Time for ALL American Citizens to ACT! NOW it's up to US! US is and must be her citizens. There's no time to wait - the time is NOW! Be & Do Peace & Justice - NOW!
These TWO will only take a few moments - writing your own note is optional yet is ighly recommended if you are willing and able to take the time. There are several options for each ACTION - choose if time is limited or sign all. (I have tried to simplify these actions.)
If you need any Wake Up Call on this, read Amy Goodman's short article:
Torturers Should Be Punished:
here
TAKE ACTION #1 : CALL FOR A SPECIAL PROSECUTOR: IF you are a US citizen, PLEASE sign on & call on your group to do so as well.
ACLU's Petition: here
MoveOn dot org is also NOW also calling for the Special Prosecutor along with many other groups! Send your letter Online to Attorney General Eric Holder asking him to appoint a special prosecutor: here
From Moveon: If we can reach 200,000 signatures, we'll deliver the petition to Holder by the end of the week.
For More Talking Points:
NPR REPORT - just in (find various links & a video/audio)
HERE
Report links CIA to military harsh interrogations
here
ALSO TAKE ACTION #2 : Tell Congress To Hold IMPEACHMENT HEARINGS Against Judge Jay Bybee
SIMPLE Petition Urging Congressional Impeachment Hearings Against Judge Jay Bybee
here
LETTER & PETITION: Another Option - WRITE (online) letter to John Conyers and House Judiciary Committee with your concerns re. Judge Jay Bybee and the need for impeachment (which will also sign you on to the petition) SCROLL DOWN to find this ONLINE Action made EASY: here
End of the TWO suggested actions with several options *******
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MORE TALKING POINTS:
The petition on MOVEON dot org says: "No one is above the law. It's time to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate and prosecute the architects of the Bush-era torture program."
Calls for action, from the United Nations, the ACLU, Amnesty International,2 Senators Leahy and Feingold, (Feinstein) and others, are gathering steam. The New York Times made the case for accountability in an editorial:3
"...[Obama] has an obligation to pursue what is clear evidence of a government policy sanctioning the torture and abuse of prisoners—in violation of international law and the Constitution.
"
This isn't about retribution or politics. It's about accountability. If hundreds of thousands of us speak up, we can make sure Holder (Conyers & the House Judiciary Committee, Obama, Congress and others) hear this loud and clear.
PLEASE ACT ON ITEMS ABOVE NOW & TRY YOUR BEST TO GET OUT THE WORD
5 comments:
Dissent Is Patriotic
The Bill of Rights Defense Committee's e-mail newsletter
April 2009, Vol. 8, No. 4
The online version of our newsletter contains live links. To view the newsletter on BORDC's website please go to http://www.bordc.org/newsletter/bordcnews8-4.php.
In this issue:
* Obama DOJ Escalates State Secrets Claims in Wiretapping Case
* BORDC News: Profile: Shahid Buttar, BORDC's New Executive Director; Board President Chip Pitts Speaks to ABA
* Grassroots News: BORDC-Tacoma Participates in Week of Action to Hold DHS Accountable
* Get Involved in the People's Campaign for the Constitution!
* Law & Policy: National Security Letters Reform Act Aims to Prevent NSL Abuse; DOJ Releases Torture Memos, But Says 'No' to Prosecutions; New Bill Would Give President Unprecedented Power over Internet
* In Brief: RNC & DNC Receive Muzzle Awards; New York Review of Books Releases Full ICRC Report; Book Groups Launch New Effort to Amend Patriot Act
Please support BORDC's work to defend the Bill of Rights!
Bill of Rights Defense Committee
8 Bridge Street, Suite A
Northampton, MA 01060
Bush administration memos suggest how the CIA's brutal interrogation methods spread to Iraq and contributed to the costly Abu Ghraib scandal, reports Robert Parry.
For the full story, go to:
http://www.Consortiumnews.com
While there, also read:
President Obama's tricky middle course on torture -- stopping the policy but letting the Bush administration off the hook -- doesn't seem to be getting him anywhere, notes Ivan Eland.
And: After taking trillion-dollar federal bailouts, major banks are creating a political firestorm by raising credit-card interest rates and taking other anti-consumer actions, writes Brent Budowsky.
