My Irony Meter Exploded Again...

And I had just replaced it after the last time...

Via Randy Paul at Beautiful Horizons comes this White House Press Release:

"President's Statement on United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture

On United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, the United States reaffirms its commitment to the worldwide elimination of torture. Freedom from torture is an inalienable human right, and we are committed to building a world where human rights are respected and protected by the rule of law."

So are we to infer that Alberto Gonzales and Donald Rumsfeld will be stepping down, and that General Ricardo Sanchez won't be getting that fourth star? Will all those prison ships return to their home ports? Will we stop sending anyone besides embassy officials and Peace Corps volunteers to Uzbekistan? Will our soldiers never again beat a taxi driver to death even though they know he's innocent? Will officials of my government never again give advice on how best to evade our laws against torture? And will those who are responsible for all these things finally be held accountable? Somehow, I don't think so.

(Cross-posted at The Poor Man. Heh heh heh.)

Comments

[Jackmormon]

Ah, the many who do not read blogs.

[Jeremy Osner]

Aw don't be so pessimistic Hilzoy. Could happen... perhaps Mr. Bush has seen the light and this is the dawn of a glorious new day for humankind...

[Francis/Brother Rail Gun of Reasoned Discourse]

Prof. H:

Irony meters are so expensive that I've installed the All-New, One-Of-A-Kind, BRORD-Approved Irony Fuse!

{drum roll, please.}

[wait for it!]

. . . . Barrel-Aged Jamaican Rum!

works every time.

cheers.

[DaveL]

The worst of it is that they really do seem to believe their own BS. Or maybe they've just gotten to the point where "truth" isn't one of the concepts that interests them. Either way, ugly.

[architect66]

Prison ships! What a fantastic idea!

http://www.jerseyusa.net/prison1

The thought turns my stomach...

[Anarch]

Peripherally related, Arthur Silber may be closing his doors for the last time. I encourage everyone here to support him if they can.

[liberal japonicus]

Prison ships! What a fantastic idea!

Don't forget the Noyades of Nantes

(a link in French)

[hilzoy]

Anarch: thanks.

[Nell]

On June 2, a judge ordered the Defense Dept. to release the Abu Ghraib videos to the ACLU within a month. Unless there is some appeal (which I can't find any reference to), that release will probably happen late today or over the weekend. A cloud on Independence Day celebrations.

On the upside, more in keeping with our aspirations and ideals, Liz Holtzman (the former Congresswoman and NY DA) was on Democracy Now today, and managed to make me optimistic about the possibility that there will one day be accountability. She's focused on a federal law that could be used to try Bush, Rumsfeld, Gonzales, and others down the chain of command. She has an article in the new Nation about this possible avenue for justice.

[am]

There has never been any evidence that the "United States" engages in torture.

The prison ship rumor has been denied, yet you report it as a fact. And detaining people is not torturing them anyway.

You enthusiam for crude anti-American propaganda leads one to conclude that Rove's recent comments were understated.

[liberal japonicus]

The prison ship rumor has been denied

Here it is

QUESTION: On the question of undeclared prisoners, or secret prisoners, you know, this keeps on up popping up, including by Mr. Novak today. Can you deny that such prisoners exist?

MR. MCCORMACK: Well, he made an allegation about prison ships and as I answered before, you know, he himself has said that these allegations are based on rumors. I told you that I have no information that would substantiate those rumors.

QUESTION: That means you have checked, yes? You have checked and asked if there's any information to substantiate?

MR. MCCORMACK: I did check, yes. Yes. I've not been made aware of any information that would substantiate those.

QUESTION: Can you -- sorry, but just -- because I think this is an important thing and I realize, you know, certain rumors are very hard to pin down and may be completely false, but rumors about whether or not the U.S. Government has secret prison ships ought to be ones that you guys can flatly deny because you have ships and you know what they're doing. So can you deny flatly that there are any such -- not to say that you personally have no information to substantiate it, but say, speaking on behalf of the U.S. State Department, no, we don't have any secret prison ships, this is false?

