Oh Boy, Another One ...

Yesterday, we told you about Jon "Let'em Go" Meacham, and his "Hear/Speak/See No Evil" approach to holding the Bush Grindhouse accountable for their war crimes.



Today, it is, none other, than Thomas "My Head Is Flat", "Suck On This" Friedman, proud creator of the infamous "Friedman Unit".

The president’s decision to expose but not prosecute those responsible for this policy is surely unsatisfying; some of this abuse involved sheer brutality that had nothing to do with clear and present dangers. Then why justify the Obama compromise? Two reasons: the first is that because justice taken to its logical end here would likely require bringing George W. Bush, Donald Rumsfeld and other senior officials to trial, which would rip our country apart; and the other is that Al Qaeda truly was a unique enemy, and the post-9/11 era a deeply confounding war in a variety of ways.

[Snip]

First, Al Qaeda was undeterred by normal means. Al Qaeda’s weapon of choice was suicide. Al Qaeda operatives were ready to kill themselves — as they did on 9/11, and before that against U.S. targets in Saudi Arabia, Kenya, Tanzania and Yemen — long before we could ever threaten to kill them. We could deter the Russians because they loved their children more than they hated us; they did not want to die. The Al Qaeda operatives hated us more than they loved their own children. They glorified martyrdom and left families behind.

We think Mister My Head Is Flat shoots down his own argument, right here.

"Al Qaeda’s weapon of choice was suicide. Al Qaeda operatives were ready to kill themselves ..."

Since Al Qaeda was "undeterred by normal means", fearless of suicide and "ready to kill themselves", why then, would we want to play into all that with torture?

It would seem to be a wiser choice, to do proper interrogations with them, dispelling the myths, and building rapports that trained interrogators say produce better results.

Sorry there Mister Suck-On-This, you don't get to pass Go, and collect your, apparently much-needed, $200.

And, can we start tearing down this meme, that holding criminals accountable for their crimes will "tear the country apart."

Who says so? ... When has this happened, what factual documentation do these people have?

Ford screwed the pooch with pardoning Nixon for the same rationale, choking off the display of democracy, with having the Congress impeach the sitting, criminal President.

So, why is it that, in "enforcing the laws that are on the books" (a favorite Freak Show lament, when it comes to gun control, and immigration), will "tear the country apart", rather than stand out, showing our fellow citizens, and the world, that we are big enough, and strong enough, to take care of our business, orderly, and with respect.

I expect this will get a lot more voicing, as we crawl towards the War Crime Trials, awaiting, hopefully, not in the distant future.

So, Suck On That, there Mr. Friedman Unit.


Bonus "My Head Is Flat" Riffs

Barrett Brown: Thomas Friedman’s Five Worst Predictions

Delawareliberal: Tom Friedman and Me - Or - Calling Friedman out Near the Coat Check at Sardi’s

Wonkette: Thomas Friedman Assaulted By Rhode Island Pies!

Thomas Freidman, Clearly, Is Eating Lead-Painted Toys From His Flat World Economy!

Happy 5th Anniversary of "Suck On This" Day!

Jon Meacham, Phone Home

This goes, far, far beyond merely Jon Meacham's head stuffed up, deep, in his butt.

Nor, is it drinking gallons-and-gallons of the Freak Show Kool Aid.

The jig is up ...



He is an intergalactic alien, so benighted in the ways and customs of our country, that he, in his "Editor's Desk' column, in 'Newsweek', he blows his cover;

So we do not want that. Nor, I think, do we want to open criminal investigations into those who participated in brutal interrogation methods. And to pursue criminal charges against officials at the highest levels—including the former president and the former vice president—would set a terrible precedent. (The presidential historian Michael Beschloss suggests that the closest parallel to a president authorizing a probe of his predecessor can be found in the 1920s, when Calvin Coolidge appointed special prosecutors to investigate Warren Harding's role in the Teapot Dome scandal.) That is not to say presidents and vice presidents are always above the law; there could be instances in which such a prosecution is appropriate, but based on what we know, this is not such a case.

[snip]

The idea that our only options are to move on completely or to prosecute is a classic false choice.

Dig that?

"That is not to say presidents and vice presidents are always above the law; there could be instances in which such a prosecution is appropriate, but based on what we know, this is not such a case."

No, the "false choice" here, the false meme here is that, "based on what we know", based on lies, and fabricated legal advice to package those lies, that The Bush Grindhouse "kept us safe"

That the policy of torture "kept us safe"

Just the other day (and who thunk that Meacham would top this), we had Stumblin' Bumblin' John McCain advocating that, like Watergate, the Bush Grindhouse should get a pass.

Glenn Greenwald tears Meacham a new one, in Jon Meacham's subservient defense of monarchical power

And, the other day, his editor, Joan Walsh, of Salon, attempted to bang heads together, perhaps, hopefully, to dislodge that meme of "torture is okay".

I don't know what planet you are from Jon Meacham, but when you go back there, you can tell your people that, here, on Earth, torture is a crime and those responsible for it must be held accountable.

Either that, or pull your head out of your ass.

Jesus ....


Bonus Riffs

For The Want Of A Lie ...

Krugman: Reclaiming America’s Soul

The Narrative Continues To Build!

A Wolcott Howler!

If you need a "pick-me-up" today, we got one for you.

It peels back the curtain for a glimpse, a fleeting glimpse, of the Washington insiders, the Tim Russert/Golden Calf worship, Sally Quinn, the always-apocalyptic Bill Donohue, Jon "Jesus Saves, And I Write About It" Meacham, and more.

A hearty H/T to Barry Crimmins, for pointing to this gem from James Wolcott;

Think Twice Before Joining the Buffet Line

The tempest in a chalice began when Quinn, co-creator of the Washington Post's On Faith website (an accident waiting to happen), paid memorial tribute to Tim Russert and went a bit overboard with the best of intentions, telling her readers...

At Tim's funeral mass...communion was offered. I had only taken communion once in my life, at an evangelical church. It was soon after I had started "On Faith"; and I wanted to see what it was like. Oddly I had a slightly nauseated sensation after I took it, knowing that in some way it represented the body and blood of Jesus Christ. Last Wednesday I was determined to take it for Tim, transubstantiation notwithstanding. I'm so glad I did. It made me feel closer to him. And it was worth it just to imagine how he would have loved it.

Leonard Pinth Garnell would be so proud.

Go read Wolcott's Think Twice Before Joining the Buffet Line ... It will make your day!


Bonus Riffs

Remembering Russert - What media eulogies remember--and forget

The Canonization of Saint Russert: The media overdo the death of a journalist

We've Gone Well Past The 15-Minutes Thing ...

Developing Story - MSNBC Making Pitches To Become Eulogy Channel