Maybe he isn't the most popular journalist with my friends at Dkos, but Fareed Zakaria's intelligent interview style makes him mustseetv in the Chillin household. Today's show however, made me so angry to the point where I had to leave the room. Follow me below the fold but be warned, the Geneva Convention may or may not apply here so I may have to take a "take no prisoners approach" to this interview.
Fareed's first guest was King Abdullah II of Jordan, so no, that is not where the revulsion came in. I wish he had better news to report about the state of affairs between the Palestinians and the Israelis, but hey, doesn't everyone? No, the stomach churning part came with Fareed's next guest, the dishonorable John Yoo. First came the introduction of his past, blah, blah, we have all heard tha before, we know exactly what this man is responsible for and if you have forgotten here is a brief synopsis, courtesy of CNN:
TERROR MEMOS:
Here are a few examples of the "terror memos" signed by John Yoo:
· September 25, 2001 Memorandum for David S. Kris, Associate Deputy Attorney General, "Re:Constitutionality of Amending Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to Change 'Purpose' Standard for Searches" (signed by John C. Yoo).
- Claims the US Federal Government's "right to self defense" authorized warrantless searches under the Fourth Amendment. Repudiated.
· October 23, 2001 Memorandum for Alberto Gonzales and William J. Haynes, II, "Re: Authority for Use of Military Force to Combat Terrorist Activities Within the United States" (signed by John C. Yoo and Robert J. Delahunty).
- Claims the U.S. military can ignore several Constitutional provisions: the Fourth Amendment, the Takings Clause, and the First Amendment. Repudiated.
· December 28, 2001 Memorandum for William J. Haynes II, "Re: Possible Habeas Jurisdiction Over Aliens Held in Guantánamo Bay" (signed by John C. Yoo and Patrick F. Philbin). www.cnn.com
I can't say that anythng new was revealed by this little weasel during this interview, but Fareed had no trouble making Yoo look like the intellectual lightweight that he is.
So what kinds of intellectual arguments did Yoo make for, oh, I don't know, ignoring the Geneva Conventions?: "Eww, those conventions were written in 1949, no one could have imagined the level of violence that could be inflicted by a non-nation state." Yeah, I am paraphrasing, but that is close enough. Sorry, John, not a good enough reason you little fuckwit. Fareed even got John to admit that we are supposed to be following the Geneva conventions, but there are some parts of it that are just too scary when it comes to Al Qaeda types. For example, John thinks that they are too scary to be housed in open barracks as REQUIRED by the Geneva Convention, Oh no, that is "inconsistent with the nature of Al Qaeda," (WTF??) "they might, you know, rub their beards together and start a fire, oh, no, too scary." Ok, that last bit might have gone beyond paraphrasing, but you get the picture.
Fareed basically could push and pull Yoo in any direction that he wanted. Why, because this guy is all fluff and no nutter. The war with those scary Muslims is just going to drag on as long as there is one guy willing to shove a cherry bomb up his ass and therefore we must give our President unlimited power to deal with it. Unfuckingbelievable. Yeah, he is free to write and teach and publish a book, which is how he got on GPS this week. Do I wish that Fareed had pushed him harder on the legality of torture, yeah, but it was still a pretty vigorous interview.
But wait, fellow kossies, is the thought of a free John Yoo scary enough? Hell no! Imagine Miss I-haz-a-Sharpie Palin and this guy who is not yet a convicted felon so he is free to serve in another cabinet as her FUCKING AG!! Think about it and if that doesn't scare the pants off of you then you must be out of your freaking mind!
So what to do about it Chillin, our dear President won't prosecute him? Yeah, not yet, but that is because we are not applying enough pressure. I am a lifelong Democrat, my parents registered independents until Reagan first threw his hat into the ring. That did it for them and I have been a Democrat since I first registerd in '82. This won't stop me from working my ass off to get Obama re-elected in 2012, but we must keep the pressure on him and Holder to do right by this country and prosecue Yoo, Cheney, Bush, etc for all of their illegal acts. And if all you can do is whine and say, "Wah, it will never happen," then please keep your thoughts to your self today because I'm NOT having it!"
Here is the link to the full transcipt, if you wish to read it, there were no clips available the last time I checked. http://transcripts.cnn.com/...