On December 15, Vice President Cheney admitted on national TV that he authorized torture, including waterboarding. That shocking confession makes Cheney a war criminal . But apart from Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow , the Corporate Media barely noticed.

Under the Geneva Conventions, the United States must prosecute Dick Cheney for war crimes. So we submitted this question to President-elect Obama at Change.gov:

“Will you appoint a Special Prosecutor - ideally Patrick Fitzgerald - to independently investigate the gravest crimes of the Bush Administration, including torture and warrantless wiretapping?”
-Bob Fertik, New York City

At the end of the first round on December 15, our Special Prosecutor question was #6 but Obama’s team only answered the first five , including one on the legalization of marijuana.

The second round began on 12/30 and ends at midnight on 12/31. Once again, marijuana legalization is #1. We need your help to make our Special Prosecutor question #1!

1. Sign in at http://change.gov/openforquestions
2. Search for ” Fitzgerald ”
3. This will display several similar questions, so look carefully for “Bob Fertik”
4. Look right for the checkbox, mouseover it so it goes from white to dark, then click to cast your vote

As Ari Melber writes in The Nation,

With so few journalists directly asking the President-Elect about [torture and war crimes prosecution], it is up to the rest of us to put accountability and the rule of law on the agenda. Change.gov is a fine place to start.

Discuss this here:
http://www.democrats.com/encourage-obama-to-appoint-a-special-prosecutor

Thanks for all you do!

Mon Dec 22, 2008 10:14 am (PST)

Bush History: Bush’s Dropping Military Support, Enduring Big-Pharma
Support 12/22…

Today in Bush History, 12/22…
Bush’s Dropping Military Support, Enduring Big-Pharma Support

On this date we have reports of Bush’s dropping military support, and
of Bush’s enduring support for big-pharma. As one senator points
out, “The pharmaceutical industry has bought off the White House”.
Also getting a mention: It’s Blago!

Meanwhile, the annual Military Times poll describes dropping support
for Bush’s Iraq war amongst service members.

More details, from the 2009 Bush Blunder Calendar …
http://poorgeorgesalmanac.com/?p=1228

Today’s category: Failing the Troops, Iraq, The Corporation’s Yes Man

2.
Bush History - Spending Your Tax Money to Distort Researcher’s Findings

Posted by: “frankofbos” FrankOfBos@yahoo.com

Mon Dec 22, 2008 10:11 pm (PST)

So typically Bush. Here’s a fine waste of money: On this date we have
an example of Bush once again spending your tax money to distort
researcher’s findings. The truth is out there. President Bush just
doesn’t want you to hear it.

More details, from the 2009 Bush Blunder Calendar …
http://poorgeorgesalmanac.com/?p=1236

Today’s category: Manipulating Research

On Christmas Eve 1992, defeated President George H.W. Bush pardoned Caspar Weinberger, Elliott Abrams, Duane Clarridge, Alan Fiers, Clair George, and Robert McFarlane for their Iran-Contra crimes. Not one served a single day in jail; Weinberger was about to go on trial and would have tied Bush himself to the scandal.

Will George W. Bush follow his father’s precedent and pardon Dick Cheney and his other criminal co-conspirators this Wednesday on Christmas Eve?

Last week, Cheney was all over TV setting the stage for pardons. He admitted he personally approved torture, but insisted it destroyed Al Qaeda and saved American lives.

According to a powerful article by David Rose in Vanity Fair, the Bush-Cheney torture regime accomplished exactly the opposite. The torture photos from Abu Ghraib helped Al Qaeda’s recruitment soar. U.S. officers in Iraq say torture-inspired attacks on U.S. soldiers were the #1 and #2 cause of soldiers’ deaths. CIA analysts say the “intelligence” produced by torture was worthless.

On November 20, Rep. Jerrold Nadler introduced H.Res. 1531 to urge Bush not to pardon his criminal co-conspirators. Nadler’s bill has 9 co-sponsors but we need every Representative (and Senator) to speak out against corrupt self-pardons.

