"Pelosi, briefed on waterboarding in 2002, didn't object"

"I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!" ---Captain Renault

And like Captain Renault, the Democrats, including Nancy Pelosi, are now shocked, shocked to find waterboarding going on in here. Thus we now have phony outrage from the Democrats over the very same waterboarding of which they were aware for five years and raised not a peep of protest until it became politically expedient to do so. The KOmmies are now having to wrestle with this hypocrisy on the part of the Democrats as you can see in this THREAD titled, "WaPo: Pelosi, briefed on waterboarding in 2002, didn't object." So let us now watch the KOmmies wrestle with the fact that their very own House Speaker was fully informed about waterboarding five years ago with no protest in Bolshevik Red while the commentary of your humble correspondent, preferring the company of Captain Renault to the Democrats, is in the [brackets]:

WaPo: Pelosi, briefed on waterboarding in 2002, didn't object

[Until it became politically convenient to do so five years later.]

Lead story in Sunday's Washington Post (not online yet)

[It's online NOW.]

"In September 2002, four members of Congress met in secret for a first look at a unique CIA program designed to wring vital information from reticent terrorism suspects in U.S. custody. For more than an hour, the bipartisan group, which included future-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), was given a virtual tour of the CIA's overseas detention sites and the harsh techniques interrogators had devised to try to make their prisoners talk.

"Among the techniques described, said two officials present, was waterboarding, a practice that years later would be condemned as torture by Democrats and some Republicans on Capitol Hill. But on that day, no objections were raised. Instead, at least two lawmakers in the room asked the CIA to push harder, two U.S. officials said."

[Nope. NO objections at the time. Only full support.]

This is disturbing. Reminds one of the scene in Casablanca, where the police captain claims to be "shocked, shocked" that gambling is going on in Rick's Cafe

[LOL! I had that SAME thought before even reading your comparison.]

According to the Washington Post story, some 30 members of Congress were briefed on interrogation techniques including waterboarding.

"With one known exception, no formal objections were raised by the lawmakers briefed about the harsh methods during the two years in which waterboarding was employed, from 2002 to 2003, said Democrats and Republicans with direct knowledge of the matter. The lawmakers who held oversight roles during the period included Pelosi and fellow Democrats Rep. Jane Harman (Calif.) and Sens. Bob Graham (Fla.) and John D. Rockefeller IV (W.Va.), and Republicans Rep. Porter Goss (Fla.) and Sen. Pat Roberts (Kan)."

[So only ONE objection raised and not by Nancy Pelosi.]

The story says Pelosi had no comment, but a source familiar with Pelosi's positions on the issue said she doesn't recall; and others said they did not recall specifically being briefed on waterboarding.

[Nancy tossed that waterboard briefing down her Memory Hole. And now on to the KOmmie reaction to this waterboard briefing of their own Nancy...]

Wow, just wow; do we think this is accurate? Because is so, it's depressing that only one congress person raised questions.

[That's because it was well before it was politically convenient to make such objections.]

. . they should be held accountable. I don't care whether they did it to "go along", or because Bush was seen as powerful so soon after 9/11, or because they had a torure kink themselves, or whatever the f*ck excuse they have - this was TORTURE, plain and simple, and anyone who went along with it deserves to be removed from office, if not sent to the f*cking Hague!

[So now you want Nancy Pelosi sent to The Hague?]

If this is true, Nancy Pelosi is unfit to serve in Congress, let alone as speaker.

[Gee, I wonder if Cindy Sheehan will bring this up as a campaign issue when she runs against Nancy next year?]

I would like to see the evidence. I think more blame must attach to Bush and the CIA and the Justice Department. If Pelosi knew, I am very disappointed and disgusted, but I would like some confirmation.

[I think Pelosi's "can't recall" means a definite YES.]

Has Pelosi responded yet?

[She can't recall.]

I hope this isn't true....this whole period of time that we've lived with the Bush Adm is like a bad dream...can somebody wake me now?


[I'll wake you up in January 2009, just in time for the Romney inauguration.]

Pelosi should step off of the waterboarding table and resign.
Enough's enough!

[Until recently I always thought of waterboarding as a FUn thing. I always like to go to the beach with a waterboard to ride the waves.]

She hears "Waterboarding" and thinks "surfing".

[Me too.]

One thing this does is open a door for counterattack: if I were Pelosi, I'd counter by putting impeachment back on the table and demanding a public investigation into the role of Congress in the affair, Democrats and Republicans alike, including authorization to make public the contents of any such briefings that really happened.

[If I were Pelosi, I would stay in my "can't recall" shell.]

