nspire---I agree wholeheartedly---we owe this to posterity or we will go down in history as cowards and collaborators in the hijacking of ours and future generations' future. How much clearer does it have to get? When will the American people wake up from their collective trance?

The fix is in.

So much for our open and free society.

Fucked.

Obviously the courts in Pakistan are far more honest than our own Bush Crime Family controlled men in black dresses. Without the Rule of Law we have no country, anarchy reigns.

Judge Kennedy must be hoping for advancement to a higher court.

Is anyone here surprised?

If this type of thing happened in another country there would be howling about "totalitarianism" in the corporate media.

Of course not.

And if they did, they'd issue the same ruling other courts have. They'll say 'national security' means they can't go in and look.

Another check and balance down the drain. The courts were supposed to be an independent check on the executive. Now they just defer everything to whatever the executive branch says.

What gives? This administration has been able to violate every possible law and come out unscathed. Am I living in a nightmare?

Yes

"A federal judge (Henry Kennedy) refused on Wednesday to delve into the destruction of CIA interrogation videos, saying there was no evidence the Bush administration violated a court order and the Justice Department deserved time to conduct its own investigation."

Would this by chance be the same "Judge Henry Kennedy" that needed to be persuaded by US Magistrate Judge John Facciola to issue a court order in the White House case of the "millions of missing emails"?

"According to Pete Yost's article from the Asscoiated Press, regarding the 'millions of missing emails': "The Bush administration had offered to have the government file a sworn declaration stating that the White House is safeguarding all backup materials. Instead, Facciola recommended that the judge in the case, Henry Kennedy, issue a court order because "a declaration is not punishable by contempt. In other words, without such an order, destruction of the backup media would be without consequence." Kennedy did as Facciola suggested."

There has been a gradual packing of the US federal courts with reactionaries starting when Reagan was in office. We can expect no justice from them.

And this is supposedly an OPEN democracy? The PEOPLE's government??? Gimme a break, BushCo and ClintonCorp are King. Get back to your primetime TV trance, sheeple, there was nothing to see on those tapes your tax dollars paid for.

Spineless, gutless, hopeless

Maybe he was threatened...

The antidote for injustice is direct democracy.

We can still vote with our pocketbooks, voice, art and other creative works, and feet at least.

Children Children Children today we live in bushes America. This is not the America of our founding father or World War II heroes.

In bushes America republican control (working entirely from greed, hate, fear, and most recently terror) the country has become controlled by war profiteers, rightwing hate advocates, billionaires investing overseas; while labor unions have been destroyed; resulting in almost but not quite a third world country. Which has always been the republicans goal.

Since nearly all the judges have been appointment by republicans for the last thirty years today's court system cares nothing about justice. It's primary objective is to protect the greedy hate mongers that put them in charge. This has been proven time and time again; anyone remember the 2000 election…

It is good to see a bit of freedom still exists on the internet, because it is becoming extinct faster than gold is rising or the dollar is plunging everywhere else in bushes America.

What do you expect from fascist, right-wing Republicans who stack the courts with fascist, right-wing judges? This country is a banana republic now, a joke.

What rules and assumptions are operating around the average person in a real world court of law? The investigation of facts is ruled over by a very stern view of "human nature" and by an infinity of cases before you in which people claimed to have done no wrong, were proved to have done it, and are exposed as the most amazing liars for the sake of their own skin. Suddenly we mustn't assume that there was anything 'wrong' about the CIA tapes that just seemed to call for their own hum-drum destruction. People who do not like the light of day know when the first little bit of light is leaking in, and how bad it makes them look, indefensibly bad. Suddenly with a well-known ol' buddy of W's, Mukasey, we're in the best of all possible worlds.

CIA to Judge Kennedy, "Would you like a little demonstration of waterboarding?"

"Ah,n..n..n....no thanks".

"Didn't think so"

American's continual error is not seeing how much better it is in Pakistan, where at least the people are in some direct relationship to the reality around themselves, regardless of the obvious abuses, they have little expectation of anything else.

From what I understand of abusive families, a once violent perpetrator's continued presence (hidden and secret w/o consequences or confrontation), over many years, has a far greater impact on the children's sanity. Why? The violent acts are less destructive than the self-punishments and warped minds imposed by the children who cannot help but feel responsible for "creating" the violence and de-humanization against themselves.

This is the outrage and reprehensible behavior of our gov't, and future generations will have much to ask their "parents" about to understand how this ever happened.

Without confrontation, we are neglecting our children's future from the possible and quite likely warped balance and lack of sanity, and then their blaming themselves (as we do in part) for creating this mess.

The shame and blame only exist because of the secrecy and suppression of our feelings.

We all need to wake up, and speak our voices to those that will listen, and to forgive ourselves from being the victim who blames themselves

This is but the tip of the iceberg. If any of you are following the Sibel Edmonds case against this administration and congress, then you are fully aware of the bulls^&t going on behind closed doors. We are being hosed and used by Israel. Christ, our own attorney general is an Israeli citizen (Mukasey). Homeland Security is run by an Israeli citizen (Chertoff). Get real; America is dead and finished. Nice run. Here's the link that the MSM refuses to run.

http://www.chris-floyd.com/Articles/Articles/The_Bomb_in_the_Shadows%3A_Proliferation%2C_Corruption_and_the_Way_of_the_World/

Yes nspire; beautifully said!