If you haven’t signed our petition to Congress, please join over 48,000 who have:
http://democrats.com/nadler-pardons

Discuss this here:
http://www.democrats.com/will-bush-pardon-cheney-on-christmas-eve
_______________________

Urge Eric Holder to Appoint a Special Prosecutor for Bush War Crimes

Last week three important Democrats - Rep. Jerrold Nadler, Sen. Carl Levin, and VP-elect Joe Biden - independently urged the Attorney General to investigate Dick Cheney’s torture confession. A growing chorus of newspapers (NY Times) and legal scholars (John Dean, Glenn Greenwald) agrees.

Prosecution of those responsible for torture is not optional - it is required by our obligations under the Geneva Conventions.

So we’ve joined forces with buhdydharma and the Docudharma community to petition Obama’s AG nominee, Eric Holder, to appoint a Special Prosecutor.

Holder replied after receiving a few hundred emails: “Enough folks. I hear you.” That’s a start, but we’ve asked for a formal statement. And we’re collecting additional signatures to deliver when Holder goes before the Senate for confirmation hearings in January.

Please sign and spread the word!
http://democrats.com/special-prosecutor-for-bush-war-crimes

#####

Forward this message to everyone you know!

Tuesday 12.16.08

Headlines…

Cheney Admits Key Role in Torture
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2008/12/16-1

By Lisa Abend / Madrid Tuesday, Dec. 02, 2008

“However, if, for unseen reasons, an emergency landing were necessary, the U.S. government would like the Spanish government’s authorization to use one of our airports.”

In normal times, the request would be superfluous. International aviation law and a separate bilateral agreement between Spain and the United States both require all airports in the two countries to permit emergency landings. But the flights the Spanish note refers to were far from normal. The year was 2002 and the U.S. Air Force was transferring Taliban and al-Qaeda prisoners from Afghanistan to a U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay. Washington wanted to know if Spain could help.

It could. On Nov. 30, Spain’s El Pais newspaper published a document, marked “top secret,” that proves that high-ranking officials within the former government of Jose Maria Aznar, including the foreign minister Josep Pique, not only had knowledge of, but gave permission to the United States to use military bases in Spain for layovers during the long flight from Afghanistan to Cuba. (See pictures from inside Guantanamo.)

“The arrests of the people on board those flights were made without lawyers, without a judge’s authorization,” says Esteban Beltran, president of the Spanish branch of Amnesty International, which has conducted its own investigation into the secret flights. “Which means that the Spanish government colluded with illegal detentions.”

Just hours after Spain’s foreign affairs ministry communicated its assent to the U.S. embassy request on January 11, 2002, a flight took off from a military base in Moron, in southern Spain. “From our investigation using Portugal’s registry, we know that the plane originated in Kandahar, landed at Moron, crossed Portuguese air space, and continued on to Cuba,” says Beltran. “The 23 people onboard inaugurated Guantanamo.”

Spain’s government was clearly aware that the flights were of questionable legality. A separate document sent from the Spanish section of the Permanent Hispano-North American Committee and published in Monday’s El Pais suggests that out of the three U.S. military airports in Spain, Moron would be the “most discrete.” That same report urged its recipients to consider that “some of the people transported could have European nationality” and to “weigh the legal consequences.”

The Aznar government and its Socialist successor have long claimed ignorance of these military flights to Guantanamo, believed to number 13. On the day of the first El Pais story, current foreign minister Miguel Angel Moratinos told the press that he had had “no knowledge of the report” prior to its publication, and called for an internal investigation to locate any other related documents. “Our government is committed to the defense of human rights,” Moratinos said. “We have nothing to hide.”

Both Amnesty and the European Parliament have found evidence that the CIA also used civilian airports in Spain on 68 different occasions between 2002 and 2005 for layovers on flights used for the transport of suspected terrorists.

Spain’s national court has opened an investigation into the CIA flights, and it’s possible that the reports published in El Pais are part of the documentation submitted to the presiding judge. But the question of why these documents have surfaced now remains a mystery. “We have no idea where this came from,” says a spokesperson at the foreign ministry. “It was very surprising.”

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1863264,00.html?xid=feed-cnn-world

Congratulations! Just one week ago we asked you to launch a massive movement against pardons by signing a petition to your Representatives. Over 46,000 of you took action and Congress took notice.

