October 2, 2005
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SUNDAY GOOD NEWSWell, after searching the web for over an hour I swear to god, I was not able to locate a photo of my American hero for today, Judge Alvin Hellerstein of the Southern District Court of New York, so I’m just posting a lovely one of Abu Ghraib itself with the sun setting in the background. That is just how the Bush administration would like us to remember the place, while forgetting the photographs of tortured prisoners we saw months ago, and the little spanking given Private Lynndie England, who essentially took all the heat for the Big Boys above her in command. For those who care to disturb their morning cuppa with a reminder, click here. Anyway…lo and behold the Center for Constitutional Rights together with the American Civil Liberties Union, Physicians for Human Rights, Veterans for Common Sense, and Veterans for Peace have not forgotten and under the Freedom of Information Act they charged the Department of Defense and other government agencies with illegally withholding evidence from the public records concerning the abuse of detainees in American military custody. Last Thursday, my hero, Judge Hellerstein, ruled that the Department of Defense must release hundreds of new photos and video of abuse at Abu Ghraib. The right was not pleased. On Bill O’Reilly’s sneerfest the same day Fox News military analyst Col. David Hunt called for Judge Hellerstein to be “drawn and quartered.” Judge Hellerstein, by the way, is a Columbia Law School-educated Clinton appointee as of 1998. He is now 72 and feisty. I have a feeling it won’t be much longer before his photo appears on the web and possibly even in the news as we decide as a nation where we stand on the very un-Sunday-like subject of human torture.
Deep Thought: “If you ever discover that what you’re seeing is a play within a play, just slow down, take a deep breath, and hold on for the ride of your life.”
Today I am grateful for: Absolution
Guess the Movie: “ Is that what your little note says? It must be hard living your life off a couple of scraps of paper. You mix your laundry list with your grocery list you’ll end up eating your underwear for breakfast.” Answer: Memento, 2000.
Winner: Eliminate_the_Impossible.
US Judge Orders Release of Iraq Abuse Pictures
by Geneviève Roberts
Dozens more pictures of prisoner abuse by American troops in Abu Ghraib will be released after an order by a federal judge in New York yesterday.
District Judge Alvin Hellerstein rejected government arguments that the images would provoke terrorists and incite violence against troops in Iraq. (Rest of article here.)
Comments (12)
wonderful post! Thanks for sharing this info. I love”Sneefest” so apt.
p.s. your deep thought is perfect :>)
I hope you ladies have fun I just came off working an eleven day stretch so will pass this time but as soon as I get rested will join you again. Judi
Memento is the movie, one of my favorites.
Memento – you remembered!
I was “touched” by the photo. It reminds me of some of the gorgeous photos of mushroom clouds in the Pacific when they lit off The Bomb. Odd how the gruesome can be beautiful–good post!
ditto. great post. It does an ironic dance with your “I am grateful for…”
it is really sad that the people in the upper eschalons walk and the people who followed their orders go to prison. it doesn’t justify the behaviors on any level, but where’s the responsibility?
Great post.
An ugly truth that needs to be dealt with.
An ugly truth that needs to be dealt with.
yes they are all quite good at trying to sweep things under the rug…
Seems like some months there is more under the rug than
in the garbage…and the head is turned once again
I always felt like I was the only one in the world who even watched
Memento
I was slated as oh yea…she likes that wierd movie no one gets
Yea…I feel quite normal…thanks for someinteresting facts this evening