Today the United States Senate will sign the final contract with the devil

[liberal N proud]

Today, the US Senate will approve George W. Bush's Torture bill allowing him to order the torture at will those who he deems enemies.
Of course they have presented this bill under the guise of FEAR and the trying to stop the terrorist from killing you and me. But how long before he turns the torture on you and me? How long before those of us who simply disagree with the current regime become enemies? Then hauled off to a secret prison and water boarded, electrocuted and attacked by wild dogs, only to be thrown out with the trash after we have succumb to the rigors to their torture.

Yes these pseudo Christians have sold our soul to the devil. Once we have crossed to the dark side, there will be no return. The things our fathers and their fathers before them have fought for and built will all be in the hands of the evil empire.

Good Night America, so young, like many beautiful ones you have perished before your time.

[HereSince1628]

1. We can undo this after Nov. elections have consequences.

However, we can never restore respect for the dispicable appeasers of barbaric authority who voted to approve this.

[atreides1]

2. Nothing will happen in November!!!!!

Some of those "dispical appeasers" will be Democrats, we already know that 34 Democratic members of the House voted in favor of this bill, now we are just waiting for the other shoe to drop!

How many Democratic senators will vote "aye", and sign the death warrant of this great experiment that we know as a Democratic Republic?

November won't cause any of this to be undone, even if the Democrats win both houses, they will do little to undo this travesty.

[ccpup]

3. If that's the case,

then it falls to Us -- the people they work for -- to friggin' carpetbomb them relentlessly with demands that it be changed. If that is the case, and the Dems re-elected weasel out, I want their phones to ring off the hook so much that they go through frantic Interns and Assistants like boxes of tissue and I want their email system crashing with the avalanche of rightfully angry mail they'll get. I want the mail to come in bag after bag after bag full until they finally understand that, yes, they DO work for us and they DO have to listen to us. Not just during Election Season, but all the damn time.

And I want them to feel shame when they look at themselves in the mirror every morning.

I know, I know ... I live in a Dream World where our Rights and Freedom are more important than American Idol, Jessica Simpson's "love life" and having a bigger "car" than your neighbor.

Oh well.

[JCMach1]

4. I agree, Senate Dems could filibuster this... unbelievable they

are playing politics with this hoping the Supremes smack it down...

[mom cat]

10. They can take all of their dry powder and turn it into suppositories!

[bbgrunt]

16. I feel exactly the same way. If they don't stand for the constitution,

they stand for NOTHING.

[magellan]

5. That's how I'm feeling now too

I held out one last shred of hope that at least the Dems would make a stand on this and oppose it one and all, to signal their intent to correct things should they win in November. But there isn't even that now.

[HereSince1628]

6. I don't want to agree, the 34 have their frostbitten fingers in the wind

and I'm of the opinion that they will stick with whoever wins the majority. Worms that they are.

[leveymg]

7. Pinochet also thought he could "legalize" torture and immunize himself

On September 11, 1973, Gen. Augusto Pinochet headed a military coup that overthrew the democratically-elected government of President Salvador Allende. Chile at that time was one of the world's oldest constitutional democracies. In the months that followed, in a round up of "terrorists", Chilean military and intelligence officers arrested 30,000 Chileans and some foreign nationals. Virtually all were tortured, and 3,000 "disappeared", many dumped alive from military aircraft into the Pacific Ocean.

In the years that followed, "President" Pinochet ruled through emergency "anti-terrorism" decrees, before he retired as a Senator for life. Before he left the presidential palace, however, the General assured himself that he would never be brought to trial for his crimes. While the country effectively controlled by the military Junta he headed, the runner-stamp legislature passed laws granting amnesty to those officials who had committed torture and murder during the "state of exception" to constitutional rule. The amnesty laws also granted lifetime "legislative immunity" to members of Parliament, including, of course, Senator Pincochet.

Even though Spain, France and several other countries had issued warrants for Pinochet's role in commanding the murder of their citizens in Chile following the coup, Pinochet travelled the world in luxury and, he thought, security from arrest. As former "head of state", most countries would not touch him. But, that changed in 1998, when during a visit to former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and other Right-wing friends in Britain, he was detained on an extradition request from Spain.

After a long court battle, a three-member Court of the House of Lords, the highest appellate tribunal in the UK, found that Pinochet's claims to immunity as former head of state and to legislative immunity were invalid in the face of charges of violation of international laws against genocide, torture and crimes against humanity. The Blair Government ended up sending him back to Chile, where the new democratic government and courts stripped his immunity, and placed Pinochet, now 87 years old, under indefinite house arrest.

There should be a lesson here for Bush and the GOP Congress. While you might believe today that you can legalize torture and other crimes against humanity, some day they will come for you. Power does not trump the law forever. You are naked, and it's only a matter of time.

[pberq]

8. Do you have a link for that article on Pinochet? - Excellent

[leveymg]

15. Wrote it myself. Thanks.

Up at Greatest Page now.

[pberq]

9. This is what Dennis Kucinich was referring to yesterday on the House floor

"But how long before he turns the torture on you and me? How long before those of us who simply disagree with the current regime become enemies?"

[mom cat]

11. It won't be long. Take care my dear friends. Fight well!

[pberq]

12. Sen. Leahy on the floor now - CSpan2

For years he heard Senators proudly saying that abuses of prisoners don't happen in America, but now the Senate is on the verge of approving the removal of habeus corpus.

[panhead1961]

13. When will we wake up

Everyone has been in the "Well this doesn't affect me" mode, I'm not a terrorist, I haven't done anything wrong. Time to wake up.

[derby378]

14. Call Senator Harry Reid's office and demand a filibuster

[phone]

Get to it!