Nancy Pelosi. I can't believe it. I had a bad opinion of her before, but it was mostly of her being weak and ineffectual. This goes way beyond that. I don't care to ever hear about how they are spineless or scared of the Republicans ever again. There is a moral line you don't cross even if you have a gun put to your head, and these people did NOT have a gun put to their head. Some asshole pundit made a calculation and told them that the voters wouldn't like it if they refused to go medieval on terrorist asses. So they caved. And we hear about it years later. If this is true, the people of San Francisco need to know. She better have a better explanation than "I can't recall." Bullshit.

[Somehow the specter of Cindy Sheehan entering Congress is beginning to look more like a reality.]

she should step out of the leadership position NOW. No wonder she didn't want to do any investigating. We can't give her a break.

[No, keep her as House Speaker. Nancy's ineptness is greatly appreciated by us EVIL Republicans. Hee! Hee!]

Put her in the stocks at the Hague, convict her, and let her eat cake in prison until she rots. Harman and Rockefeller too.

[Democrats eating cake...and their own.]

The prison at the Hague should become very crowded as it fills with all those who abetted the White House in their violation of the Geneva conventions.

[What's with the Left and their Hague fixation?]

If she's complicit, the entire party needs to reject her (along with Harmon and the others); they can call themselves Dems all the way to jail, but they'd better not be allowed to run as Dems. No DNC/DCCC support. No endorsements. Fund the primary challengers. Air ads saying that we don't tolerate torturers in our party. But most importantly, push for war crimes investigations of every single politician, servicemember, or civilian who can be proved to have been briefed on what was going on and did not blow the whistle.

[I'm disappointed that you didn't mention The Hague.]

I think that our elected leaders have been wiretapped etc and are in a sense are either being blackmailed or afraid of what might come out about them. Do you think that Larry Craig was the only one with something to hide? I'll bet they have dirt on everybody (or everybody THINKS they do). Pathetic is all I can say. A country with 300 million people has no one of integrity and REAL moral character to lead us out of this mess.

[Does Nancy Pelosi have a wide stance?]

It's way past time we face the facts that some of the people that are supposed to be on our side are not on our side and it's past time we face the reality that they're never going to be on our side, except for the times siding with us is personally beneficial to them. It's past time we take back our party and our country and I only have one more thing to say.... Primary challengers.


[And I only have one more thing to say.... WHOOPEE!!!]

It's OUR party damnit! There's more of us than there are of them and as long as we don't quit or give in... We're going to win eventually. The only way they win is if we LET them... and I'm not about to let them win.

[Good. Not allowing Democrats win. I can support that.]

It would mean a one-way ticket to The Hague for Nancy, too.

[Whew! I was getting a little nervous there with no mention of The Hague for awhile.]

This is why they can't impeach Bush. There are members of the Dem leadership complicit in just about every crime he's committed. Whether it's the Iraq War, domestic spying, secret prisons, or torture. That's why Bush rests easy in the White House. They can't come to get him.

[Impeachment is off the table but perhaps we could send them all to The Hague.]

The nation was so excited when she was became speaker. We thought that there was someone of integrity that was going to lead us back from the abyss. But ever since that day when she invited the children up to stand beside her she has been weak, compromising and ineffective. She is truly a scared little bunny, who does not deserve to lead.

[Standing with the cheeeeldrun was Nancy's Jump the Shark moment.]

I guess to be fair, I'll wait to see what Pelosi has to say about this. But it does seem to explain a lot of her actions over the last year. If it's true, she better step down.

[And then march directly to The Hague.]

Reminds me of The Manchurian Candidate just watched it this week, and found it even more disturbing now than I did when I first saw it.

[The Nan-churian Candidate.]

why don't we just invite the Hague...to come to DC? that way, we can have the lot of these inhuman bastards all in the same room, impeach them as a class, and clean out OUR GOVERNMENT.

[Why don't we just abolish the Supreme Court and replace it with The Hague? A wet dream for all true KOmmies plus Justice Stephen Breyer.]

This might be why Nancy Pelosi has always been so adamant that "impeachment is off the table." If this report is true, Ms. Pelosi is knee high in complicity with war crimes herself. The Democratic leadership is compromised beyond belief. If we do not revolt and get rid of these ethical monsters we are done as a force for progressive good in the world. Nancy, you have to go now.

[Nancy, you have to go now straight to the Hague.]

People are calling for her impeachment, her imprisonment, her recall, they're supporting her crazy, Revolutionary Communist Party-supporting, Green party opponent Cindy Sheehan AND last but definitely not least - calling for her to be waterboarded and fed a starvation diet. Revolting. Absolutely revolting.

[FUnnie. Absolutely FUnnie.]