Letter to Sen Klobuchar "how can you be silent ?"

[annm4peace]

Dear Senator Klobuchar:

They say, "Third time's the charm," so let me try again. Twice over the past few months, Tackling Torture at the Top has invited you to use your considerable power and prestige to call for accountability for torture at local public events. You were invited to participate in, or make public statements at the time of, several events during Torture Awareness Month in June. You were silent. At the eight-year anniversary of the writing of the John Yoo-Jay Bybee torture memos on August 1, you were invited again to speak out for accountability for torture. Again you were silent.

This coming Thursday, October 7, John Yoo will be appearing at a "Presidential Powers: Prudence or Perversion?" symposium at the University of St. Thomas Law School. John Yoo and St. Thomas Law Professor Robert Delahunty wrote the January 9, 2002, Office of Legal Counsel memo that said the Geneva Conventions did not apply to al Qaeda and Taliban detainees. Even though many of John Yoo's emails are "missing" -- another violation of federal law -- there is much evidence from his own words that this was not really a "legal" memo, but rather a political document, justifying an already agreed upon administration policy of torture.

I again ask that you use this opportunity to speak out for accountability for torture -- for those who conspired to commit torture, and for those who ordered, authorized, "legalized" and committed torture. You have many options for action. Attend or send staff people to this Presidential Powers symposium (10:00-4:00). Join us outside during the lunch hour (11:30-12:30) to show your support for accountability. Write an op-ed about the importance of holding responsible those government officials who commit misconduct in our names. Post something on your website. Speak out to the media. Raise these issues in Congress. Talk to President Obama and/or Attorney General Holder. Especially for those in power, "silence is complicity" is not a slogan.

Lt. Gen. Richardo Sanchez, who was the Commanding General of U.S. forces in Iraq at the time of the Abu Ghraib scandal, has described the situation and the moral obligations, including yours, in a nutshell:

"Any government servant that was involved in this should have had the moral courage to stand up and question it. It winds up a personal decision being made on whether we're willing to risk our own professional careers, our own reputations, to do the right thing. And moral courage during the conduct of this war, not just within the military but within our political leadership, has been an uncommon virtue. And those that have exercised moral courage to try to do what is right have been eliminated. In fact what happens, when the President makes the declaration that the Geneva Conventions will no longer apply, we unleash the hounds of hell. And then, once we know as a country that we are torturing people at the highest levels, by the time that memorandum is approved, we have already tortured three people in Afghanistan, and to the highest levels of leadership within the military and the Department of Defense, it is known. And they choose to do nothing." (From Culture Project's "Working the Dark Side," moderated by Rachel Maddow http://www.cultureproject.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=category§ionid=2&id=2#85 at 47.29)

"And they choose to do nothing." In a few days, we will have in our community the two people who started us down the path of unleashing the "hounds of hell." Professors Yoo and Delahunty are the authors of the memo that opened the door to torture. How can you be silent at such a time?

Sincerely,

Chuck Turchick

[Angry Dragon]

1. She is not one to stick her neck out

[Mnpaul]

3. She is not one to stick her pinky out

Much less her neck.

[dflprincess]

4. Hey, that's not fair

she did come out very strongly against texting while driving. :sarcasm:

As I've said before, Klobuchar will never win a "Profiles in Courage" award.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. Amy doesn't like to get involved in things that have any whiff of controversy.

She likes to introduce bills like her recent one, which limits the importation of Chinese honey. This is a nice bill, and it made the beekeepers of Minnesota very happy. Amy likes to be nice, but she doesn't like to stick her neck out.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

5. Amy doesn't do "taking stands"

She has mastered the art of not saying anything at great length.

[Owl]

6. Amy = Disappointment. I hoped/voted for so much more.

[SomeGuyInEagan]

9. Agreed. She has no spine. n/t

[dpbrown]

7. What would someone have to do to mount a realistic challenge to her?

I just think there ought to be some cover in the idea of taking stands, more like Alan Grayson in Florida.

[dflprincess]

8. Go to work on it today - or no later than Nov 3

Money would be the big problem. Anyone who ran against her would have to run a real grass roots campaign, hitting all the festivals, parades and anything else that would give them 1:1 contact with people.

Assuming any challenger was running as a DFLer, the trick would be to get supporters out to the caucuses and on to the state convention and try to get the endorsement away from her. Which doesn't mean Amy-kins wouldn't take it to the primary - which might get real interesting because the state party machinery is only supposed to support the endorsed candidate.