps Remain in Bush's service record.

Picking up where we left off on Bush's service record I have to reiterate- it's not what Bush did 30 years ago that's at issue, it's lying about it today that's the problem.

One of the most infamous documents discovered early this year indicates Bush was transferred to the Air Reserve Force, a unit where guardsmen are often sent for disciplinary reasons.

Many asked this question back in February, but I still haven't heard an answer... Why was the President transferred to the Air Reserve Force? Was it a disciplinary measure?

I'd even be okay with the press submitting the question in advance. Mr. Bush appears to have grown accustomed to that format.

... The Smoking Gun is there!

Howard Stern has been encouraging his listeners to file complaints about Oprah's recent broadcast discussing teen sex. The broadcast used much more descriptive language and was far more graphic than anything Howard has been fined for.

The Smoking Gun has posted just a few of the 1600 letters the FCC has recieved on this matter.

My favorite bits:

You have set the precedent for fines in these instances, and I expect nothing less than proportionate action in this case. In fact, considering the audience size of the despicable OPRAH show, I would expect you to set a stern example.

I and my colleagues in the Citizens against Unclean Network Trash eagerly await, and demand, your censure against Ms. Winfrey.

and

The Oprah show described with graphic detail a sexual term known as "tossing salad." It was so offensive that my child's head literally exploded. Please ban free speech so this never happens again.

Link...

Money Quote: "From the names of our fallen soldiers, to the gradual withdrawal of our allies, to the growing insurgency, it's become all too clear that facts in Iraq have an anti-Bush agenda."



Click here to see Rob Corddry's "The Fallout" (RealVideo)

When David Brock's "Blinded By The Right" came out I read it right away. While I found the book fascinating, by the end of it I hated the author. He did these awful things, destroying Anita Hill, accusing Clinton of everything from cheating on his wife to murder, then admitted he had nothing real to back up these charges. It was literally a vast right-wing conspiracy. He said he felt bad about it... but is that really enough?

So Brock had completely lied about liberals and their thieving, murderous ways... then he sold out all his conservative friends and was playing the other side... I just rolled my eyes. After all that, how can you trust a word he says?

Now he's running a web site- Media Matters for America which documents right-wing misinformation in the media.

We need sites like Media Matters. I don't know if he'll be able to make up for all the awful things he's done, but this is a start. This is a topic that hasn't been covered sufficiently- This morning I watched the Fox morning show crew talk at length about how unlikable Kerry is and how he's ugly, and he has an odd shaped head. This is neither news nor entertainment, this is just hate. Someone needs to point this stuff out.

I mean, even the closeted weatherman is a right-wing hack. Since when is the weatherman a partisan position?!?! Just tell me if it's raining, jackass!

The beauty of Media Matters is that if they ever run low on material they can turn on Fox News for five minutes.

Joe Wilson interview at Salon.com:

What is appalling to me in all of this is that the president said early on that he wanted to get to the bottom of this -- and yet the people who work for the president did not heed his call and step forward. Instead they're stonewalling, and appear ready to stonewall against his instructions indefinitely. Either he didn't mean what he said, or else he doesn't have authority over his senior staff, or they're simply insubordinate.

more...