There are some guys who “protest” outside our building nearly every morning. They’ve got a beef with the Canadian Consulate, which is a few floors down from us. These guys are horrible protesters. They stand around in day-glo vests, listening to music with earbuds in or talking to each other. When someone walks by, the protesters silently offer a flier that explains their grievance. These are some seriously low-energy, ineffective protesters.
All of which I offer as background so that you’ll understand why I’m pumped up for John Yoo’s speech today at noon at the Belo Mansion. Depending on where you sit, Yoo is either a) a patriot who, as a Bush administration lawyer, courageously fought in the war against terror or b) Dr. Waterboard. Some contend he committed war crimes in issuing memos on what our soldiers were allowed to do during interrogation. Last summer, the Department of Justice’s Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) concluded that Yoo committed “intentional professional misconduct” when he “knowingly failed to provide a thorough, objective, and candid interpretation of the law.” The OPR recommended a referal to the Pennsylvania Bar for disciplinary action, and Deputy Attorney General David Margolis let Yoo off the hook just last month. His Wikipedia page is fun to read.
Yoo has book out called Crisis and Command: The History of Presidential War Power from George Washington to George W. Bush. That’s what brings him to the Belo Mansion today. And I expect some protesters to greet him — some real protesters. I mean, like, I want to hear chanting. I want to see actual protest signs. Maybe even a fake waterboarding for the TV cameras.
Don’t disappoint me, people.
10 comments
Those vest wearing ipod listening protesters are nothing but paid temporary help employees.
I don’t know who “they” are protesting at the Crescent, but they have been out there for 3 weeks.
John Yoo deserves to be waterboarded. I’m thinking it would take him about 10 seconds to conclude that, well, maybe there ARE limits to what a president can do in wartime. Given the cowardice of the Justice Department, I just have to hope that Mr. Yoo is stupid enough to leave this country and take a chance that another country will allow him to walk free. He’s a war criminal, make no mistake.
The “temporary help employees” are really just ahem, “urban outdoorsmen” that hang out at The Bridge. I eat lunch sometimes at the Plaza of the America’s food court. The same crowd of homeless was doing a multi-year protest of some carpenters union for a long time. They would come in, sans-vest and hee haw about all the drinking they would be doing later on. Odd how the teamsters who sponsored many of the protests paid these guys cash and below minimum wage. Maybe the homeless should start their own local and demand better wages too!
Updates?
@Sarah: From where I sit, at the Press Box Grill, the protest is having little effect. But intern Sam walked by the Belo Mansion around 12:30 and reports that he saw six or seven older white people. One held a sign that said torture is illegal. Sam said they seemed nice and not that fired up. A bad day for democracy.
I can confirm that there were six or seven protestors, one of them in the ubiquitous orange jumpsuit and hood.
About the only disruptiveness was their chaperone standing in traffic to take a picture. I certainly did chuckle at the irony of her saying “Lift up your hood for the picture”…
I think we should take care of the terrorists who want to harm us. Give them welfare and a nice place to live. It’s just not right to hurt those people. They have rights too.
“he Department of Justice’s Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) concluded that Yoo committed “intentional professional misconduct” ”
you may want to change that as that OPR report has been demolished by Deputy Atty General Margolis
http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2010/02/01/doj-to-clear-torture-memo-authors-yoo-bybee-of-wrongdoing/
the process by which OPR conducted their investigation has also been slammed as being politically motivated and not following the procedures read here about that
http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=YjllMDAyOGE1MDhhZDk0Y2QwNDc2OTU0NGMzMWFlMGI=
as well as the letter that Mukasey and Filip wrote concerning what OPR did
Did Yoo explain why he deleted his emails?
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/02/former_doj-ers_doubtful_on_missing_yoo_emails_stor.php?ref=fpblg
The only thing more depressing than George W. (Jesus Is my favorite author) Bush’s legacy of normalizing torture as US policy, is the number of “patriots” that have no problem with violating US, International Law and basic Christian ethics. Spreading lies about the investigation is just small change.
WWJ Water-board?
Pathetic excuse for a President, for a Christian, and even a man.
What do OPR and global warming have in common?