Up front, I want to plead guilty to third hand blogging a rumor that started in the Daily Mail. There is really no excuse and I’ll post a new picture of Max at the end to make up for it. In defense of the rumor it seems like good advice for Cheney and his administration to stay within the United States and its territorial waters at least until the whole concept of international jurisdiction for crimes against humanity blows over. When even John fucking Yoo, John “child’s testicles” Yoo, tries to get some distance from the torture report then you know these guys should think twice about vacationing in the civilized world*.
But all that said I find it a little crazy that dubya would back out of a charity gala in Switzerland and for that reason. Sure, I get that times have changed. You cannot just bury that laundered fortune in an anonymous Swiss account until the statute of limitations expires, and the Swiss have in general opened up lately to the world community. Some have even taken a serious look at getting out from under the shame of what they facilitated in WWII. But even when the law technically allows it arresting a former American head of state adds up to a reckless, ballsy act that I would not seriously expect even from the more activist scandanavians. I can see George Tenet or even Don Rumsfeld getting escorted from Heathrow or CDG by armed smurfs. Europe might open protracted and ultimately fruitless negotiations to arrest Cheney if he chose to spend a month in the French riviera being pelted with fruit walking about in public. But Bush? In Switzerland? Honestly, I would love that to be true as much as anyone but I suspect the charity took stock of the latest news and quietly rescinded their invitation.
Max.
(*) By which I mean countries that don’t torture.
***Update***
Looks like the Mail just re-reported an item from 2011. No link because it’s the freaking Mail but they updated with a correction. Again, I bet that the charity in question just got some local pushback and canceled the invite.
***Update 2***
Crooks & Liars, to which I did link, got the year wrong and made the correction. I am a lazy blogger.
catclub
and then you have a picture of Max, sans balls.
Linda Featheringill
Yay, Max!
It is good to see the torture report discussed and otherwise bandied about. About time, too.
Dcrefugee
The Daily Mail story now has this prepended:
“UPDATE: This is a story from 2011. Our mistake!”
It’ll be interesting if any new stories like this appear, regardless of the country or the person.
Villago Delenda Est
Oh, I think it’s a wise precaution for all of these vile motherfuckers.
The INSTANT they leave US jurisdiction, they should be put in irons and hauled bodily to the docket in Den Haag.
srv
All this publicity is good for winning back over all those Bushbots that abandoned him.
His domestic speaking fees will go up.
Carter had to do Habitat to rebuild his image, Bush just needed a torture report to come out.
Cervantes
@Dcrefugee:
No, it’s Crooks & Liars that belatedly realized it was old news, not the Daily Mail.
Frankensteinbeck
Western and Northern Europe are not even going to think about arresting anybody in the Bush administration for torture. I don’t know why anyone thinks they would. As repulsive as they might find our actions during the Bush years, why anger the US that badly over something that does not affect them? It’s not like that will go back in time and stop the torture, even. It would be cool, and I dearly wish there were any plausiblel way for Bush and Cheney to pay for their crimes, but it’s not going to happen.
Gin & Tonic
Is it me, or is Max getting that middle-aged spread going on?
Kevin
If it took nearly 4 decades for child rapist Roman Polanski to finally be arrested (and then quickly released from the luxurious chalet they were keeping him in), i’m with you Tim, not a chance that any of these countries would have the balls to arrest any of these guys. Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld. The lot of them could walk around the Hague mooning people and they wouldn’t get arrested.
VOR
Beautiful dog.
Dcrefugee
@Cervantes: You’re right. My bad. Been a while since I’ve been on C&L; their look and feel has gotten so professional I automagically assumed I was reading the Daily Mail’s site…
Cervantes
@Gin & Tonic:
Either that or his head is shrinking.
Face
They tortured brown people. Last time I checked, this is not officially a crime in either the US or Europe. Scalia even said our Constitution doesn’t preclude it. So upon what crimes have they officially committed?
I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet
@Cervantes: I blame Photoshop. That, or steroids.
;-)
Cheers,
Scott.
Cacti
@Face:
Scalia is correct, but his observation is irrelevant.
The United States Code and international treaties that we have signed and ratified both make torture illegal.
Cacti
I would also disagree strongly on Switzerland holding any sort of moral high ground in international affairs, after profiteering from Nazi loot, hanging onto it for the next 60 years, and fighting tooth and nail to avoid being disgorged of it.
PlanetPundit (used to be Sir Laffs-a-Lot)
You are forgiven; Max rocks
The Ancient Randonneur
Oh my, someone really was wrong on the internet. I thought that was an internet rumor.
Suzanne
So Jeb is officially unofficially running for president.
Yaaaaaaaaaaay.
Elizabelle
Dang. Now she’s probably doomed. And she’s my fave.
David Brooks: Warren Can Win
Mike in NC
“Masters of the Air” — an excellent history of the 8th Air Force in WW2 — covers the collaboration of the Swiss with the Nazis and also notes that American aircrews that were interned there were not treated much better than those in German POW camps.
catclub
@Elizabelle: Never take advice from from someone who does not wish you well.
Iowa Old Lady
I figured even Cheney was a little worried about legal repercussions when he insisted repeatedly that Bush knew all about the torture and approved it.
japa21
@Elizabelle: He knows there is no way Warren could win the general or the primary. But he wants her to run because doing so might well tarnish her image. She represents everything he hates inthe Dems.
Capri
@I’mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet: Considering his breed, age, and stage it wouldn’t hurt to make sure Max’s thyroid gland is doing what it’s supposed to.
J R in WV
Max looks good to me, very good. Quite a chest on him, but looks like muscle from here. And look at that stance over HIS stick!! “No one gonna be taking Mah Stick!”
