Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Yesterdays' quotes ... Brian Williams, how does it feel, to fall so short?



The unctuous Brian Williams tells Jon Stewart how much he looked up to Walter Cronkite - "He was a man I wanted to be" - and Stewart responds: "How does it feel, to fall so short?" -- Jon Stewart to Brian Williams: 'How Does It Feel To Fall So Short? by Susie Madrak, Crooks and Liars

#9 --- health care decisions should be between a doctor and a patient (unless it's reproductive health in which case it should be between a doctor a patient and the Christian Right.) Unfortunately, at the moment, health care decisions are now between a doctor, a patient and a faceless insurance company bureaucrat who answers to nobody but his immediate boss and who is being paid a bonus to find reasons not to cover you. I would welcome a government bureaucrat over that system. At least they aren't allowed to personally profit from my misfortune. -- Talking Points From Dummies by digby, Hullabaloo

Three, with McChrystal in Afghanistan, and with Robert Gates at the Office of Secretary of Defense -- and given premises one and two above -- one can charitably conclude that truly not much has changed under President Barack Obama when it comes to military operations. The prohibition on the use of "enhanced interrogation techniques" by the Obama administration leaves plenty of room for the use of other, SERE-based techniques, and leaves intact the core, pre-SERE torture program which relies on isolation, sleep deprivation, sensory deprivation or overload, and promulgation of fears to break down prisoners. The latter program, along with a light prohibition on only those drugs that cause "long-term damage," remains at the heart of the military's current Army Field Manual. -- FDL Exclusive: SERE Psychologists Still Used in Special Ops Interrogations and Detention by Jeff Kaye, firedoglake.com

Strong execution? Well, that's one way of describing denying coverage I guess. -- We can’t help but love this sacred relationship by Attaturk, firedoglake.com

... It was once the case that "the law" meant "the Constitution, treaties, and laws approved by Congress and signed by the President." Now, in Washington, "the law" means: "what John Yoo wrote." -- The Washington Post endorses Abu Ghraib scapegoating for torture by Glenn Greenwald, salon.com

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