To George Bush, Truth Is "Slander"

George Bush and "facts" never really got along that well. Whenever the truth got in the way of things, truthiness was always ready to take its place. Now that almost eight years has passed us by with George as President, there is a lot of truthiness under the bridge (and waterlogging the Constitution). If someone like Adam Boulton of SkyNews wants to talk about truth instead, the wall of delusion that surrounds our 43rd President goes up quicker than you can say "Bring em' on!"

From Crooks and Liars:

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BOULTON: And yet there are those who would say, look, let’s take Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib and rendition and all those things, and to them that is the, you know, the complete opposite of freedom.

THE PRESIDENT: Of course if you want to slander America, you can look at it one way. But you go down — what you need to do — I think I suggested you do this at a press conference — if you go down to Guantanamo and take a look at how these prisoners are treated — and they’re working it through our court systems. We are a land of law.

The standard response whenever one criticizes American policies, of course, is to proclaim that that person is an anti-American slanderer. The irony, though, is that the policies this President has pursued over the past eight years could not be more “anti-American” in the classical sense. You know, things like rule of law and respect for human rights.

But wait, there’s more:

BOULTON: But the Supreme Court have just said that — you know, ruled against what you’ve been doing down there.

THE PRESIDENT: But the district court didn’t. And the appellate court didn’t.

BOULTON: The Supreme Court is supreme, isn’t it?

Where does one even begin with this sad excuse of a man? Slandering America? Does anyone still believe the crap that comes out of his mouth? No George, it isn't slandering and it isn't slandering America, this is the truth of your Administration and the spoiled fruit of your policies as President.

As for that bit about the Supreme Court....I guess it is only Supreme when the decisions go for you and against democracy. This wasn't one of those times.

Oh how I wish it were January 20th already, it seriously can not come soon enough.

Feinstein Introduces Bill To Close Gitmo

This one took a while to surface in Congress, but thankfully Senator Feinstein put it out there this week. Closing the infamous Guantanamo Bay prison has been a long time on coming, every day it has helped to reduce our standing in the world community. It has shown that we as a nation condone torture, indefinite detention of people who may or may not have anything to do with terrorism. Gitmo is the ultimate sign of hypocrisy when our government calls on other nations to respect the rule of law.

From The Los Angeles Times:

In a statement, Feinstein said the detention facility had hurt America's credibility around the world because of allegations of abuse there and doubts about the legal rights afforded detainees.

"We must recognize the sustained damage this facility is doing to our international standing," she said in the statement. "We are better served by closing this facility and transferring the detainees elsewhere."

Feinstein's measure would transfer Guantanamo detainees to military or civilian detention facilities in the United States or to their home countries. The legislation allows detainees who "pose no continuing security threat" to be released. Feinstein said she opposed "releasing any terrorists."

This would be a tremendous blow for freedom and against the torture-loving Bush Administration. Here on the left, we have been on the government's case to close this terrible place since we found out that it existed. Feinstein's support comes mainly from the left, but she does have a supporter in the newest Cabinet member, Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

Gates knows that this place has to be shut down. He even canceled an order for a new courthouse on the base. However, he is just one man inside of Bush's Administration. I hope that he and now Feinstein can do some good and get rid of prisons once and for all despite George's love for the place.