Bush rebuffed a question today at a town-hall-style meeting in Nashville about a possible pardon for border agents Ramos and Compean....
"I know the prosecutor very well, Johnny Sutton. He's a dear friend of mine from Texas. He's a fair guy. He is an evenhanded guy and I can't imagine, well, you know....."
Yes, we do know. Another friend of George.... that's enough for The Decider.
While George found the 30-month jail sentence of Cheney's chief-of-staff "Scooter" Libby "excessive," he evidently doesn't find anything excessive about the 11 and 12-year federal prison sentences for the border agents who fired at a fleeing Mexican drug smuggler... trying to escape from his van loaded with illegal drugs.... who was given blanket immunity by U.S. Attorney Sutton, even a border pass, to testify against them.
The drug smuggler's still free and suing U. S. taxpayers for $5 million.
It was the border crashing smuggler's word against the agents, the prosecutor took the smuggler's word. There are other outrageous actions by George's dear-friend Johnny, but that fact alone shows how the deck was stacked against the agents.
When asked at this same forum about his stalled immigration-overhaul bill, "Bush Defends His Immigration Proposals," (WaPo) and dipped into his bottomless well of fear warning, without that legislation and with stricter enforcement of the border, "I can make you a prediction.... that pretty shortly people are going to be knocking on people's doors saying 'Man we're running out of workers.'"
Oh, perish the thought that we might have stricter border enforcement.... thereby going against Gonzo's Justice Department's policy of ignoring the rule of law.... then employers might have to pay U.S. citizens a living wage to do a job.
The Decider also defended his failed Iraq policy, and tried once again to link the current Islamic militants in Iraq with those who planned 9/11.... the big "boo!"
But, he can no longer emotionally stampede his propaganda-weary audience.
As the woman who asked about the pardon for the border agents informed The Decider.... the Tennessee General Assembly has passed a resolution asking for such a pardon.
Showing posts with label border agents. Show all posts
Showing posts with label border agents. Show all posts
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Ill Winds....
When a country "legalizes" and codifies the use of torture, the rule-of-law flies out the window along with a country's moral bearings.
We have Attorney General Gonzales to thank for this abomination, he wrote the torture guidelines memo for The Decider.
Because of these expanded-use of torture guidelines, confessions can reasonably be denied, as in the case of an al-Qaeda "Detainee Alleges Abuse in CIA Prison."
Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, who was in CIA custody for more than four years, alleged before a military tribunal on March 14 that his American captors tortured him into making false confessions about terrorist attacks in the Middle East.
Because of these expanded-use of torture guidelines, confessions can reasonably be denied, as in the case of an al-Qaeda "Detainee Alleges Abuse in CIA Prison."
Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, who was in CIA custody for more than four years, alleged before a military tribunal on March 14 that his American captors tortured him into making false confessions about terrorist attacks in the Middle East.
The torture of detainees, aside from being despicable morally, not only makes such confessions suspect, it opens the door for similar harsh treatment of our, and our allies, captured soldiers.
The "confessions" of the 15 British sailors currently being held by Iran is a sad case in point. The confessions are not believable, but the worry is, how were they obtained. And, will they be used against them in a show trial.
In the continuing standoff, Iran is turning up the heat after initially promising to release the lone female captive and then reneging on that promise.... "Iranian Official: Sailors May Be Tried."
It is the agenda of President Bush that has brought us to this tit-for-tat pass .... by using the law as a political tool. Attorney General Gonzales is the instrument this administration uses to pervert the law and moral conduct to fit their agenda..... and, it's more than just the torture memo.
Just ask the 8 U.S. Attorneys who were fired for political reasons, many during investigations of which the White House disapproved.
Just ask the two border patrol agents who are facing long prison terms for going after a drug smuggler while that drug smuggler not only received the protection of our law, but goes free.
Bush's Attorney General excuses lawbreaking, drug-pushing and violent Latino illegal immigrant gangs as "individuals who have run into a spell of tough luck." (CNN)
It is the agenda of President Bush that has brought us to this tit-for-tat pass .... by using the law as a political tool. Attorney General Gonzales is the instrument this administration uses to pervert the law and moral conduct to fit their agenda..... and, it's more than just the torture memo.
