Wilkerson: If I Were Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Jim Haynes...I Wouldn't Travel
By Heather Saturday May 23, 2009 9:00am
Lawrence Wilkerson tells CNN's Rick Sanchez just who he thinks was running the show in the Bush administration, why the Cheney family is out in full force defending torture and suggests that a number of members of the Bush administration should avoid travelling.
Sanchez: You know the idea...I was struck by that because I heard the term "lawyer up" and I was trying to figure out what she meant, because it seems there's an implication with the quote lawyer up implying that these suspects shouldn't be allowed any kind of representation. And it makes me as an American then wonder, given the legal system that I know that we have in this country, if they don't have lawyers and there aren't any courts, then who decides that they're guilty or innocent? Did anybody ever ask that question?
Wilkerson: This is absolutely Orwellian. His speech yesterday was Orwellian too and George Orwell when he was with the BBC talked about this a lot--when lying drives out truth telling. And Mark Twain of course said a lie will make it around the world before the truth can pull its socks up. That's what they're involved in. That's what Karl Rove taught them. That's what they've been involved in for some time. And her bona fides scream at me that what in the world is America's media doing listening to this woman? This woman has absolutely no bona fides to talk about this.
Sanchez: She has made eleven appearances in nine days, so she certainly has been getting...um...a lot of us....
Wilkerson: They're scared. I think they're frightened. And I don't blame them for being frightened.
Sanchez: Why? Why would Dick Cheney be frightened?
Wilkerson: Well we've got the possibility, I realize the political will doesn't exist, but we've got the possibility of domestic problems for him, and we've certainly got the possibility of international problems. Judge Baltasar Garzon in Spain has started a case and if I were Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Jim Haynes and a host of other lawyers in the administration, I wouldn't travel. I wouldn't travel anywhere.
Login or Register to post comments.
Not only is he trashing the Cheney's, he's dissing Rove as well.
Wilkerson using Twain's "A lie will make it around the world before the truth can pull its socks up" quote to illustrate his point is spot-on.
Well done!
is there a glimmer of hope that Spain may have the balls to prosecute and take these criminals!! Please let us prove that we in the US are not all bad.
Maybe we will get lucky and the whole lot will get togeather to go visit thier money offshore somewhere, picked up by international courts,.. a little rendition of there own!! If we are really luck Sarah and Liz will be there to.
I wonder how NATO membership would affect extradition of convicted war criminals.
Wiki on war crimes
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_crime
I think you mean "indicted" war criminals.
I'm waiting for Garzon to drop the next shoe - international arrest warrants for the Cheney Gang.
It makes me laugh that a country that says 'Rule of Law' all the time would not prosecute admitted murderers and torturers.
Cry my beloved country! :-(
Oh and RushO
I'm hoping!
When he runs for his compound in Dubia?
... Dubya or Dubai? Either way it's kind of a chuckle.
The only real honest republican left in America?
Certainly looks like it!
How long before he jumps ship?
I think Alan Grayson, Russ Feingold, Marcy Kaptur and Dennis
Kucinich are good politicians...if that isn't an oxymoron.
We have been saying Cheney was the de-facto president for 8 years.
Bush was Cheney's sock chimp.
Rick Sanchez' apparent surprise, or reluctant speculation, that Cheney was the de facto president makes me wonder whether he's been in a coma since 2000.
It's safe to say it now!
Courageous Journalism .. lol
Liz Cheney is a lying sack of dog mess.
Somebody needs to throw a potato sack over Cheney and Rumsfeld and throw them on a plane to Spain. Justice being served in this country is not going to happen.
Extraordinary Extradition?
Of course. Then we can deny we ever did it.
Wouldn't that be poetic justice?!
Here's hoping.
...quail hunting is in Andalusia?
Spanish songs in andaluca
The shooting sites in the days of 39
Oh, please, leave the ventana open
Federico lorca is dead and gone
Bullet holes in the cemetery walls
The black cars of the guardia civil
Spanish bombs on the costa rica
Im flying in a dc 10 tonight
Chorus
Spanish bombs, yo te quiero infinito
Yo te quiero, oh mi corazn
Spanish bombs, yo te quiero infinito
Yo te quiero, oh mi corazn
Spanish weeks in my disco casino
The freedom fighters died upon the hill
They sang the red flag
They wore the black one
But after they died it was mockingbird hill
Back home the buses went up in flashes
The irish tomb was drenched in blood
Spanish bombs shatter the hotels
My seoritas rose was nipped in the bud
Chorus
The hillsides ring with free the people
Or can I hear the echo from the days of 39?
