It has now come to light that the detainee abuse in Guantanamo Bay, Iraq and Afghanistan started when the Bush administration ordered our interrogators to use a document called: "Communist Coercive Methods for Eliciting Individual Compliance."

This was a 1957 document that showed how the Chinese Communists tortured people -- in order to get false confessions! The only thing we changed was that we dropped the title of the document. Otherwise it is exactly the same. We have been using communist torture tactics that are designed to get false confessions. Meanwhile, The Bush administration has been calling it "enhanced interrogations" and saying we got "valuable intelligence" from it.

More details on the story here:




If you want to read the story of how we came to use this document for our own interrogations, you can click here. This is deplorable. Will anyone ever suffer the consequences for ordering this illegal torture? Will the press question John McCain on why he voted to allow the CIA to continue doing this? I wouldn't bank on it.

But if we do this, and no one ever gets punished for it, can we really say that America doesn't torture anymore?

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What conservatives don't understand is that America was not made in God's image. It was not born perfect. It is not and should not be immune to change. Challenging the government of America isn't un-American, it's the very definition of being American.

Through these challenges and these changes we continue to make America better and better. We are not the greatest country by birthright or accident of geography; we are the greatest because we hold ourselves to a higher standard.

So, when we do something as hideous as what I explain below, it is our duty as Americans to challenge our government and demand that they do better. We cannot allow them to do this in our name:




Here is the original 60 Minutes story on what we did to Murat Kurnaz. But his story is, unfortunately, not unique. We have done this to countless people at Bagram Air Base, Qaim, Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay. We are better than this. Don't let George Bush tell the rest of the world that this is what we are and what we stand for. We must defend the honor and good name of America, otherwise this is what we become.

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In honour of Guantanamo Bay's sixth birthday (Happy Birthday GB!!) I've found a documentary that I am sure will serve as educational and interesting. Also this post comes day a few ex-detainees failed to sue Rumsfeld.

Guantanamo Bay is an interesting place, it's been under control by the USA thanks to a old treaties dating back to the Spanish/American war, The USA pays Castro roughly $4,000 a year to lease Guantanamo bay. Castro however has never cashed a single check because America has broken the treaty in so many ways Cuba now calls America's use of Guantanamo Bay an "Occupation."

Below is the Trailer, to watch the full length Docudrama click here and for synopsis and links visit this Wikipedia page.

/More January Docs

Bill Maher wrapped up the season of Real Time with this New Rule for Jimmy Carter.

In his latest post, John Hinderaker of Power Line describes my positions as "ludicrous," "silly" and "ill-informed." Touche! Gratuitous insults always make a good case much better. Well done.

I used to be a Republican until George W. Bush, so I love all assumptions about my "liberal" nature. The straw man conservatives love to prop up is a peacenik, flower throwing and wearing, hippie who thinks the world's problems can be solved by loving their cat more.

It's a funny image, but I have never had anyone throw a flower at me (not even Iraqis when we invaded them) and in my five years of doing a "progressive" show, I have only heard from one socialist (and one anarchist). It's a nonsense caricature. Real liberals are perfectly mainstream Americans who think we should only invade countries that attack us, we should try to get everyone healthcare and increase the minimum wage a little. How radical!

I was a Republican who believed in Ronald Reagan's "Peace Through Strength." I believed a 70% tax bracket was out of control. I thought George H.W. Bush's New World Order was the best foreign policy initiative in nearly forty years. I even held pro-war rallies for the first Persian Gulf War.

But here's what separates me from what I call the "Remaining Republicans" – I believe in America. That might sound harsh, but let me explain.