Consortium for Independent Journalism (CIJ)
Suite 102-231
2200 Wilson Blvd.
Arlington VA 22201
Posted to TAKE ACTION - America Needs a Special Prosecutor ... - so AGAIN, more than ever, the pressure's on US CITIZENS to pressure the Attorney General. PLEASE SIGN all three action items above!
JUST IN: Obama open to Hill probe of harsh interrogations By JENNIFER LOVEN, AP White House Correspondent Jennifer Loven, Ap White House Correspondent 15 mins ago
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama says torture memos reflect the United States "losing our moral bearings." The president is leaving the door to open to possible prosecution of Bush administration officials who devised harsh terrorism-era interrogation tactics.
He also said Tuesday that he worries about the impact of high-intensity hearings on how detainees were treated under former President George W. Bush. But Obama did say, nevertheless, he could support a Hill investigation if it were conducted in a bipartisan way.
Obama has said he doesn't support charging CIA agents and interrogators who took part in waterboarding and other harsh interrogation tactics, acting on advice from superiors that such practices were legal. But he also said that it is up to the attorney general whether to prosecute Bush administration lawyers who wrote the memos approving these tactics.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009 9:45:00 AM PDT - near one pm ET
Also for Talking Points ( To subscribe, create a free Democrats.com account here: http://www.democrats.com/user/register ) Highly Recommended! And let a few others know as well. This group may well help us save our country...
On Thursday, President Obama stood up to intense pressure from rightwingers by releasing four of the infamous "torture memos." This is an enormous victory for those of us who worked so hard to elect President Obama, while also working tirelessly to defend the Constitution against the crimes of Bush and Cheney.
Unfortunately, President Obama also said he would not prosecute CIA agents who engaged in torture, simply because George Bush's lawyers told them it was "legal." President Obama also said Attorney General Eric Holder would use taxpayer dollars to defend torturers against lawsuits by torture victims, and to pay all judgments if they lost.
These decisions are intolerable and unacceptable. Torture is utterly immoral and un-American. It produced absolutely no useful intelligence. It recruited terrorists responsible for at least half the U.S. deaths in Iraq. And it endangered every U.S. soldier who may be captured in the future.
And torture is absolutely illegal. The U.S. ratified the United Nations Convention Against Torture, which prohibits torture and requires prosecution of torturers. In 1947, the U.S. prosecuted a Japanese officer for waterboarding. No lawyer can "legalize" what is illegal.
Congress must take the following actions:
1. Demand the appointment of a Special Prosecutor by Attorney General Eric Holder for torture, warrantless wiretapping, and other heinous crimes of the Bush Administration. (Thanks to Rep. Jerrold Nadler for leading the way !)
2. Prohibit the use of any taxpayer dollars to defend government officials who committed such crimes against lawsuits, or to pay for judgments against them.
3. Impeach Judge Jay Bybee, the torture memo author who serves on the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in California.
4. Protect human rights by restoring Habeas Corpus and the Fourth Amendment (search and seizure), including repeal of the Orwellian-named Protect America Act, U.S.A. Patriot Act, the FISA Amendments, and Military Commissions Act.
5. End secret government by prohibiting use of "State Secrets," "Sovereign Immunity" and "Signing Statements."
Sign our Petition to Congress: No Amnesty for Torturers
http://www.democrats.com/no-amnesty-for-torturers?cid=ZGVtczE2MjM3NmRlbXM=
Through your patience and persistence, we are moving ever closer towards the restoration of the Constitution and the Rule of Law in the nation we love.
Thanks for all you do!
Bob Fertik
#####
Current News JUST IN from Bill of Rights Defense Committee
4/21, Bhargav Katikaneni, Jurist, Senate minority leader criticizes closure of Guantanamo without plan for detainees
4/21, Eszter Bardi, Jurist, Obama defends release of CIA interrogation memos
4/21, MSNBC, Obama open to some interrogation prosecution
4/21, James Osborne, Fox News, Proposed Act Could Put Heavy Restrictions on Internet Freedoms
4/20, Peter Baker and Scott Shane, New York
Times, Pressure Grows to Investigate Interrogations
4/20, Kurt Opsahl, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Senator Specter: "The Need to Roll Back Presidential Power Grabs"
http://www.bordc.org
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