With trenches full of poets
The ragged army, fixin bayonets to fight the other line
Spanish bombs rock the province
I'm hearing music from another time
Spanish bombs on the costa brava
I'm flying in on a dc 10 tonight
Spanish songs in andaluca, mandolina, oh mi corazn
Spanish songs in granada, oh mi corazn
Do you mean sending Spanish agents to kidnap and extridite Cheney
and Rummy? First off those guys have round the clock Secret
Service protection. That would also be an act of war.
I would love it except it would mean the death of several Secret
Service agents and most of the Spanish agents as well. The SS
would call in back up, up to and including Federal Marshals,
SEAL Teams, Delta Force, FBI SWAT, local law enforcement, etc!
What a thought though if the Spanish could pull it off. Make a
great screenplay. I bet the Israelis could pull if off.
While the scenario would make for a good Clancy novel, the implications of even a more subtle arrest would be interesting.
What if Rumsfeld, or even Cheney, went to Madrid and was arrested? Though both are just US citizens, neither are average. I can’t recall a single time a high ranking US official was ever arrested on foreign soil – let alone tried. We’ve done it, of course. Seems only fair to give Spain a chance. It would be an interesting chain of events.
Cheney gets "SS" protection but I doubt Rumsfeld does. I can only hope rummy and pals, excuse me criminals,break out their passports and visit Europe for hopefully the rest of their worthless, lying, years.
peace
SS or not, I'm sure this gang of thugs has their own agents and henchmen to protect them: some private, some inside the intelligence community.
I didn't look like Rummy had any protection when he was confronted by that Code Pink lady.
Just like for any other war criminal.
Then the request for extradition - which the US will either have to respect or deny.
Stock up on popcorn!
Don't worry about these criminals ever leaving the comfort of their "bunkers" here in the USA. At least here they have a number of morons that believe they are some sort of "patriots". Such a sad day for this country.
As for the bitchess, she needs to be censored. WHY is she getting all this air time? We know good and well she is trying to do her old man's dirty work...and she has ABSOLUTELY...to quote her....NO BUSINESS defending her sinister sperm donor. What a pathetic circus the media in this country has become.
darth is scared. Maybe he'll do us all a favor and have a stroke real soon? Gosh...then we'd be able to spit on his grave. Nice idea, eh?
P.S. Don't give rove any credit here. It's more than likely cheney that taught rove the fine points of lying and deceiving the public. he knows no depth with his life in the sewer.
or worse on cheney's grave it wont happen as I hate standing in line.
What do these Cheney's feast on that gives them that " Don't Eff With Me!" charm? The hopes and dreams of jailed immigrants washed down with the tears of starving children?
What do they watch for a laugh, when they all get together? Torture Bloopers.
I wonder if I can induce Cheney into a little vacation to Barcelona?
Is there enough room in Cheeney's man-safe for the entire Bush Cabal? Get them all packed in together, then cover up the air intakes. Maybe they can live off of each others lies. If not...Oh, well!
I do volunteer to assist and aid in the Aprrehension of the Right Wing War Crimminals. It would be a great service to America to see these War Crimminals in J A I L.
There are enough of us out there that we can tract every move they make to include their body guards (psst that is the secret),we work in services these clowns will go broke trying to cover their tracks.
Please let them travel!
put 'em all in a vary small plane, in a Winter storm, and fly somewhere over Pennsylvania, Minnesota, or Somewhere Over the Rainbow!
Cheney family reunion in Barcelona this year!!
So I can understand GWB being quiet, but he's invisible? Where is he? Did Cheney take him out quail hunting?
Ask Google and yea shall recieve! GWB gave a commencement speech yesterday. At a High School! WTF? Maybe they gave him an honorary GED!
LOL
He won't get into this fray because he knows the real definition of torture, and he's on the wrong side of it. Maybe Bush has some degree of decency and he wishes thinks didn't turn out so dishonestly. Cheney has no decency, no soul, what a pity.
The price we pay will be much more severe if the international community has to take care of our dirty laundry for us.
The decay will certainly have become apparent should that be necessary.
Wilkerson says that he thinks that Cheney is "scared". That makes me scared. One doesn't need much imagination to come up with what this monster might be capable of if he felt his ass might truly be on the line. I have never subscribed to the 9/11 conspiracy theories (as mentioned by others earlier in this thread). Although I've never ruled out the possibility that the Al Qaeda plot wasn't stopped with full vigor because of the anticipation of political benefit (and who cares bout a few New Yorkers -> just collateral damage -> oooops, didn't expect 3000). This time around, however, I sure wouldn't put it past the Cheney cabal to organize and direct some destruction on American soil (maybe we get some of the San Fran liberal heathens this time).
Let's try this bastard before it comes to that, albeit with the primry purpose of restoring rule-of-law in this land.
Well, tell us something we didn't already fuckng know! This boil down to the Florida's 2000 fiasco. We all knew that Bush was only a fucking front man, and therefore we never had a chance of having a clean presidential election since his brother cooked the whole goddamn process. They had it all planned to enriched themselves and all they had to do was let Bush son play President.
