The defining issue of our time: Torture.

Democratic Senator Ken Salazar voted yea.

The McCain Torture bill gives Mr. Bush tyrannical powers of detention and the tools of the torturer.

Mr. Bush is already demagoging to pin blame on the Democrats for his failures.

I would like to point out that there is no provision within the bill that allows for a "five year review".

As Glenn Greenwald points out that the bill was significantly rewritten that is a wish list for the president that includes clauses that provide immunity for himself and those under his direction who torture those that have been captured, designating US citizens as "enemy combatants" without judicial review, denying habeas corpus rights to prisoners (not the meaningless term "enemy combatants"), and allowing for lifetime detention to both foreigners and US citizens that have been stripped of their citizenship on the President's say so without due process.

So, what does Senator Salazar have to say for himself?


For Immediate Release

September 28, 2006
CONTACT: Cody Wertz – Comm. Director

303-455-7600

Andrew Nannis – Press Secretary

202-224-5852


Sen. Salazar Votes for Legislation Authorizing Military Tribunals

WASHINGTON, D.C. – United States Senator Ken Salazar released the following statement after voting for legislation that would create a military tribunal system.

“The bill I voted for today was the best bill we could reasonably expect in this highly charged political environment. I am relieved that Senators McCain, Warner and Graham, former Secretary of State Collin Powell, and others helped preserve the fundamentals articulated in the Geneva Convention; a cornerstone to preserving America’s moral high ground in the global efforts against terror.

“Due to the many controversial and far-reaching implications of this bill, I believe it would be appropriate to force Congressional review of this bill in five years. I have concerns with this bill, but on balance it meets my personal view of what America needs to get the job done.”



# # #

As a former Attorney General Senator Salazar should be familiar with the judicial system that the United States has.

He and his staff should be aware of the travesty of justice that Mr. Bush now has with his kangaroo court system which includes evidence produced by torture against the accused is permissible.

Senator Salazar's "personal view" is against the Constitution and Bill of Rights. His view is to let a Mr. Bush have a "Get out of Jail" card and to deny the basis of the American Revolution's Founding Fathers Declaration.

Senator Salazar is no longer my Democratic Senator but an enabler of the torturer.

The torturer is the enemy of mankind.

ken

Unclaimed Territory - by Glenn Greenwald: The legalization of torture and permanent detention

This is a repudiation of the Constitution and Bill of Rights by a sitting President and his party in power in both houses of Congress.

As Glenn Greenwald is shocked and outraged it should be axiomatic that this nation's people should rise up and smite all their legislators who sponsored such unconstitutional legislation because this is legalizing tyranny of the executive branch over not only this nation's people but over the other two branches of government.

Who is to say that Bush will not declare that legislators and judges to be "enemy combatants"?

What's up with the Channel 9, KUSA, reporter Shawn Patrick's report on last night's 10 p.m. newscast about the Colorado Democratic Party's bid for the 2008 national convention? It is this:

"Despite any economic impact, a spokesperson for Colorado's Republican Party says the leadership and message of the Democratic Party is the problem.

"They're going to come and talk about their defeatist strategy, raising taxes, and that's not the kind of message that resonates with people of Colorado," said Bryant Adams, communications director for Colorado Republicans."

The problem that I have with that piece is that it plays into the Republican talking points about the Democrats without any relevance to the story. If this were about "balanced" view points in the report then the correct reportage would have been to talk to the Democratic Party of Minnesota about the message of the Republicans and their national convention in Minneapolis.

This is endemic of major news outlets that have no sense of what is "balance" versus just publicizing bullshit about the Democratic Party because reporters, like Shawn Patrick thinks that balance is anything that the other side states without doing the hard work of fact checking.

I'm sure that Denver's hotel businesses are happy to read that because national political conventions bring in tens of millions of dollars of business and help any city promote itself not only to the nation but worldwide.

Email Shawn Patrick at KUSA, Channel 9, Denver, CO: shawn.patrick@9news.com

Let the station know of what you think at 9News Listens: 303.871.1499.

While you're at it call Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper and let him know:
3-1-1 or 720-865-9000 or email: MileHighMayor@ci.denver.co.us

Please be polite and to the point.

Unclaimed Territory - by Glenn Greenwald: Today

More evidence that Republicans are a rubber stamp for Bush, and that the three so-called Republican Senators who were against torture are now for it.

As Glenn points out that those Republican Senators have even given more tyrannical powers to Mr. Bush and his cohorts.

Radical politicians of Mr. Bush's ilk show only happiness that they are willing to destroy the Constitution and Bill of Rights for an agenda that is antithetical to what our founding fathers had engendered in the Constitution and Bill of Rights.

I have seen that there is a useful new techno tool for political activists for applying pressure to news reporters and editors called The Spotlight Project.

It is easy to use and may well be the next best thing to sliced bread for people who are concerned about the way mainstream media projects "conventional wisdom" and Republican/conservative talking points about the issues of international, national, and local interest.

Go check it out then subscribe to be a part of the netroots to tell reporters and editors that we will not be bamboozled into letting their megaphones be biased in influencing public opinion and the upcoming November elections.