Conyers Asks DOJ Torture Lawyer: Could President Order Suspect Buried Alive?

David Addington is going to say as little as possible to the House Judiciary Committee today. The Vice President's chief of staff didn't submit testimony today or make an opening statement, and he successfully stonewalled the first round of questioning from subcommittee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY). He did submit 10 exhibits to the committee as evidence, but it's not yet clear what they consist of.

But then it was Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) turn to ask questions. And he went toe to toe with Yoo, the former DOJ attorney and torture-memo author extraordinaire.

Read the whole story here.

Comments

[OgreDaddy]

The Bush Wingers have done all they can to stay " ON MESSAGE"
completely ignoring the fact that terrorism is a criminal act.

Even if you swallow the 9/11 propaganda, the attacks of 9/11 were STILL a CRIMINAL ACT and without state sponsorship, cannot be defined as an act of war.

If we go into Columbia and raid a heavily armed group of drug cartel mercenaries, we may use military
type force, but those we arrest and take into custody are criminals.

The use of the term enemy combatant has been shoved down our throats for a reason, because
this administration wants to stay on message, that this is a war.

A PERPETUAL WAR!

The truth is that they were authorized to use military force in a police action in Afghanistan.
To catch Bin Laden et Al.

Bush propagandists deliberately twisted the terminology to sell us a war against Iraq.

It has already been well proven that Iraq had nothing to do with the events of 9/11

A criminal act.

Criminals, regardless of their crime have certain legal rights until proven guilty in a court of law.

[MoeJava]

The WH Attorneys must be living in some parallel universe... what ever gives them the idea they are protecting and defending the US Constitution? At the very least, they are not advising ethical behavior
unless you are practicing human sacrifice.

[steamboat]

I'll be blunt and honest.........Its the democrats year. Its their turn. Any democrat would probably beat any republican.......And even though Obama is starting to flip-flop on issues (Public campaign funding, townhall debates, keeping troops in Iraq, etc.) and throwing grandma under the bus. Yet, he should still win easy. .........Having said all that, more goofy comments from the likes of John Conyers, Jeremiah Wright, Michael Pflager, etc., etc. and the impossible will happen---a republican win.......Something to think about.

[Probus]

Obama had every right to opt out of public financing considering he is raising more than McCain ever could. Obama never agreed to townhall debates. Neither has he changed from his position on withdrawing troops from Iraq. But I agree this is the year of the dems it will be a bad year for the GOP.

[Village]

Don't give them any ideas.

[tbone99]

You're so right!

[LibRS]

You people sound like a room full of babies all screaming at once. Do you actually think the bulk of us citizens give a rats posterior if any of these bloodsuckers get a lttle waterboarding. NEWSFLASH!! THEY DON'T!!

[cre8ivecurt]

If you don't care, then you SHOULD! When we find out that American soldiers (and citizens) are being tortured - water boarded, stress positions, severe beatings and the like - I'll bet you'll be up in arms then. After all, we're Americans and they can't treat Americans like that!! Right? Unfortunately, the Americans did it first and it's a simple Universal law: what goes around comes around. This hate-filled administration opened Pandora's Box and now it's only a matter of time before the results come back to haunt us.

But even if YOU don't care...believe me, I DO. And I doubt I'm in the minority on this one.

[Probus]

Our founding fathers would not want this. America's moral authority has been tarnished because we torture. It puts our troops at risk in the battlefield. Torture violates our Constitution.

[FrictionSoul]

Of course we do, and you should too: The Military Commissions Act of 2007 gives the President the right to incarcerate US CITIZENS and suspend their habeus corpus rights.

You're a citizen, so you're fair game. And you know how they treat prisoners, right?

Look it up and read it and then quit spouting your macho ignorance.

[matthewhusseinsmith]

If we TORTURE those " bloodsuckers", what's the difference between them and us?

BTW, when you hear about the next American being kidnapped and tortured, tortured for days, not just getting his head lopped off, please think about what you just said.

They ( the bloodsuckers ) do it anyway, but now they feel justified.

[Bettysdad]

Ever get the feeling that people who make these kinds of posts, live in places that will never be the target of an attack.

Some trailer near a strip mine in Montana, or an outhouse in the Ozarks.

People in big cities don't worry about terrorism.

[levibatgirl]

Let me guess. You're a chicken hawk who still has a decal cartoon of a little boy pissing on the name 'Osama' in the window of your truck.

Nice mullet.

[peskyliberal]

If Conyers cant bring up Articles of Impeachment, why is he given any consideration?

