This is going to take real work.
DanK is Back uid:121118 got the timeline for major events related to these crimes:
What We Know So Far: A Torture Timeline (Updated) -- Fri Apr 24, 2009.
Dan's seminal effort lists 48 events connecting Bush and Cheney to torture and murder.
Collect 10,000,000 validated signatures supporting an independent Department of Justice investigation and prosecution.
Murder has no statute of limitations. Political deals are not acceptable.
Our alternative ??? America's Good Men will continue to do nothing.
Suggestions needed !!
Project sketch pad... below-the-fold :::
Edmund Burke: "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."
And Burke was a royalist, arch-conservative. Stick to basics and this could reach across all kind of lines. What we are fighting, here, is sexual sadism in the garb of High Office.
Suggestions needed !!
The overall structure: Collect 10,000,000 Verified Signatures to have DoJ Investigate and Prosecute Torture.
- Evidence. Collect the publicly available evidence on what the last Administration did. Use the seminal work from DanK is Back. Follow the Federal Rules of Evidence guidelines and set up a timeline with copies of available documentation. The Bush Administration guys are up to the point where they brag about ordering torture. Cheney was on the phone to interrogation teams urging torture. All this needs to be organized as evidence.
- Indictment. U.S. Code violations. Nothing soft, here. Get legal work done to specific which section of the code were violated with which actions. Knowledge and thoroughness. Lawyers needed, not amateurs.
- Petition Signup. Set up a solid petition signing system -- PetitionOnline is a good model. Problem is that we need to validate email addresses, at least. PetitionOnline does not provide that feature. A neutral site would be best. ACLU and kos are identified to specific political imagery. The John Birch Society would be a good site for a voting embed; they say the Constitution is worth dying for. Netroots is grassroots politics. Do keep in mind that this is a mainstream CONSERVATIVE political agenda item. Law & order item.
- Advertising. Get the voting mechanism advertised and posted around the tubes. Talk it up in classes and offices. Women get to exercise the traditional threat to withhold sex until the men go sign it. Your ordinary grassroots advertising campaign.
The outlines of the Evil perpetrated under the orders of the Bush Administration are well known. Torture was approved and telephone calls were made from Vice President Cheney in the White House to individual interrogation teams.
Documentation of policy matches to photographic and sworn evidence:
The "Torture Memo." August 2002 from the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel. Argues that it "may be justified" to torture al Qaeda suspects. The memo also argues that international law "may be unconstitutional" where it prohibits torture.
The "Rumsfeld memo." March 2003 from a Pentagon working group. It declared not only that the American president has the power to evade international law and torture foreign prisoners but that interrogators who follow the president's commands are immune from prosecution.
The Abu Ghraib photographs. Remember what they show: not just torture but guards who appear absolutely certain of their legal and moral right to torture. Large numbers of uniformed personnel stand around watching.
The "Dog Handler Testimony." Two Army dog handlers assigned to Abu Ghraib submitted sworn statements that military intelligence officers told them to use dogs to frighten prisoners. The Army had said that any use of dogs in interrogations would have needed approval from the U.S. military commander.
DanK is Back got the timeline together. He also posted a Cheney timeline. We need to get this work together an draw up a rough for an indictment. Asking 10,000,000 people to sign a petition is a serious matter -- it should be based on fact and on law.
Suggestions needed !!
The signature system must include a manual validation process. This means that a reply goes to the email of the signer, then response to that email posts the actual signature.
Signature should include name, email, and zip code or a country code. Everyone on the planet should be allowed to sign.
Positioning and advertising will be critical. I would think, first off, that the site should be owned by a non-profit. A 501(c)(3). Hopefully a sensible home can be found.
Signing icons can go anywhere.
Hopefully, thousands of blogs and web sites.
This is a simple programming problem that will require no more than a half-dozen pages. Having different sites for different languages, worldwide, is also feasible.
The effort deserves a logo. Suggestions are welcome.
The motto can be as simple as "No Torture." The Biblical Ten Commandments were originally stated simply as "No Other Gods," "No Murder," "No Stealing," and such. The format is understandable.
This project deserves thoroughness.
Then we need 10,000,000 signatures. If that doesn't work then we will need 20,000,000 signatures. Then if that does not work, we will go to 30,000,000 signatures and on from there.
Ultimately, these people -- The Signers -- will matter to those in power.
Suggestions needed !!