The German people made mistakes, but they never intended to put a psychopath in power who would just as easily have murdered them (and in ways, psychologically and emotionally, did).

Tomorrow?

I take comfort in knowing there is still "Divine Justice" and no one can take that away from anyone.

"Attorney General Michael Mukasey recently appointed a prosecutor to conduct a criminal investigation into destruction of the tapes. John Durham, a career public corruption and organized crime prosecutor, has a reputation for being independent."

I am utterly stunned that you people have no faith in Mr. Mukasey and the oh so reputably independent Mr. Durham.

The liberties of a people never were, nor ever will be, secure, when the transactions of their rulers may be concealed from them. - Patrick Henry

Government ought to be all outside and no inside.... Everybody knows that corruption thrives in secret places, and avoids public places, and we believe it a fair presumption that secrecy means impropriety. - Woodrow Wilson

Secrecy is for losers.... It is time to dismantle government secrecy, this most persuasive of Cold War-era regulations. It is time to begin building the supports for the era of openness that is already upon us. - Senator Patrick Moynihan

..."There is no reason to disregard the Department of Justice's assurances," Kennedy said...

ah ha ...

direct democracy is the direct road to the worst kind of tyranny. It has been historically in the ancient Greek city state of Athens and it was in Germany when the Nazis took over, with Germany having a direct vote in 1934 on giving the Nazis all the power as long they wanted it. Nor should we be self righteous, as after the 9/ll attacks had we had direct democracy, we right away a full consolidated fascist banana republic as people were ready to let W and his gang do just what they wanted.

"The decision ...was a victory for the Bush administration, which had urged the courts not to wade into a politically charged issue..."

It wasn't much of a problem in 2000 for the court to "wade in" on a political issue, was it?

Why don't they just be gentlemen about it about and announce the obvious: Bush & Co is untouchable -- being the chief western henchman for the wealthiest bankers and/or dynastic oil families in the northern hemisphere?

It'll save us some time and money, and they can back to hosing us as usual.

PAUL B -- Yes, they're untouchable and teflon coated - while the illusion of democracy is maintained - so they can pick the appropriate hoses to use on us.

Yes, us critters are getting quite antsy, and don't have much time nor money left, for unless distractions.

The dumber of the beast masters, may have even forgotten that they're riding a very powerful tiger, as it's almost asleep today.

Americans awakened in widespread acknowledgment of the illusion having cracked open, - that democracy has been stolen by thieves in the darkness - would unleash an unmitigated torrent of emotion and reaction.

This innately ferocious tiger would once again be free (no longer rideable), especially if as you amused, they stupidly taunted it awake through their hubris arrogance and greed.

The cost of running sacred or just being chewed up, is exactly why beast masters spend billion$ to lull the tiger and feed it bu$h!t.

We can hope that they get too greedy to continue making the needed payments.

Business as usual. (I mean that literally - the US is the capital of capitalism.)

You would think that investigations by the Justice Department, CIA and Congress wouldn't go anywhere since these entities are part and parcel of the same corrupt regime.

You probably also thought that a federal judge would get the truth out. But you forgot that W has already stacked the judiciary with Republican judges. You sure have got a short memory and a diminished attention span.

AD said:

"direct democracy is the direct road to the worst kind of tyranny."

Tell that to the Swiss whose direct democratic Canton System with no professional politicians and government by public referendum has given them the highest per capita income in the world despite having few natural resources. Direct democracy has given the Swiss no wars in over 150 years although surrounded by warring nations, no boom and bust economy, universal healthcare, free education, no War on Drugs and no drug problems, few immigration problems and a healthy environment.

Emerging direct democracies in the past like in Athens and Nazi Germany have been sabotaged by conservatives and their oligarchy. Politicians, plutocrats, theocrats, commissars, reactionaries, authoritarians and other dictators hate them because these take away some of the power and wealth they've stolen from the public. Check out http://nationalinitiative.us/ for more info on direct democracy.

Actually the only problem with direct democracy is that it would deprive us of entertainment watching Big Media's rigged "race".

_ M $ M __ 1 0 1 _

(i)_ The "free" air waves are stolen from all American's,

(ii)_ then rented to M$M for their extreme profits, with little if any benefit to Americans (as promised, used to have equal access)

(iii)_ The wanna be political leaders must use TV campaign through the services of M$M to be electable, so they must be both millionaires and constantly grubbing for contributions.

(iv)_ M$M then uses the humongous profits from political campaigns to centralize their power even more, through FCC continuing deregulation

(v.)_ M$M then turns around and bribes (PAC contributions) those same winning politicians for supporting their excoriation of the FCC, and contrivance of the appearance of news.

(vi)_ The Americans are told what to think, especially that the media is independent, if not even too far to the left, when totally reversed from reality.

(vii)_ American idol Alfred E. Newman says ¿ What me Worry ?

(viii)_ Britteny has another mini-Britteny, who soon will have her own …

(ix)_ the tiger sleeps soundly

(x)_ the tiger is awakened and is hungry

I'm shocked, SHOCKED that a Vichy judge would take a dive for the 'Vichy American' government which is itself only a facade for the global corporatist Empire hidden in plain sight in the back room of Rick's Cafe.

¿ does a vichy swim w/o knowing of the water of justice ?