It never occurred to the framers of our Constitution that "free speech" could be transformed into the scourge of our current democracy, and an excuse for every form of oppression possible, from torture to fraudulent elections...
At a crucial point when UC students were demanding that Yoo be thrown off the staff at UC, the students at Berkeley and the law school fell victim to Dean Christopher Edley, Jr.'s argument that to deny Yoo a chair on the faculty at the law school would deny the man free speech... that his free speech rights trumped the impact of his analysis. Likewise, free speech was the explanation given by our fearless leaders to guarantee Bybee a seat on the Court of Appeal. So, instead of spending their lives in prison, where they belong, these war criminals have been rewarded by those who thrive on slaughter and hatred...
By suggesting that waterboarding, sleep deprivation, and tearing out fingernails were merely tactics amounting to "enhanced interrogation," [Yoo and Bybee] gave the green light to the monsters running our government to endorse renditions, tortures and every other war crime the Pentagon can envision. Unmanned drones, Special Operations assassinations, nuclear missiles and war crimes are now our country's leading exports.
At a crucial point when UC students were demanding that Yoo be thrown off the staff at UC, the students at Berkeley and the law school fell victim to Dean Christopher Edley, Jr.'s argument that to deny Yoo a chair on the faculty at the law school would deny the man free speech... that his free speech rights trumped the impact of his analysis. Likewise, free speech was the explanation given by our fearless leaders to guarantee Bybee a seat on the Court of Appeal. So, instead of spending their lives in prison, where they belong, these war criminals have been rewarded by those who thrive on slaughter and hatred...
