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Recent Posts by Rich Gardner
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Protest against John Yoo
by
Rich Gardner | 02.19.2010
Accused war criminal John Yoo spoke at the Federalist Society on Thursday. As one can tell by our signs, we're not in any doubt as to Yoo's guilt. There's a very strong case against Yoo that was brought by Jose Padilla, the fellow who spent several years in solitary confinement and suffered severe mental damage as a result. Photos by Bill Perry and Rich Gardner Friday night update: Office of Professional Responsibility releases report. Yoo & Bybee did not violate professional obligations Working thread.  Protest against John Yoo speaking at the Federalist Society
18 Feb 2010  Accused war criminal John Yoo spoke at the Federalist Society tonight. As one can tell by our signs, we're not in any doubt as to Yoo's guilt.  Yoo's memos are alleged to have played a strong role in creating the ad hoc system that imprisoned Padilla. The report by the Office of Profesional Responsibility put out a report on Yoo's conduct which strongly suggested that the report was improperly softened.  The softening of the OPR report is important.
Instead of sanctioning the two lawyers for their violating their professional obligations in writing legal opinions justifying torture, the report will now say, according to Newsweek, that they showed “poor judgment.” This will not open up Yoo or Bybee to sanctioning by state bar associations for disciplinary action, including possible impeachment for Bybee, now a federal judge.
 One can only hope justice will prevail.
Photos by Bill Perry and Rich Gardner |
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Comments
how to succeed in arresting the unaccountability of power?
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 03/10/2010 - 2:17amHow to succeed in arresting the unaccountability of power? Tyranical power at that? In a book called The First American Revolution, Ray Raphael, of the Howard Zinn school of a people's history, tracks the movements and methods people used to unseat the British government, township by township throughout Massachusettes, by 1774,before any shot was fired at Lexington. It is worth a serious read by all peace and social justice activists. How to organize that unified field for the rule of law against tyrrany, NOT THE RULE OF LAW FOR TYRRANY.
What I raise below is not the answer, it is a very serious question.
Tyrrany by definition is law-less-ness. For government servants to use the LAW, as YOO, Bibee and the whole criminal load of them used, FOR LAW-LESS-NESS, and for the body politic to have this weak immune response, to not have the muscle to arrest these sick-making criminals in their tracks, shows a deep lack of health in the body politic. It is far from the body politic which produced the first american revolution in Mass. of which Raphael writes so well.
How to return a vigorous health into the body politic so it may arrest this decay towards tyrrany in itself?
Of course the body politic today is as deeply hetrogenous in every way as it was homogenous in 1774 Mass. In the face of this new demographic, how to galvanize mass interest in human rights law?
Do you really believe, asking for donations to organize protests, and what you do, is the correct use of collective resources? Would it not be better if you started serious anti-torture/war/lawlessness, for rule of law, door to door campaigns, that put ALL YOUR SUPPORTERS face to face with fellow citizens to talk about the lawlessness that RULES THE NATION? Should not that be how pooled resources are better spent? Developing campaign literature and everyone working in their neighbourhood of choice, in the local orgnizational structures, neighbourhood organizations, religious institutions, schools and university campuses, with their local politicians? A true grassroots mobilization for the rule of law? I am wondering along with you. I have no doubt we are all pondering our effectiveness and wondering how to tip the scales so indeed, we establish in the world, the vigourousness of the best in American democarcy its institutions, and its historical roots.
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