No limit to the shame...

Silvestre Reyes (D-TX) and Pete Hoekstra (R-MI) just released the following joint statement:

"Just two days ago, CIA Director Michael Hayden appeared before our Committee to address the CIA's destruction of videotapes. In that hearing, he committed to providing materials relevant to our investigation. Earlier today, our staff was notified that the Department of Justice has advised CIA not cooperate with our investigation."

"We are stunned that the Justice Department would move to block our investigation. Parallel investigations occur all of the time, and there is no basis upon which the Attorney General can stand in the way of our work."

"We strongly urge General Hayden to comply with our Committee's bipartisan request to produce documents and to make available John Rizzo and Jose Rodriguez for testimony next week. We will use all the tools available to Congress, including subpoenas, to obtain this information and this testimony."

"It's clear that there's more to this story than we have been told, and it is unfortunate that we are being prevented from learning the facts. The Executive Branch can't be trusted to oversee itself. Congress must conduct its own investigation."

Remember the "Protect America Act"? The bill which gives Bush-boy the power to determine his own powers under the 2nd Amendment? - and allows him to dictate to the Department of Justice what 'law' is, and requires that the DOJ support his determinations?

Aah! Couldn't have said it better.

Rep. Pete Stark (California) has a way with words. And, acoording to a CNN Poll, 88% of those polled agreed with him. (Click 'read more' for the whole story and a link to watch the video)

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LTG Ricardo Sanchez

Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez has joined the ranks of the retired who have now found their courage and their voice. Convenient. Where was his voice when it would have counted, when it might have made a difference? It was silent. Was the hope of a fourth star pinned to his shoulder worth his silence regarding the situation(s) in Iraq? No.

America - in review

We torture but - we don’t torture. How far will this administration go in trying to defend its indefensible self? Apparently, there is no limit. Even more shocking – and equally shameful – is how much the citizens of America will tolerate from this barbaric and shameless government.
Our social conscious is gone. Period. We have no defense, and there is no rationale that can – in any way, shape, or form – justify our actions and our inactions. History is replete with unacceptable excuses offered by societies in vain attempts to justify atrocities committed. They just don’t fly. They never have, and they never will.
Do we think we’re the exception? Apparently so, but it’s not true. We aren’t exempt. Human decency is not a uniquely American virtue. And, even if it were, it would no longer be, given this perverse administration’s actions. Lies, deceptions, half truths - It’s enough already. Enough!
No American who has read a newspaper or watched a television newscast can excuse themselves. We are, one and all, without excuse. And each day that passes by that we don’t demand accountability, is another day of complicity. How will history recount our society’s behavior? How will history record what we have done? – and haven’t done?
Every virtuous or noble ideal that we once held dear now serves to condemn us. We have traded our values, our beliefs, and in many ways, our souls, for a false sense of security. What does that say of us? What will history say of us? We are not the only ones who record and document events. Historians world-wide will write – as they always do – of the events that occurred during this period. And they will do so without a politically partisan perspective. Facts will be documented, occurrences noted, and actions recorded. What picture of America will that paint? A land which claims such high ideals yet acts in ways so contrary to those ideals that it defies logic? What other picture can be portrayed?
Anybody?
Anybody?