Yesterday afternoon, former Republican Congressman and 2008 Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr had the audacity to say, "Waterboarding is torture." The reason it took audacity is that he was at CPAC, the annual Conservative Political Action Conference. He was promptly booed.
Instead of adhering to the Constitution or the Geneva Conventions, conservative ideological leaders and Republican leaders have decided to shoot for political expediency, stubbornness, and sadism.
Barr's statement that created the small controversy is this:
BARR: But I don't think we should go down the path of allowing our leaders to have their cake and eat it too. There is nothing magical about a military tribunal. They don't have necessarily better lawyers than the civilian sector. I think I have a lot more faith in our US attorneys who are nonpolitical than my colleagues on the other side of this debate. We can try them. We should try them. That is precisely, Jay, what our law provides for. And the first time we're faced with a situation we say, "Oh we're going to have them go to the military let them torture them for a while, it's not enhanced interrogation technique. Waterboarding is torture! How would you like to be waterboarded? Try that!
So not only did the man go against the word of Bush and Dick Cheney, but he supports something Obama is doing with trying terrorism suspects (although, I would argue, not doing enough)! For those of you taking notes, that's what it takes to be booed by a large gathering of neocons.
It's not like Barr is ignorant on these issues. Not only was a member of Congress and presidential candidate, but he was a US Attorney in Georgia from 1986 to 1990. He is not simply a pundit. He knows the law, and he knows that waterboarding is torture and it is illegal. So if you're up for more of a thrill, here's a video of Barr's full statement, which is worth a watch:
Since leaving the Republican Party, Barr has become a rare conservative (and I do believe that Barr could be classified as conservative, even though there are left libertarians, anarchists, minarchists, and plenty of other ideologies within the Libertarian Party) leader who takes a principled stand against torture and for civil liberties. He recently debated torture advocate and war criminal and 'torture memo' author John Yoo on the issue of torture. He writes a column for the Atlanta Constitution-Journal, in which he does advocate for returning Americans their civil liberties. For instance, there is this recent column against full body scanners at airports:
The federal government is hell-bent on installing full-body x-ray scanners in airports across the country in the wake of the failed, Christmas Day bomb attempt by the Nigerian Brainiac. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has directed that the government will spend tens of millions of our dollars to purchase and install the fancy-dandy, but largely un-proven, "back-scatter" machines as quickly as possible. In an effort to quell serious privacy concerns that have been raised about the graphic images the devices create, the government repeatedly has assured the public that the images revealed to Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees manning the consoles, cannot be retained or transmitted.
After Barr left the panel, he was asked about prosecuting "CIA agents who used waterboarding." He answered bluntly.
Is it appropriate to look into those who violated the law? Sure!
So, in the spirit of ending the dumb partisanship that abounds these days, let's celebrate Barr's actions! If there's still a prominent conservative out there - one who is even invited to CPAC - who's advocating for justice and the rule of law, maybe there's a bit of hope left on this front.
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"Now, is this the deal I would have preferred? No. I believe that we could have made the tough choices required - on entitlement reform and tax reform - right now, rather than through a special congressional committee process. But this compromise does make a serious down payment on the deficit reduction we need and gives each party a strong incentive to get a balanced plan done before the end of the year. Most importantly, it will allow us to avoid default and end the crisis that Washington imposed on the rest of America."
--President Barack Obama on the debt ceiling "deal"
"Despite Democratic control over the White House, despite Democratic control over the Senate, despite overwhelming opposition from the American people, a small minority of the members of the Republican-controlled House have successfully pushed an extreme right-wing agenda onto the American political landscape. It is an ideology which believes that despite the fact that the rich are getting richer, the middle class is shrinking, and poverty is increasing, all - all of the burden for deficit reduction should rest on working people."
--Independent Senator Bernie Sanders on the debt ceiling "deal"
"Last year Evergreen, a Massachusetts company, agreed to establish their first-ever United States based manufacturing facility here in Massachusetts. They did so, or are doing so, at Devens. They have now agreed and chosen to triple their size at Devens. Their next phase of expansion, right here in Massachusetts, a signature company in a signature sector, and we congratulate all of the folks at Evergreen and look forward to continuing to work with you...
We made a personal commitment to Evergreen for the sake of Evergreen, but also because we wanted to show that there are ways in which state government, in working together with private industry and with the utility companies, could begin to create a different kind of environment, a different kind of business climate here, to grow that sector, and it is happening. It's happening. Evergreen is one of the most prominent examples, but there are a whole host of examples."
--Governor Deval Patrick, April 7, 2008, boasting about state investment in Evergreen.
and Now...
"Evergreen Solar Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection yesterday, completing a stunning reversal of fortune for a high-flying alternative-energy company that once seemed to herald a new era for the Massachusetts economy... At its peak, Evergreen employed roughly 900 people locally and attracted more than $50 million in state support, as its stock price soared above $100 a share.
Yesterday, Evergreen's stock closed at 18 cents. The company shuttered its manufacturing plant in Devens earlier this year and now has only 85 employees left. Massachusetts is one of its top creditors, owed $1.5 million in rent."
--Erin Ailworth, Boston Globe, August 16, 2011
