While Obama has certainly made large steps in some directions, there still remains the problem of the level of lipservice the American public receives.
We should be focusing on issues rather than party, as cliched as that sounds.

Kudos for continuing to bring this sort of activity to light.

Whether it’s done on the Democrat or the Republican side of the aisle, it hurts and embarrasses us *ALL*

There are no acceptable halfway comprises. Either the U.S.A. admits the previous administration was criminally wrong, and prosecute everyone who ordered and administered to the full extent of the law, or they legalize it for use by all law enforcement. anywhere in between is hypocrisy.

You’re allowed to talk because it keeps you passive. So be a good citizen. Keep talking.

What I can’t get into my head is why withholding pictures or now these transcripts will be less worse then what people will imagine was going on. I mean the widespread torture and abuses are not a secret and will be a great recruitment help for terrorists no matter if they have pictures of it or not.

At least when you put it all in the open it signals that it won’t happen again and you know exactly how far things went. Shrouding the evidence in secrecy will do nothing more then invite wild speculation that might in the end be much worse then openly presenting the facts.

I never expected Obama to be a miracle worker or a saint, but him turning out to only take one step back from what the Bush administration did instead of firmly walking into the other direction is quite disheartening.

Did you upload it?

for those just tuning in, it’s the scene from Brazil where the protagonist first goes to the torture office, we hear screems coming from the other room, a stegonographer is typing the screams, the torture guy comes out covered in blood, gives a jolly handshake to the protagonist, adn then sits down to play with his daughter with her dollies.

If anyone can find it on youtube, lemme know.

The systematic torture of innocent civilians who were simply at the wrong place and time.

>>What I can’t get into my head is why withholding pictures or now these transcripts will be less worse then what people will imagine was going on.

People are visual. So long as there isn’t evidence right in front of their eyes, the outrage they feel isn’t personal. It’s someone else doing something unmentionable to somebody else. If pictures of this are ever released the common man can no longer cloak his guilt with ignorance. Heads are likely to roll. Very powerful heads. Heads that Obama needs attached to shoulders to keep vital infrastructure in place. Heads worth sacrificing his principles (assuming he had any to begin with) for.

A similar situation occurred with the Holocaust. Millions of perfectly ordinary people knew – KNEW – about the slaughter of millions of other perfectly ordinary people, but so long as their hand wasn’t on the gas release lever and no one else forced their eyes open, they didn’t have to feel responsible.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banality_of_evil

But what are the point of posts like these? There have been so many anti-Obama posts on BB lately. Are you card-carrying members of PUMA?

It’s the kind of eloquence and intelligence we’ve come to expect Obama’s speeches to show. After years sliding down the slippery slope, you might have someone here who can restore respect for civil rights and the rule of law.

However, if the same person then goes on to implement imprisonment without trial and withholds evidence of abuse against those so detained, I’m starting to wonder:

What if he doesn’t believe a word he’s saying? What if he’s just the best liar we’ve ever seen?

I’m picturing that scene from “Brazil” where the sweet middle-aged stenographer lady is wearing a pair of headphones and typing “OH GOD NO PLEASE STOP PLEASE NO AIEEE” just before Michael Palin walks out of his office wearing a bloody smock and a friendly grin.

Off to youtube for some searching…

I believe that Obama’s administration understands the impact this information would have as propaganda for Islamic radicals. Pictures and videos of Muslim men being tortured by the United States would be used just as the pictures from Abu Ghraib were used on websites by Islamic extremists. It is that type of propaganda which inspires radical-leaning Muslims to join the Jihad.

Obama is trying to heal the wounds from the Bush Administration and move on, forging a new relationship with the Muslim world. Releasing these documents and videos opens old wounds and only would spur greater outrage.

The point of posts like these is to spread the news about Obama not living up to his campaign rhetoric about openness and transparency.

Obama has embraced Bush’s position that detainees imprisoned by the U.S. in Bagram, Afghanistan have no rights of any kind

He says he’ll close Guantanamo (by the end of 2010) but all he’s done is expand another prison site in Bagram.

That to me would be the fairest representation of the torture tapes that were destroyed.

Anyone have the movie and can rip that scene to youtube?

Who knew Leon was Bush-era hold-over?

AVRAMsaid:

The point of posts like these is to spread the news about Obama not living up to his campaign rhetoric about openness and transparency.

Thanks, the effort is appreciated.

That meant they could be transparent about what they felt like, when they felt like it, really.

I guess I do feel that sometimes people hold him accountable for things that they could (not necessarily should, though) have seen coming.

It means he’s a politician.

In other news, lawyers are dishonest and teamsters are lazy.

It is sad, sooner or later these tapes will emerge, it would be MUCH better for the US if they do so because our government released them. By covering up Obama is just prolonging the the problem. It is as if he was getting his advice from the Catholic Church.

Except we seem to still be torturing people. We’re just doing it in the other side of the world now. It doesn’t work to sew up the wound unless you get all the pus out first.

“There are no military hearings where the detainees can present evidence,” she added. “Torture has led to homicides there that have been admitted by the US.”

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7903005.stm

54 US personel have been convicted of abuse. 40 received prison time.

What do they think they’re covering up?

http://www.warhw.com/2009/05/04/us-torture-statistics/