Just ask the 8 U.S. Attorneys who were fired for political reasons, many during investigations of which the White House disapproved.
Just ask the two border patrol agents who are facing long prison terms for going after a drug smuggler while that drug smuggler not only received the protection of our law, but goes free.
Bush's Attorney General excuses lawbreaking, drug-pushing and violent Latino illegal immigrant gangs as "individuals who have run into a spell of tough luck." (CNN)
Actually, is our country's legal system and moral code that have run into a spell of tough luck.... a fetid gale of corruption that blew in with the Bush administration and lay waste to our moral authority. The world will reap the whirlwind.
Thursday, February 08, 2007
A Travesty of Justice
Border agents arresting and detaining drug smugglers and illegal aliens, many of whom end up serving prison time, are no different than other officers of the law. Placing them in prison with the type of criminals they have apprehended is life threatening.
That is just one reason why it is outrageous that two border agents, Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean, were each given over a decade prison sentence for trying to apprehend a drug smuggler who was trying to elude them in a van loaded with marijuana. Ramos has already been attacked and beaten in his Mississippi prison.
Yes, the agents lied about shooting at and hitting the smuggler in the buttocks. In the heat of the chase they were trying to guard the border.... doing their job. They tried to avoid the paperwork surrounding such a shooting, so they let it go. And that has cost them dearly. Too dearly. The drug smuggler was given immunity to testify against them, and after a later apprehension for smuggling an even larger amount of drugs across the border, was again given immunity.
Rep. John Culberson (D-TX) said Ramos and Compean "may not have followed proper procedures following the shooting, which at most should have resulted in their suspension from the force, but not criminal procedure." (WaPo)
So, just who is this zealous U.S. prosecutor.... Johnny Sutton. Sutton was then-Texas-governor George W. Bush's Criminal Justice Policy Director from 1995-2000 advising Bush on all criminal justice issues.
Bush has been implored by many in his own party to grant pardons, but has claimed he didn't know enough about the case and has thus far refused pardons. If you believe that, there is a brick from our border fence I want to sell you.
This is Bush's so-called justice, blindfold firmly in place. It was his boy who ran the agents to ground and made sure they are facing stiff prison time.
Bush seems determined to keep our borders open even if it leads to aiding and abetting drug smugglers and terrorists.... part of his perverted vision for a North American Union. Justice be damned.
That is just one reason why it is outrageous that two border agents, Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean, were each given over a decade prison sentence for trying to apprehend a drug smuggler who was trying to elude them in a van loaded with marijuana. Ramos has already been attacked and beaten in his Mississippi prison.
Yes, the agents lied about shooting at and hitting the smuggler in the buttocks. In the heat of the chase they were trying to guard the border.... doing their job. They tried to avoid the paperwork surrounding such a shooting, so they let it go. And that has cost them dearly. Too dearly. The drug smuggler was given immunity to testify against them, and after a later apprehension for smuggling an even larger amount of drugs across the border, was again given immunity.
Rep. John Culberson (D-TX) said Ramos and Compean "may not have followed proper procedures following the shooting, which at most should have resulted in their suspension from the force, but not criminal procedure." (WaPo)
So, just who is this zealous U.S. prosecutor.... Johnny Sutton. Sutton was then-Texas-governor George W. Bush's Criminal Justice Policy Director from 1995-2000 advising Bush on all criminal justice issues.
Bush has been implored by many in his own party to grant pardons, but has claimed he didn't know enough about the case and has thus far refused pardons. If you believe that, there is a brick from our border fence I want to sell you.
This is Bush's so-called justice, blindfold firmly in place. It was his boy who ran the agents to ground and made sure they are facing stiff prison time.
Bush seems determined to keep our borders open even if it leads to aiding and abetting drug smugglers and terrorists.... part of his perverted vision for a North American Union. Justice be damned.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)