The StuSie

Politics raises its ugly head

Although I have been traditionally unconcerned by the stereotype of lawyers being opportunistic money-grubbing assholes, my recent bid to join their ranks has given me cause to address it. The first two months of school and the first battery of exams almost complete, I was beginning to feel that the label was undeserved. Then I learned about an impending visit of a Berkley law professor and realized that, at least in some cases, they're evil too.
It came to my attention when I found out yesterday that Professor John Yoo is scheduled to speak in the atrium atschool. The topic is "Presidential War Powers and the War on Terrorism." My naive Madisonian outlook led me to believe that this gentleman was coming to expound on the administration's atrocious overstepping of the legal limits of their power. As it turns out however, John Yoo is one of the world's biggest assholes. Not only is he at least partially responsible for the aforementioned overstepping, he's fuckin' proud of it.
In his former capacity with the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel, while working for Alberto Gonzales, Yoo was one of the chief authors of a series of internal legal memos known, now that they've been leaked, as the "torture memos."
These memos basically "advised the President that he had almost unfettered latitude in his prosecution of the war on terror. For many years, Yoo was a member of the Federalist Society, a fellowship of conservative intellectuals who view international law with skepticism, and September 11th offered an opportunity for him and others in the Administration to put their political ideas into practice."
They were the driving force behind the massive expansion a program known as "rendering," a covert operation that involves taking foreign as well as U.S. citizens that are considered to be politically questionable and secretly moving them to custody in a nation that "does not restrict methods of physical and psychological persuasion." Fucking Torture.
Almost 150 people have apparently disappeared in connection with this nice piece of policy since 2002. At least one has come forward and described being taken onboard a private plane to Syria, where he was beaten within an inch of his life every day for several months.
And this is all part of the plan for our distinguished speaker. I guess that's one of the dangers of going to school somewhere that has a federalist society. We have lots of other folks to mind you, who plan to show up to greet Mr. Yoo and let him know that he is not welcome here.
For more information on rendering and the charming Yoo, check out the following link. For the top 50 worst hairstyles of all time, which is much funnier, click the second one. Peace.

The New Yorker "Rendering" Article

50 Worst Hairstyles of All Time

posted by Der Staubsauger @ 22:59