Why we CANNOT let up on seeking accountability on the heels of this torture report:
The bad guys coveted deniability and worked SO hard to build it in - to cover their asses - so they could deny everything and weasel out of any accountability.
Well, irony-lovers, now it's out, on paper, on the record, in public, in this report (such as it extends) and there's NO hiding from it anymore. WE THE PEOPLE cannot hide from this anymore OR deny it OR pretend it didn't happen OR assume it wasn't all that bad OR that the enemy (the other enemy - the al Qaeda contingent, not the GOP) just overstated it or is lying or something.
It's IN OUR FACES NOW. We are tracking this shit all over the national/world carpet on our OWN shoes now. And if WE THE PEOPLE don't take action and INSIST this stop and that serious legitimate penalties are paid by those accountable, then this nightmare WILL happen again, with impunity. There HAS TO BE accountability. Otherwise it sends a clear signal that you can get away with it, you can go ahead with whatever-the-hell you feel like doing and it'll be okay. And I DON'T mean just one or two underlings prosecuted as war criminals - I mean their bosses. The human vermin who gave the orders, designed the strategies and procedures, and green-lighted it.
It has to go up the food chain as far as we can push it, in order for there to be ANY deterrence factor in operation. If there are no consequences, then there are no very-valuable-even-though-painful-and-costly lessons learned.
I called Feinstein's local office yesterday. Capitol Hill was after business hours. She's gonna lose her chairmanship, but she's still in the Senate. I told her staffer, as a constituent, to thank her for having the guts to release this report, and that now we need prosecutions. We need to spread that all over everywhere. EVEN to the deaf-ear crowd. THEY need to hear this, too. THEY SERIOUSLY need to hear this! Even if they disagree, DOESN'T MATTER!!!! They need to hear this ANYWAY. And they need to keep hearing this.
Guys, this is something that can't be allowed to die down and fade away. Our side, shamefully, seems to specialize in losing momentum, or squandering momentum. THAT has to be stopped, cold. We lost the momentum on the Equal Rights Amendment, we dozed off while the opposition to Roe v Wade blossomed and gained ground (to this very day), we lost the momentum after Sandy Hook, the list goes ON AND ON AND ON. If we blow it on this one, then it becomes OUR fault, and OUR sin, and OUR shame.
In case anybody wants it, HERE (besides the TOLL FREE Capitol Hill switchboard office numbers in my sig line below):
DIANNE FEINSTEIN CONTACT INFO: She may no longer chair that committee, but she's STILL there, even after the Senate goes to Hell in January. She's still prominent, still has some weight to throw around, still has media-recognition and credibility, and she still has some clout.
Washington, DC Office:
331 Hart Senate Office Bldg.
Washington, D.C. 20510
Phone: (202) 224-3841
Fax: (202) 228-3954
TTY/TDD: (202) 224-2501
San Francisco Office:
One Post Street
Suite 2450
San Francisco, CA 94104
Phone: (415) 393-0707
Fax: (415) 393-0710
Los Angeles Office:
11111 Santa Monica Blvd.
Suite 915
Los Angeles, CA 90025
Phone: (310) 914-7300
Fax: (310) 914-7318
San Diego Office:
880 Front Street
Suite 3296
San Diego, CA 92101
Phone: (619) 231-9712
Fax: (619) 231-1108
Fresno Office:
2500 Tulare Street
Suite 4290
Fresno, CA 93721
Main: (559) 485-7430
Fax: (559) 485-9689
(reposted in Politics 2014: http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251390078)
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