That said, a physical exam never hurts, ‘cept for the wallop on the wallet.
Elizabelle
@japa21:
I’m not so sure about your first sentence. Same thing people said about Obama a few years ago. Hillary is not unbeatable, and electing a Republican, with all the Supreme Court seats coming up — cannot be.
Meanwhile:
Lee
Didn’t rumsfeld have to get wisked out of Italy circa 2010?
different-church-lady
No, no, no, the traditional way of dealing with your own front-page blunder on BJ is one of two things: a) belligerently double down, or b) go silent for a while in hopes that nobody will remember it ever happened.
Political Realism
I hope everyone heard the news today .
It’s about 2016. And it’s huge.
You could see it coming for a long time -or perhaps even hear it, like a faint whisper in the air…and it sounded like Jeeeeeb…BUSH.
And now it’s real. Bush’s hat is in the ring, and he will have more money and power backing him than any candidate in history.
Get ready for another Bush!
Eric U.
cool, unlimited corporate cash makes its appearance
@japa21: I wish there were more like her to hate, because I think the wishy-washy pro-corporation stance the dems take now is hurting us badly.
I agree that it’s unlikely that Bush and Co. will have any trouble with the torture report. You never know though. It would be a helpful reminder that it’s illegal to torture
Another Holocene Human
@Dcrefugee: daily fail
Political Realism
I’m all in for BUSH 2016!
Another Holocene Human
Did anyone else watch James Mitchell’s VICE video?
https://news.vice.com/article/psychologist-james-mitchell-admits-he-waterboarded-al-qaeda-suspects
Somebody called him a psychopath (also a Mengele) so I just had to watch. I think something isn’t quite right with him, although I wouldn’t put my money on psychopathy. I’m not a psychologist so I am not betraying any professional standards by armchair analyzing.
Red flags:
He laughs at the reporter’s waterboarding and missed details (such as the reporter being restrained), his only ability to put himself in the reporter’s shoes is an unrealistic fantasy of revenge, odd for someone who ordered this for others
He equivocates frequently. At one point when asked if waterboarding shouldn’t be done he carefully states that it was legal from 2001-2006. Legal and moral/desirable aren’t the same thing
Again he has trouble conceptualizing the suffering of others. He knows intellectually that people really hate being waterboarded but waves this off because it doesn’t break any bones. At another point he says killing somebody with drones is so much worse than torture. Actually, it is not always clear if a quick death or extended torture is preferable. But to him it is clear because he somehow completely fails to account for suffering.
He makes everything all about him.
He is excessively concerned about self-image, rambling on about his wikipedia entry and the supposed “lies” on it.
He exaggerates his experience and accomplishments.
He displays a bit of victim complex, for example talking about his friend who was killed.
He is clearly very intelligent–he’s not some ignorant wingnut spewing rambling conspiracy theories and Dr Google facts–which is what makes his attention-seeking and bizarre affect all the more noticeable.
I’m guessing some serious narcissism going on there, if not NPD.
Another Holocene Human
@Kevin: Good thing you posted that or I would have posted something fulsome about that.
Amir Khalid
@Political Realism:
If Jeb really had the nerve to run for president, he’d have done it by now. As it is, he’s been “thinking” about it for years, waiting for the stink that his older brother put on the family name to finally clear. It won’t, not while Jeb is still young enough to run. Unlimited corporate cash will indeed someday buy the presidency for a Republican candidate, but I promise you the lucky devil won’t be Jeb.
mdblanche
I worked in a non-academic position at a university a few years ago, which somehow got me on the AAUP’s mailing list. I still remember getting an email from them in 2009 or so defending John Yoo and his “academic freedom” against the mean people complaining about letting a war criminal teach at Berkeley. I keep hearing from people here about how unions are our friends and should solve all our problems in theory. But actually existing unions like the AAUP and the Cleveland, St Louis, and New York police unions keep stomping on that message.
Yatsuno
@Amir Khalid: JEB! (you have to spell it like that) has other issues. There is no way the wingnuts can take him marrying a Mexican national, not to mention from what I understand she is very resented in the broader Latino community. He also had a disastrous run as governour of Florida that left a lot of the state’s institution’s a wreck. He has enough problems even without the family
cursename hanging around his neck. Not to mention he’s not exactly going to get a huge amount of Tea Party enthusiasm since he just doesn’t give the teabaggers the right feelings in their nether regions. I see him trying because Babs is finally giving him the okay, but it won’t be an easy road for him. Not to mention I have no idea which state he’d run from at this point.Cacti
@Political Realism:
Understandable, as the last Republican to win the Presidency without a Bush on the ticket was Nixon in 1972.
But here’s a little cold water for you…
Jeb trails Hillary by 8 points…in Florida.
mdblanche
@Political Realism: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_n5E7feJHw0
Calouste
@Kevin:
Pinochet got arrested for ordering torture http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indictment_and_arrest_of_Augusto_Pinochet
Calouste
@Cacti:
And the last time the GOP won the Presidency without Nixon, Bush I or Bush II on the ticket was 1928.
Kevin
@Calouste: Pinochet wasn’t American though. That matters.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
But you posted a photo of Maxpuppeh, so I’ll not whine about article dates.
Tree With Water
An arrest of an American war criminal in Europe (memo to Europe: DO IT!) would definitely stir the pot. A while only a minority of Americans would likely approve- at least initially- it would be a significant minority, numbered in the millions.
Mnemosyne (iPad Mini)
@Kevin:
Pinochet also tortured his own people, not foreign nationals. Have there been war crimes trials since WWII between two different countries? Milosevic wouldn’t count because that was a civil war.
Hurling Dervish
@Political Realism: Jeb. Tanned, rested, and doughy.