“The healthy man does not torture others.” - Carl G. Jung

“Turncoat Joe” Lieberman is full of surprises. The other day, Feb. 14, 2008, the hawkish U.S. Senator from Connecticut said that waterboarding “is not torture!” He added, however, that it should be permitted “only under the most extreme circumstances” Well, let’s see... personally, I don’t like Barbara “BaWa” Walters. She gets on my nerves, whining so much about everything. I wouldn’t mind seeing her waterboarded on ABC TV’s “The View” program. But, heck, I’m only kidding. Sen. Lieberman isn’t! He’s dead serious! He tried to defend his Marquis de Sade-like tendencies by saying: “Waterboarding is mostly psychological and there is no permanent physical damage.” (1) How does he know what physical and mental effects it has on a victim? Has he ever been waterboarded?

Lately, I’ve been wondering about Sen. Lieberman’s psyche. He pushed for the disastrous Iraq War, which was based on 935 lies. (2) He’s also been foaming at the mouth for a U.S. led war with Iran. The USA Patriot Act is one of his favorite laws. Sen. Lieberman also condoned the gutting of Habeas Corpus and he couldn’t give a hoot about the fact that President George W. Bush, Jr., can now arrest any American by charging him or her with being an “enemy combatant” and hold that poor slob--forever. I suspect that Sen. Lieberman’s close ties to the Hard Right politicos in Zionist Israel, like its Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, has gone to his head. We have offenses like “driving under the influence.” Maybe, we should have a new one for members of the U.S. Congress, like: “Lawmaking Under the Influence?” For short--we can call it--L.U.I.

There is another “thing” about Sen. Lieberman--he grins inappropriately! He’s just like that whacky Neocon, William Kristol, who can banter about the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of innocent people in Iraq, and, actually grin while doing it. Kristol, too, believes that a war with Iran is “a good idea.” (3) An estimated 1.2 million people have died in Iraq and another 3.7 million are now refugees. In addition, 3,963 brave U.S. troops are now dead and another 30,000 or so of our heroes have sustained serious injuries as a result of the illegal conflict. Check out this recent video of the silly camera-mugging Kristol at: www.comedycentral.com/motherload/player.jhtml. (4)

Which brings me to another disturbing event that made it onto YouTube. Back on March 24, 2004, President George W. Bush, Jr., attended the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner, in Washington, D.C. He was the guest of honor at that gig. Well, President Bush made a total a.. out of himself and in the most offensive, gross way possible. He actually joked about looking for the WMDs that were supposedly in Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. (This is one of the 935 lies the Bush-Cheney Gang told in order to justify the Neocon-inspired invasion of that country.) And who do you think was laughing (and grinning) the most at Bush’s stupid, insensitive and truly obscene remarks? You’re right! It was Sen. Lieberman! Go here to see that infamous video for yourself and Lieberman’s reactions:
www.youtube.com/watch. (5)

To his credit, Sen. Lieberman does draw a line on torture. He thinks “having hot coals pressed on someone’s flesh” is a little bit too much. He said that, in the worst case scenario, like a plot to use Nukes against the U.S., that the president should be able to “certify the use of waterboarding...You want to be able to use ‘emergency’ tech to try to get the information out of that person.” Waterboarding is described as follows: “A method in which detainees are typically strapped to a bench and have water poured into their mouth and nose, making them feel as if they will drown.” Sen. Lieberman also rambled on saying “terrorists are actively planning to attack us.” (1) That made me wonder: Is another “False Flag Op” headed our way? (6)

What exactly does Sen. Lieberman mean when he says that waterboarding should only be used only under “the most extreme circumstances.” Is that definition going to be written in stone? Or will the next president have his or her own ideas in mind about that subject matter?

Let’s suppose a Third Party candidate wins the election in 2008, and that he or she decides that the Israeli spy, Jonathan Pollard, is hiding important information about his past criminal activities on behalf of Israel, which may pose a threat to the security of the Republic. Israel has close ties to Red China. Does Sen. Lieberman think it would be okay to waterboard Pollard to get that information out of him? For example, some would like to know: Who else was working with Pollard, in this country, to steal our very sensitive military secrets? Who was Pollard working for in Israel? Are there any other ongoing Israeli spying operations in the U.S., or in any other country, that he knows about? (7)

Permitting torture, as a matter of government policy, is a slippery slope, besides being inhumane, illegal and immoral. Are we going to have an additional torture school in the U.S. and have certified psychopaths, with scholarships, to attend them? Background: The Bush-Cheney Gang has refused to close down the notorious “US Army School of the Americas,” (SOA), at Fort Benning, GA. It has been in operation for years and has a putative reputation for training torturers and death squads for killing sprees in Latin America and the Caribbean. In 2001, the SOA was renamed: “The Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation.” (8) Would Sen. Lieberman like to have a new torture school, specializing in waterboarding, opened up and named after himself? Does Sen. Lieberman really want to have an America that adopts torture as part of its national charter?

Finally, I think Sen. Lieberman would be well advised to consult with his distinguished colleague, Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT), and/or his Rabbi, before he makes any more idiotic comments about the use of waterboarding and the sanctioning of torture.

Notes:

1. www.newstimes.com/ci_8270300
2. www.americanchronicle.com/articles/51383
3. baltimore.indymedia.org/newswire/display/16699/index.php
4. www.comedycentral.com/motherload/player.jhtml
5. www.youtube.com/watch
6. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_flag
7. www.whatreallyhappened.com/motherofallscandals.html
8. www.soaw.org/index.php

©2008, William Hughes, All Rights Reserved.

William Hughes is a video and print journalist. His videos can be found at: www.youtube.com/profile.
Email Contact: liamhughes-AT-comcast.net.