MR. MCCORMACK: I've said what I'm going to say on this matter.

QUESTION: Can you see if you can deny it? And, again, the reason I ask -- and it's, I think, a serious reason -- is that there are certain things, rumors that you can't knock down but, you know, the U.S. Government knows how many ships it has and what it's doing -- what they're doing if they're military ships and, therefore, it ought to be possible for somebody to deny it. And if it's a canard, one -- I would think it would be in the U.S. Government's interest to deny it.

MR. MCCORMACK: Again, if there is anything more to say on the matter I will share it with you. I've said what I'm going to say on the matter.

There was also this

Pentagon spokesman John Skinner denied the allegations by human rights groups, saying the department does not build detention facilities on warships and only Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo have such facilities.

I guess I just giving aid and comfort here, but I am strangely unconvinced.

[dutchmarbel]

am:

Washington has, for the first time, acknowledged to the United Nations that prisoners have been tortured at US detention centres in Guantanamo Bay, as well as Afghanistan and Iraq, a UN source said.

The acknowledgement was made in a report submitted to the UN Committee against Torture, said a member of the ten-person panel, speaking on on condition of anonymity.

'They are no longer trying to duck this and have respected their obligation to inform the UN,' the Committee member said.

[Jesurgislac]

I read am's comment. I drew breath to breathe fire. I read Dutchmarbel's and Liberal Japonicus's comments.

Beautiful. :-D

[matttbastard]

am's gettin' me all verklepmt here.

An honest-to-goodness stereotypical anonymous troll, just like the ones that frequent Drum's place.

ObWi is hitting the bigtime!
Congrats;)

[st]

also, note another telltale sign in am's comment - the quotations around the "United States", a relic of some exposure to hyperpatriot, minuteman-style theorizin', I would guess.

[Phil]

Someone might want to check am's IP address. There's a good chance he's smlook.

[Sulla]

Guessing you won’t find this t-shirt nearly as amusing as I did-

http://store.rushlimbaugh.com/product.asp?ProductID=433314

[Jesurgislac]

Seen it, Sulla. Why do you find it amusing?

[Sulla]

For the reaction it can invoke-

http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/eibessential/illustrating_absurdity/starbucks_lib.guest.html

it’s pure taunting, best to leave it alone.

[liberal japonicus]

Seen it, Sulla. Why do you find it amusing?

Actually, the whole line is pretty funny because it appears that the golf shirts (made by Ashworth Inc.) are apparently made in China.

MULTINATIONAL COMPANIES IN ASIA REACT DIFFERENTLY TOWARDS THE SARS OUTBREAK
-snip-
Ashworth Inc., for example, a golf sportswear company headquartered in Carlsbad, California, has announced that they are not sending their design team to Asia this year. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Randall Herrel said Ashworth employees would not be going to Asia until “the coast is clear.”

Hey, I guess those "blue babies" don't come cheap.

[Dianne]

Drat! I'd just gotten my irony meter repaired (it had exploded upon reading an article about how the "Freedom Tower", aka the new World Trade Center, is going to be a fortress like structure with no windows on the bottom floors--perhaps the name refers to the 1984 slogan not to any more common definition of the word "freedom") and now it's broken again. I'm getting the titanium-plated one next time.

[Paul]

For the reaction it can invoke-

No, no, no. Rush Limbaugh invokes Satan. His t-shirt evokes a reaction.

[Sulla]

Heh

[Jesurgislac]

Sulla: For the reaction it can [e]voke-

Ah. That would be why you kept linking to Senator Durbin's speech, then.

[Nell]

Update: Have just run across story I missed on June 19 that AbuG videos/photos will not be released until July 22. {note: link requires reg or bugmenot}

[hilzoy]

Nell: the DoD asked for the extension, but I have never seen any confirmation that they got it.