On Friday, Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) introduced H.Res. 1531 urging President Bush not to pardon senior administration officials for crimes the President authorized. It notes:

President George W. Bush may have committed crimes involving the mistreatment of detainees, the extraordinary rendition of individuals to countries known to engage in torture, illegal surveillance of United States citizens, unlawful leaks of classified information, obstruction of justice, political interference with the conduct of the Justice Department, and other illegal acts

and that

Bush has been urged to grant preemptive pardons to senior administration officials who might face criminal prosecution for actions taken in the course of their official duties

Nadler’s resolution urges Congress to investigate those crimes and any pardons relating to them, and urges the Attorney General (current or future) to appoint an Independent Counsel to prosecute those crimes .

These are major steps towards holding George Bush, Dick Cheney, and other senior officials accountable for their crimes and thereby upholding the rule of law, rather than allowing Presidents to become dictators.

Rep. Nadler’s leadership is crucial because he chairs the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties and can use his credibility and clout to move the resolution forward either during the lame duck session in December or when the next Congress convenes on January 6.

So our next step is to persuade as many Representatives as possible to co-sponsor H.Res. 1531. Please sign our new petition :
http://www.democrats.com/nadler-pardons?cid=ZGVtczE0MDA2MmRlbXM=

We also encourage you to call your Representative at 202-224-3121 and speak with the Legislative Assistant who handles Judiciary matters.

If your Representative says (s)he will co-sponsor, please let us know by commenting on our resolution “whipping” page:
http://www.democrats.com/nadler-pardon-resolution

Thanks for all you do!

Bob Fertik

#####

Forward this message to everyone you know!

Sat Nov 29, 2008 11:55 pm (PST)

Bush History: Bush Adds USA to List that Includes the Nazis, the Khmer Rouge, WWII Japan 11/30

President Bush adds the USA to a list that includes Hitler’s Nazis,
Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge (Pol Pot), and WWII era Japan. Bush high-level
insiders and military authorities admit Bush has OK’ed what they would
consider to be torture, even if the president denies it. And our
allies? According to a Navy Commander: “They call it for what it is,
torture”.

http://poorgeorgesalmanac.com/?p=972

Today’s category: Human Rights/Human Wrongs

Fri Nov 28, 2008 11:46 pm (PST)

Bush History: “Why are we talking about this in the White House?
History will not judge this kindly” 11/29

A Bush insider acknowledges the shame brought upon our nation, in sharp
contrast to Bush’s statement on this date that the US “does not
torture”. ABC will reveal that US torture operations were directed from
the White House itself. Also, the US gives millions in tax dollars to a
GOP group to actually HINDER an Iraqi free press! What happened to
encouraging democratic principles?

http://poorgeorgesalmanac.com/?p=964

Today’s category: Corruption/Conflicts of Interest, Human Rights/Human
Wrongs, Hypocrisy, Iraq

On Friday, Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) introduced H.Res. 1531 urging President Bush not to pardon senior administration officials for crimes the President authorized. It notes:

President George W. Bush may have committed crimes involving the mistreatment of detainees, the extraordinary rendition of individuals to countries known to engage in torture, illegal surveillance of United States citizens, unlawful leaks of classified information, obstruction of justice, political interference with the conduct of the Justice Department, and other illegal acts

and that

Bush has been urged to grant preemptive pardons to senior administration officials who might face criminal prosecution for actions taken in the course of their official duties

Nadler’s resolution urges Congress to investigate those crimes and any pardons relating to them, and urges the Attorney General (current or future) to appoint an Independent Counsel to prosecute those crimes.

These are major steps towards holding George Bush, Dick Cheney, and other senior officials accountable for their crimes and thereby upholding the rule of law, rather than allowing Presidents to become dictators.

Rep. Nadler’s leadership is crucial because he chairs the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties and can use his credibility and clout to move the resolution forward either during the lame duck session in December or when the next Congress convenes on January 6.

So our next step is to persuade as many Representatives as possible to co-sponsor H.Res. 1531. Please sign our new petition:
http://www.democrats.com/nadler-pardons?cid=ZGVtczE0MDA2MmRlbXM=

We also encourage you to call your Representative at 202-224-3121 and speak with the Legislative Assistant who handles Judiciary matters.

If your Representative says (s)he will co-sponsor, please let us know by commenting on our resolution “whipping” page:
http://www.democrats.com/nadler-pardon-resolution

Thanks for all you do!

Bob Fertik

#####

Forward this message to everyone you know!

To subscribe, create a free Democrats.com account here:
http://www.democrats.com/user/register