Wait a second... Surely you aren't suggesting that the Bush family stole the 2000 election with the help of the "fair-minded" justices on the supreme court.
We really need to get Sandra Day O'Connor on record about that decision now that she's got no skin in the game.
... The Spainsh Inquisition - redux, all arranged especially for Dick, Rummy et al.
Featuring, the Rack, waterboarding, and various stones and hot irons.
You can decide if it's nuttery.
http://www.cco.net/~trufax/general/bush_famil...
AFTER the Bushies bought that property the government in Paraguay took a sharp turn to the left!!
They WILL extradite !!
WooHoo!!
Very interesting stuff!
... has been a very welcome voice in the discussion. Calling out the bullshit on a daily basis.
I believe that Wilkerson is the tip of the iceberg on the heart of military men and women who have been tired of the bull**** for years now. They are those who will stand up and do (and say) what's right. Even Colin Powell regrets what he had to do and say to play along with his bosses, and the inner core has been gaining ground. This is why I don't fear martial law... and believe that events are unfolding that will reveal the true hearts and minds of our military people.
I am loving Col. Wilkerson being out there in this manner. He's lit into them on several occasions and I am loving it.
I'm not sure why anyone would find it remotely shocking that Cheney was calling the shots during the Bush years. Many of us have been saying that along. Bush was nothing more than a figurehead, a puppet. Rumsfeld and Cheney manipulated him, and likely kept him in the dark on a host of issues. Bush remained willfully ignorant. They did this with the blessing of the GOP. You know good and well when they (GOP leadership) decided to make Bush president they knew he wasn't up to the task. Their solution was Cheney. What a beautiful plan. While the spot light was focused on Bush, Cheney could operate behind the scenes in an undisclosed location doing God knows what. Cheez, our people in the media are slow to catch on.
I like your post, but I disagree with this part-- "Bush remained willfully ignorant. "
I don't think he was willfully ignorant, but incurious and disinterested, and willing to play the game as long as he got to wear the crown.
That was ideal for Cheney as Bush was the lightening rod for media attention, while he kept busy behind the scenes, running the country.
Since we've exported all of our good paying jobs overseas, we may as well export our justice system to Spain in order to prosecute these war criminals.
Bush, Cheney, and the rest of the toadies must be indicted here. A Nuremberg tribunal would be fantastic. But I don't think Americans will take it well if it is not conducted here. We must prove that laws are for all Americans-especially the rich and powerful.
I've been pretty pleased lately at the thought that Cheney and Bush and the rest won't be able to leave the country: "Just like Pinochet," I've been telling my friends. Then, one of my friends said, "As long as the US has military bases all over the world, these guys can still travel internationally. They'll just have to stay on base." Burst my bubble a little. I wish there were a strong, domestic movement to remove US military bases from other people's countries.
Civilians, which they are now, are not routinely allowed on military installations. Bush is ex-military so he may have leeway. Don't know about Rumsfeld, but I know Cheney never served. Military bases overseas or in/near war zones would probably require approval from SecDef or higher. Political/professional courtesy may get them an easy OK but depending on the political climate at the time I wouldn't bet on it. Besides, they're 'Merican-loving Republicans and they should see America first!
I guess it's safe to say that we will, at the very least, be spared the bore of having these wankers in our countries as $5000 per head dinner speakers.
Republicans are using paid bloggers in an attempt to control the national debate toward their point of view.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0509/228...
Republicans attempting to control the national debate by influencing direction on certain blogs. One of them being Huffington Post.
More of the same old Republican ideas, now brought to you by paid bloggers.
From the "American" Enterprise Institute, to a senior member of an administration that ignored the previous admin's warning of terrorism attacks delivering a lecture on security, perhaps irony is too soft a word.
If I hear one more time the argument that "the vast majority of Americans" approve of using any means to maintain our security, I'll scream.
First, where is her proof that the vast majority are behind her? If it is a survey, how was the question formulated? Was it scientific, or was it on FoxNews?
Second, it doesn't matter how many people approve of these methods. There are international laws. Everyone who thinks these methods are not torture should be subjected to them. Maybe they'd last longer than Mancow in Chicago. Probably not. And to think that people were waterboarded 83 or 180+ times. And now there are reports of the other methods. The conversation has been focused on waterboarding, but what about all of the other methods that are against the Geneva Conventions. It doesn't matter about limits set in some memo. It doesn't matter about who was administering the method. What matters is what the person perceives when he is being tortured. What matters is what is in the Geneva Convention.
I think those who formulated the memos and regulations should be put on trial, and those who actually did the torture should be tried, too. People defend the latter by saying they had good intentions or they were doing what they were told. That defense wasn't good enough for the Germans after WW2.
Login or Register to post comments.