[guntotinganglion]

"John Yoo publicly argued there is no law that could prevent the President from ordering the torture of a child of a suspect in custody " including by crushing that child"s testicles."

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11488.htm

How big a jump is it from crushing a suspects child's testicles, to burying someone alive? For the neo-con monsters, it's not a jump at all, it's a foregone conclusion. The President could drop any of our children into a branch chipper per this sociopath's logic...so why be reticent about burying any of us alive?

[Bettysdad]

For several years I've been asking if Bush can order someone killed. If not, why not?

And if he can't order them killed, why can he order them to be tortured?

Not a single Republican has ever been able to clear this up for me.

[levibatgirl]

If I could have a million dollars or bi+ch slap yahoo, I'd bi+ch slap yahoo.

(did I get through the huffpo filters?)

[Probus]

We need more questions like this from Conyers and others on Judiciary. We put dems in power so Bush could be held accountable. I'm all for impeaching Bush, but by no means should people like Yoo and Addington not be held accountable for the crimes they committed under the umbrella of "national security". Bravo Mr. Chairman, but please don't take impeachment off the table.

[aristippe]

yeah because hyperbole to please the hysterics really gets the ball rolling.

[Probus]

The question Conyers asked was legitimate. I like to know the answer to it. Not surprising that Yoo refused to answer such a simple question.

[milo9]

The Security of American People trumps buried alive.

[milo9]

The passion exhibited here is inspiring. Just as Obama was inspiring until he said that the Security of the American People trumps the rule of law. With that declaration, he just became the lesser of two evils.

[Eoin45]

You are un-American. Americans don't torture - period. the founding fathers would have been appalled.

[matthewhusseinsmith]

Substitute "German" or "Soviet" for "American" and Hitler and Stalin would agree with you.

[cruisepuppy7452a]

It is illegal to burry alive anyone. ANYONE. Bush has no legal right to give the OK for this, nada. He cannot incite a war, or allow for a break in the Geneva Convention that gives any prisoner the same rights and privledges of any other crimmal. Doing so, giving such premission violates that. It is considered going beyond the legal, and human means to obtain information. Especially when there are drugs that can be given, whose side effects wear off after an hours time. Stop letting Bush off the damn hook, he is a crimminal. He is violating the rights of his office, oath that does not issue the right to perform illegal interrogation methods. Nobody is allowed to do anything without his ok. So, yes, he is giving the Ok for all of it. Its grounds for impeachment.

[marinemomof3]

We are a nation of L A W S .
We have a constitution, of which these yoohoo's have/had
sworn an oath to uphold.

i am not afraid!!!

Yoo seemed very timid, mouse like. I was surprised that this guy is a professor @ Berkley.
Davis (AL)and others cleaned their clocks several times. Yoo had to confer w/his atty numerous times on word meanings??? Where did he go to law school??

[AnotherMcIntosh]

"We are a nation of L A W S ."

We used to be. It's over.

[zizyphus]

Geev'um, John Conyers! Go for it! Make him uncomfortable. Bury him alive with questions.

[impatient]

There is a new book out entitled something like "The Prosecution of george W. Bush for murder" by Vincent Bugliosi. It is exccellent and apparently being kept out of bookstores. Let me recommend it.

The reason I mention the book is that one of the posters here said, "What's the point of this dog and pony show?". The point is that Bush and his cronies have long been using legal dog and pony shows to push through their own evil agendas and no one cares because they have so overwhelmed the system, it has become normal for idiots like Addington and Yoo to do whatever they please without question. The point of THIS dog and pony show is to shine the light of day on the incredibly cynical evil manner in which they have gone baout their "work".

I am hoping that when a new president is in office and some of this ethical filth washes away, at least to the point where we can breathe again, we'll come to our senses and start prosecuting these people. Something has to be done.

So many crimes cannot go unpunished!

[cruisepuppy7452a]

Bush cannot keep that off the shelves, it violates the writers free speech. Um, where the hell is the american civil liberties union on this? Yo, Gagging the media, felony. They did so on 911 too, Felony with a capitol F.

[milo9]

Of course! Even President Obami could order torture to " keep the American people safe."

[111]

So, you finally admit Obama is going to win the GE ...

[oafishcad]

It's probably best that none of these goons is tried for any crimes before Governor Bush leaves the White House. He'd just pardon them anyway. He's proven that. Just wait until there's a new President them arrest every last one of them including Bush and Cheney. Life in prison without the possibility of parole is too kind a punishment.