Eric Holder, jr. our future Attorney general is having his confirmation hearing today. (I think he’s awesome and highly qualified by the way)
Much of the questioning centered on the previous administrations policy on torture.
Forced nudity, attacks by dogs, waterboarding and all the rest of that good stuff is up for discussion. Is it torture? (I ask myself, did the Taliban and Sadam Hussein have to answer to anyone about their prisoner policies?)
After watching Jack Bauer kick some serious ass on 24, I realize why the show is so popular and timely right now. Art imitates life. Tony Almeda’s character is back and together these guys are going to fight for justice on their own terms. Conspiracy theories, murder, justice and loads of action. Oh, and don’t forget the ubiquitous African dictator who is perpetrating a genocide. Does this sound firmiliar? If you don’t get 24, u can watch it online or better yet, you can watch the news and get dose of reality far more brutal than any Brian Grazer produced TV show.
http://www.fox.com/fod/play.php?sh=twentyfour
Here are some excerpts from David Stout article in the NY Times about Eric Holder, Jr.
Pledging to run an independent Justice Department free of political taint, Eric H. Holder Jr. said on Thursday that he believes unequivocally that “waterboarding” is torture, and that it must not be practiced by the United States regardless of the circumstances.
The question of waterboarding was the first issue to be raised at the Senate Judiciary Committee’s confirmation hearings of Mr. Holder for attorney general. As expected, he also came under close questioning over his role as deputy attorney general in the pardoning of Marc Rich, a billionaire who had fled the country rather than face federal tax evasion charges, at the end of President Bill Clinton’s second term.
Addressing the subject of torture at the military prison in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, Mr. Holder told Senator Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont, the committee chairman, “Waterboarding is torture.” It was so defined under the Spanish Inquisition and when used by the Japanese in World War II, he said, and it remains so today.
President-elect Barack Obama has vowed to close the prison, a goal Mr. Holder said he shared. “There are possibly many other people who are not going to be able to be tried but who nevertheless are dangerous to this country,” he said. “We’re going to have to try to figure out what to do with them.”
Asked whether a president might have the power to immunize people against criminal charges if they employ waterboarding, which creates a drowning-like sensation, to obtain intelligence to use against terrorists, Mr. Holder answered unambiguously: “Mr. Chairman, no one is above the law.”
Source: NY times
