Let’s do a thought experiment; you are at home and there is a knock at the door. You open it and there is a police detective there. He wants to question you about a murder from thirty-one years ago. You know you never murdered anyone, so you consent. Then the detective tells you that your DNA was matched to a sample from the crime scene, would you be worried? You should be.

Originally posted at Squarestate.net

The little scenario is exactly what happened to John Puckett. Michael Bobelian has a story in Washington Monthly with the details. In 1972 a nurse by the name of Diana Sylvester was sexually assaulted and murdered. There was an eyewitness who gave a very general description but the case never really went anywhere and relegated to cold case status.

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Happy Monday and welcome to the Dog’s letter writing campaign for torture accountability. This series is a small attempt to assure the issue of accountability under the law for the apparent Bush administration torture program is not forgotten by those responsible for the investigation and prosecution of such acts. The way this series works is as follows; every Monday the Dog writes a letter to one of the decision makers involved and send copies to the rest. You get involved by either cutting and pasting the letter over your own signature or buy using it as inspiration for your own letter. The Dog even provides the e-mail links and where we are writing members of Congress who use filter the way to get past the filters.

Originally posted at Squarestate.net

This week we will be writing the Attorney General (the fact is he is the sole person who can start and follow through with investigations) with copies to the President, Speaker of the House Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Reid, Judiciary Chairs Leahy and Conyers and Rep. Jerry Nadler of the House Judiciary Committee.

This week’s letter:

Dear Attorney General Holder;

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By David Swanson

Most city council members take oaths to defend the Constitution. The Constitution makes the rights and standards in its amendments and in international treaties the supreme law of the land. Our nation has a rich tradition of local governments lobbying state and national governments through the passage of resolutions. Under Clause 3, Rule XII, Section 819, of the Rules of the U.S. House of Representatives local governments may petition Congress. Under the First Amendment, we all can.

Just in recent years, on issues of peace and justice, hundreds of cities have passed resolutions in favor of peace, diplomacy, restraint from launching wars, and the cessation of wars in Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan, including 287 cities, 4 counties, and 17 states on Iraq alone. Through this and many other means, we have thus far prevented an attack on Iran, and we've won over a majority of the country to support ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan -- which we will eventually end if we keep up the struggle.

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Memo: Attach Bush to torture = make them defend both.

Though Morning Joe doesn't say Bush's name, I think we should, and Democrats will use this to pursue justice and Destroy the GOP. I consider it a great instance of killing two birds with one stone.



Republicans will say this will damage the President's popularity in polls, they will justify and lie and say anything to avoid owning this issue, but the fact is that the law was broken, and I believe this is the beginning of a well timed plan to get the ball rolling now, and then use it against the GOP for maximum effect.

More below the fold, and a call to action . . .

Q: Is sleep deprivation legal or covered under the Geneva Conventions?

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So now we have vented, we were appalled at the evil of the Bybee memo and the other memos justifying state sponsored torture of prisoners. Here on the internet our outrage has flared and been shared. This is an important aspect as we must make it clear how seriously the people of the Untied States take this issue, but now it is time to pull back a little. Now it might sound funny for the Dog to be saying this especially after the letter he wrote to the President yesterday, but let the old hound explain a little and you will see where he is going.

Cross posted at Square State

One of the Dog’s primary focuses has been to get an independent investigation of the Bush administrations apparent state sponsored torture program going. While some are calling for immediate prosecution, the Dog has not for a couple of reasons. The first reason being this is a rule of law issue and if we are to demand the rule of law then we must, with the strictest of care for all the procedure follow the rule of law. To do otherwise is to make a sham of the entire idea of rule of law and due process.

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