Should President Obama continue to shelter war criminals?

[MannyGoldstein]

33 votes, 0 passes | Time left: Unlimited
	He's not sheltering any war criminals
	3 (9%)
	Continue sheltering
	0 (0%)
	No more sheltering
	28 (85%)
	Manny, get off of my lawn
	2 (6%)
	Other (please elaborate)
	0 (0%)
	0 DU members did not wish to select any of the options provided.
Show usernames Disclaimer: This is an Internet poll

[Warren Stupidity]

1. I had to vote "continue". It is too late for Obama to stop disappointing me.

[no_hypocrisy]

2. Does that include Bush, Cheney, Wolfowitz, and Rumsfeld?

[Octafish]

22. Yup.

And don't forget Corporate McPravda, Wall Street and Carlyle Group.

[woo me with science]

26. Yes. nt

[PowerToThePeople]

3. other, he should have never sheltered them

Jan 20, 2009 they should have been arrested and handed over to the Hague. We are so far gone from a just society now, there is almost no recourse possible that I can envision.

[JI7]

6. he was never going to do that, if people wanted that they shouldn't have supported him for President

maybe they can learn and refuse to support anyone for President in the future unless they promise to do it.

[sabrina 1]

49. So who should they have supported?

[JI7]

4. maybe a Future President will do something about it, have any potential Pres candidates

called on Obama or even just suggested what should be done ?

[vasilios1991]

5. No

No more sheltering!

[Fred Sanders]

7. Should poll question wording continue to shelter polling bias?

[Nye Bevan]

8. Are drone attacks war crimes? (nt)

[MannyGoldstein]

9. It depends.

But torturing is never not a crime against humanity.

[Indydem]

12. Yes.

But don't remind people on the DU that President Obama has killed innocent civilians with drones.

Also, don't remind them of anything else that he has done in regards to black sites, secret prisons, and torture.
http://www.propublica.org/article/the-best-reporting-on-detention-and-rendition-under-obama

They do not like that.

[Scootaloo]

15. They can be, depending on the circumstances

You're nudging up on the reason why the Obama administration will never investigate anything in this report, though.

[hifiguy]

35. Probably.

Given the frequency with which innocent noncombatants are reduced to bloody mist.

[hugo_from_TN]

45. Yes,and so is forced feeding.

This is why the current administration will not be setting any precedent on prosecuting war criminals...

[sabrina 1]

50. When Bush was doing it, drone strikes were horrible war crimes.

[bigwillq]

10. No (nt)

[RobertEarl]

11. If he jailed Cheney?

Cheney would have him shot.

At this point no one can be trusted. They've all known about the bush/cheney cabal and just a few senators have done a damn thing.

In order to stay alive, one must play the game as presented, eh?

[SidDithers]

13. Is this more of that adult conversation you were pining for?...nt

Sid

[MannyGoldstein]

14. Epic. nt

[malokvale77]

58. Sid always has so much to add to the conversation. (nt)

[Scootaloo]

16. What's your answer, Sid?

[Warren Stupidity]

20. Is snark a type of cricket?

[msanthrope]

17. Nailed it. nt

[Control-Z]

18. Thanks for the laugh, Sid!

It helps with the contempt I feel just seeing his name. Yeah, I've got his number.

[Andy823]

21. Nah

Just more shit stirring.

[hrmjustin]

19. Time to prosecute! n/t

[NanceGreggs]

23. I just LOVE the classic ...

... "and when did you stop beating your wife" question - now served up in an all-new, fully improved "poll" format that's bound to dazzle the whole family, and astonish your friends!

It slices, it dices - it juliennes!

Well, the past twenty-four hours have certainly separated the wheat from the chaf. A report that details the torture of fellow human beings under Bush & Co. is released, in all its excruciating details.

The reaction of some is: This is horrific, and worse than I'd ever imagined! Dubya and his cohorts should be held accountable!

The reaction of some is: Good God, how was this ever allowed to happen?

And the reaction of some is: How can I tie this around Obama's neck, and shift the blame to him?

There is only one agenda to be served by shifting the focus of attention from those who actually sanctioned, encouraged, and legitimized the use of torture to the President who ended it. And we all know whose agenda that is.

[MannyGoldstein]

24. Did you notice that Bush's being a war criminal is

implicit in my OP?

Or were you too focused on hunting snipe?

[NanceGreggs]

31. Implicit in your OP?!?

Uh, no, Manny, it's not. It is not implied, nor even inferred.

Your OP doesn't mention Bush at all, nor does it even hint at any reference to him, his actions, or his culpability.

But then we know why you wouldn't want to even mention Bush, don't we? It would only serve to distract attention away from your real target, being Obama - and you wouldn't want that to happen, would you?

[MannyGoldstein]

36. So I meant *other* war criminals.

Of course.

[Raine1967]

42. I took another look at your OP.

You might have a communication problem.

You did not mention Bush.

