Today’s Q for O

I am tired of him speaking from both sides of his mouth…Be brave, and own up to something at least.
I guess you were the only one with a serious question tonight.
The president is the luckiest president to get such a soft and gently treatment from the press.

Mr. President Obama – I hear you when you or your White House Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel point blame about inheriting a set of problems from the previous administration — so when do You, Mr President take ownership?

Good question, brave answer.
Not that there is much debate on whether or not wb constitutes torture – everyone from the Red Cross to the 2008 Republican candidate for president agrees that it is – but everybody’s been dancing around the issue for political reasons.
So the next question is: Since the Bush administration waterboarded and waterboarding is torture and torture is illegal, shouldn’t they be prosecuted?

@William
From Lincoln’s “Instructions for the Government of the Armies of the United States in the Field”, April 24, 1863:
“Military necessity does not admit of cruelty–that is, the infliction of suffering for the sake of suffering or for revenge, nor of maiming or wounding except in fight, nor of torture to extort confessions.”

Fact check: Britain did mistreat detainees during WWII at Bad Nenndorf.
We should have tried Churchill as a war criminal.
Americans should be safe knowing that when the next one of us dies in a potentially preventable car bombing, hijacking or ambush, we will do so in a manner consistent with our values.

You notice how he didn’t answer the question? Just like a politician.

TAPPER: I’m sorry, sir, but do you believe the previous administration sanctioned torture?
PRESIDENT OBAMA: I believe that waterboarding was torture. And I think that the — whatever legal rationales were used, it was a mistake.
====================================
If he believes in the rule of law and he believes that waterboarding is torture and it was done by the previous administration then he has no choice but to prosecute, does he?

Just before launching his invasion of Iraq, President Bush went on national television to issue an ultimatum to Saddam Hussein, urging him to leave his country within 48 hours. Bush also had this message for “all Iraqi military and civilian personnel”:
War crimes will be prosecuted, war criminals will be punished and it will be no defense to say, “I was just following orders.”

Great question, great answer, way to bird-dog this.

Didn’t watch the press conference last night. I watch the Golden Girls last night. It is fun to watch than listen what Obama has to say. I know it isn’t doing a good job for 100 Days since he took office in January and his job approval rating I am giving him a F (Failure).

“And that’s why I put an end to these practices.”
Waterboarding was already abandoned several years ago.

Jake,
Please…ask the President if he will condemn Clinton admin officials for ‘outsourcing’ torture to 3rd countries during the Clinton ‘rendition’ program,and, will he recommend a special prosecutor to determine if US law was violated?

Can you ask the President this question-
“If you believe these enhanced interrogation methods were indeed ‘torture’ and therefore immoral,
was dropping the atomic bombs on Japan immoral? Was it ‘torture’, or worse?”
And the follow up-
“The rationale for using the atomic bomb has been described as ‘ending lives to save many more lives in the future to end the war’.Will you also condemn those acts, as your former ‘mentor’Rev Wright has done?
Why won’t you apologize to Japan for America’s action then?

I am absolutely convinced it was the right thing to do, not because there might not have been information that was yielded by these various detainees who were subjected to this treatment, but because we could have gotten this information in other ways, in ways that were consistent with our values, in ways that were consistent with who we are.
The follow up question that no one has yet asked is: “Mr. President, just for the record, you you name one or two of those ‘other ways’ we could have gotten that information?”

I can’t recall a President ever making the Office the Presidency “about him” as much as Obama has:
“I’m grateful that President Ortega did not blame me for things that happened when I was three months old.”
“I inherited this mess.”
“I don’t want to run automotive companies.”
“I don’t want to run auto companies.”
“I don’t want to run banks.”
“I have got two wars I gotta run.”
“I’ve got more than enough to do.”
Strikes me as a bit narcissistic and self-absorbed. Perhaphs the Office of the Presidency is a special case, but it strikes me that the great leaders I’ve come across in my life don’t have a problem with using the term “we” every now and then. I also find it interesting that he talks about all these things on his plate when (a.) he has spent most of his time in office in “campaign mode” (in addition to criss-crossing the country and hanging out with Jay Leno, he has given more prime-time news conferences (three) in his first 100 days than Bill Clinton did in his first four years, and (b.) he has “outsourced” all drafting of legislation to Pelosi and Reid.

Why weren’t there any follow ups? Why didn’t he differentiate between “torture” and “harsh interrogation”? If you ban both, you’re questioning politely, and giving Miranda rights. You’re fighting terrorism while giving terrorists the “right to remain silent.”
This is crazy, but this is what the American people have voted for. This is what they want.

Kudos to Jake for the follow-up question after Obama’s filibuster answer. I did not watch the press conference in its entirety (there is already enough ‘Bama in my life, thank you), but from what I saw Jake was the only correspondent to press Obama for a direct answer (which, from my perspective, was not provided).

Harry “The Buck Stops Here” Truman was taking responsibility as a leader.
Barack “The One” Obama blames, whines, lies, and deflects.
“But I don’t recall anyone ever accusing ol’ Harry S. of narcissism though.”
Me either. But I’m not the first to claim BO is a narcissist.

Churchill and torture:
The Guardian published an article in 2005 the alleged torture of German prisoners in the “London Cage” between 1940 and 1948.
The paper described the facility as a “torture centre” and quotes one detainee — an SS officer — alleging “that he was doused in cold water, pushed down stairs, and beaten with a cudgel. Later, he says, he was forced to stand beside a large gas stove with all its rings lit before being confined in a shower which sprayed extremely cold water from the sides as well as from above. Finally, the SS man says, he and another prisoner were taken into the gardens behind the mansions, where they were forced to run in circles while carrying heavy logs.”

Actually, the President answered the question in his first few lines, that is, if you can reason from A to B. Why did Tapper feel the need to repeat the question again?