For the record :

implicit
[im-plis-it] Spell Syllables
Synonyms Examples Word Origin
adjective
1.
implied, rather than expressly stated:
implicit agreement.
2.
unquestioning or unreserved; absolute:
implicit trust; implicit obedience; implicit confidence.
3.
potentially contained (usually followed by in):
to bring out the drama implicit in the occasion.
4.
Mathematics. (of a function) having the dependent variable not explicitly expressed in terms of the independent variables, as x 2+ y 2= 1.
Compare explicit (def 6).
5.
Obsolete, entangled.

[MannyGoldstein]

43. I think that 1. applies

But I probably just suck at writing.

[steve2470]

25. +1 nt

[LondonReign2]

28. So we all agree BuchCo is guilty

Now, what should Obama do about that? And what should he do about the torturers, i.e., those "folks" he calls "patriots"?

[Dreamer Tatum]

32. Besides hire them, you mean? nt

[NanceGreggs]

33. Keep trying ...

""... and there was enormous pressure on our law enforcement and our national security teams to try to deal with this. And it’s important for us not to feel too sanctimonious in retrospect about the tough job that those folks had. And a lot of those folks were working hard under enormous pressure and are real patriots."

Clearly, in very plain English, "those folks" he referenced in the second sentence are "the law enforcement and national security teams" he referred to in the previous sentence. He then went on to say that "a lot of those folks" are patriots.

But keep ignoring the plain English spoken there, and insist that Obama called torturers "patriots". In other words, keep torturing the English language in hopes of twisting it into saying what you want it to say.

[LondonReign2]

48. Obama was VERY CLEARLY

calling those performing the "enhanced integration" techniques patriots.

That aside, you didn't answer the question: Since we all agree BushCo was responsible for the torturing, what should be done about it?

[whatchamacallit]

55. Your hysterical bolding of subjects doesn't remove them from the obvious context

If Obama wasn't making excuses for them, why the bits about "enormous pressure" and not being "sanctimonious" about what they did? I doubt any english professor would agree with your absurd parsing.

[DisgustipatedinCA]

37. So...."continue sheltering" then. Thanks.

[Capt. Obvious]

41. You owe him an apology

[SidDithers]

44. +1...nt

Sid

[woo me with science]

27. kick

[Zorra]

29. Look, Manny...yeah, well, we tortured some folks. But the hard working folks whose job it is

to protect American interests multinational corporate interests around the globe have a tough job, and are under a lot of stress and pressure. So yeah, maybe they torture people, here and there, just to let off a little steam, ya know? It's really no big deal.

They're just doing their job.

[RiverLover]

30. And they need to release Former CIA agent John Kiriakou from jail & honor him as a HERO

http://www.commondreams.org/news/2014/12/10/only-cia-agent-jailed-torture-program-whistleblower-who-confirmed-its-existence

[hifiguy]

34. of course not.

But it is a lead-pipe lock that he will do so to the end. The WH didn't even want the torture report made public.

Standard operating people for Those In The Club.

[NCTraveler]

38. He has no choice. Sorry, that is the way it is.

I just can't bring myself to a place where I believe Obama put a complete stop to torture. Therefore, when I read your question, I read it as "will Obama have himself prosecuted for war crimes?" No chance he would ever do that. The way this is playing out has made this thought even more prominent for me. He can't.

[whatchamacallit]

53. Right...

http://m.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

39. "...I think a basic principle of our constitution is nobody above the law,” Obama

“If I found out that there were high officials who knowingly, consciously broke existing laws, engaged in cover-ups of those crimes with knowledge forefront, then I think a basic principle of our constitution is nobody above the law,” Barack Obama 2008 Primary campaign

Apparently, that doesn't include folds who "patriots" and "under a lot of pressure".

[woo me with science]

40. No. Should he sign more Wall Street and campaign finance deregulation?

Obama urges passage of more Wall Street and campaign finance deregulation
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025944988

Why? Because they can!

[woo me with science]

46. kick

[fadedrose]

47. Too late for Obama to Not shelter Bush

Cheney threw him off the bus already and the tracks are on his back...

George should paint a mean rabid dog and give Cheney the picture and tell him that's the way Americans see him (Cheney), even tho George is torturer in charge..

[choie]

51. And we get the usual

Apologist response

[whatchamacallit]

52. People actually chose #1?!?

Oh my...

[malokvale77]

59. Scary, isn't it. (nt)

[Maedhros]

54. He's not just sheltering war criminals from prosecution,

he's mindfully preserving torture as a viable option for future Presidents.

[woo me with science]

56. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Thank you.

[True Blue Door]

57. Should he also continue beating his wife?

Stop damaging the credibility of this issue with such misdirected trolling.

[malokvale77]

60. I don't think Manny...

is the one doing the trolling here.

[True Blue Door]

61. Asking if the President has stopped beating his wife is fair and honest polling?

[malokvale77]

62. I stand by my statement

Obvious is obvious.

[True Blue Door]

63. And it's obvious this thread is troll bullshit.

And those who would defend it have an agenda very different than prosecuting torture.

[malokvale77]

64. You're amusing if nothing else (nt).