• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • About Us
  • Lexicon
  • Contact Us
  • Our Store
  • ↑
  • ↓
  • ←
  • →

Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Let the trolls come, and then ignore them. that’s the worst thing you can do to a troll.

Text STOP to opt out of updates on war plans.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

At some point, the ability to learn is a factor of character, not IQ.

Oppose, oppose, oppose. do not congratulate. this is not business as usual.

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

How stupid are these people?

Washington Post Catch and Kill, not noticeably better than the Enquirer’s.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

“woke” is the new caravan.

After dobbs, women are no longer free.

Weird. Rome has an American Pope and America has a Russian President.

Balloon Juice, where there is always someone who will say you’re doing it wrong.

Hi god, it’s us. Thanks a heap, you’re having a great week and it’s only Thursday!

It is possible to do the right thing without the promise of a cookie.

When tyranny becomes law, rebellion becomes duty. ~Thomas Jefferson

Fundamental belief of white supremacy: white people are presumed innocent, minorities are presumed guilty.

It may be funny to you motherfucker, but it’s not funny to me.

Baby steps, because the Republican Party is full of angry babies.

The Giant Orange Man Baby is having a bad day.

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

Mobile Menu

  • 4 Directions VA 2025 Raffle
  • 2025 Activism
  • Donate with Venmo, Zelle & PayPal
  • Site Feedback
  • War in Ukraine
  • Submit Photos to On the Road
  • Politics
  • On The Road
  • Open Threads
  • Topics
  • Authors
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Lexicon
  • Our Store
  • Politics
  • Open Threads
  • 2025 Activism
  • Garden Chats
  • On The Road
  • Targeted Fundraising!
You are here: Home / Politics / Because They Can

Because They Can

by John Cole|  January 4, 20079:52 am| 83 Comments

This post is in: Politics, War on Terror aka GSAVE®, Outrage

FacebookTweetEmail

Read this piece on Jose Padilla. Key bits:

Inside the Bush administration, the question was what to do now. Top Justice Department officials warned that if the case went back to the Supreme Court, the administration would almost certainly lose. But according to knowledgeable sources, key players in the Defense Department and in Vice President Cheney’s office insisted that the power to detain Americans as enemy combatants had to be preserved. So the administration went back to the lower courts to defend Padilla’s detention. By now, though, all mention of a dirty bomb had been removed from the matter, with the government instead contending that Padilla had been part of a plot to blow up apartment houses.

***

The very conservative judge who had written the appeals court opinion upholding Padilla’s enemy combatant status, Judge Michael Luttig, exploded in written rage, refusing to transfer the case to the civilian courts. Luttig accused the Bush administration of a legal shell game that had the “appearance” of “avoiding review by the Supreme Court.”

***

The prosecution faces major problems in the trial. The defense has asked the judge to throw the entire case out, asserting that the government’s treatment of Padilla has been “so outrageous as to shock the conscience.”

According to court papers filed by Padilla’s lawyers, for the first two years of his confinement, Padilla was held in total isolation. He heard no voice except his interrogator’s. His 9-by-7 foot cell had nothing in it: no window even to the corridor, no clock or watch to orient him in time.

Padilla’s meals were delivered through a slot in the door. He was either in bright light for days on end or in total darkness. He had no mattress or pillow on his steel pallet; loud noises interrupted his attempts to sleep.

Sometimes it was very cold, sometimes hot. He had nothing to read or to look at. Even a mirror was taken away. When he was transported, he was blindfolded and his ears were covered with headphones to screen out all sound. In short, Padilla experienced total sensory deprivation.

During length interrogations, his lawyers allege, Padilla was forced to sit or stand for long periods in stress positions. They say he was hooded and threatened with death. The isolation was so extreme that, according to court papers, even military personnel at the prison expressed great concern about Padilla’s mental status.

The government maintains that whatever happened to Padilla during his detention is irrelevant, since no information obtained during that time is being used in the criminal case against him.

They tortured him until he was incompetent to stand trial, and then state it doesn’t matter because they aren’t going to sue any of the information they gleaned while torturing him against him. Not that there is anything to really charge him with, as the wiretapping also turned up no information.

Why?

Because they can. Because all they have to do is call him a threat, and then they can lock him up and do whatever the hell they want to him for years and years- because no one in the Republican party or in this administration gives two flying shits. There is a war on terror to fight and elections to win, so process, legal tradition, individual rights, and the Constitution be damned.

Citizenship doesn’t mean what it used to.

FacebookTweetEmail
Previous Post: « Christopher Hitchens, Terrorist
Next Post: All Your Mail Are Belong to U.S. »

Reader Interactions

83Comments

  1. 1.

    Bob In Pacifica

    January 4, 2007 at 10:06 am

    It’s respondiat superior.

    Georgy Bush is a psychopath. He tortured little animals as a child. He branded fraternity pledges. He is a sick man, who through his life of privilege, was moved step by step through an ascension to the most powerful position in the world without anyone seriously examining his constellation of psychological damage.

    What our secret police do they do at his behest.

    That’s how you get a sadist as President. He probably beats off watching the video of Saddam swinging in the air.

  2. 2.

    ThymeZone

    January 4, 2007 at 10:08 am

    He probably beats off watching the video of Saddam swinging in the air.

    While all too true, this must be nominated as Unfortunate Word Picture of the Day.

  3. 3.

    Mr Furious

    January 4, 2007 at 10:08 am

    Fucking outrageous. That would be fucking outrageous even if Padilla was actually caught red-handed or could reasonably be assumed guilty. but the fact that every aspect of this case has turned out to be complete bullshit and that Padilla is in all likelihood innocent of all the serious charges against him sends me through the roof.

    They have quite literally punished this U.S. citizen with a life sentence of mental illness and PTSD for polical gain and nothing else.

    What I wouldn’t give for Bush to experience the same treatment.

    There is no level of Hell harsh enough for these motherfuckers.

  4. 4.

    Edmund Dantes

    January 4, 2007 at 10:12 am

    It’s amazing though how something that profound and disturbing appears to be a throwaway two sentence paragraph. The implications of that small little paragraph are bone-chilling.

    If you want to talk impeachable offenses, there it is, but this goes beyond just the President. This goes to the nature of this country, and I’m frightened from what I see.

  5. 5.

    ThymeZone

    January 4, 2007 at 10:16 am

    White House spokesman Tony Snow said Wednesday that the president has not made a final decision.

    “The policy is not done. He is still talking to people. He’s going to be engaging in consultations,” said Snow amid speculation about the speech’s central focus. “You know what the theme is? Victory. Winning.”

    Bush wrote that he will be addressing the nation on a new Iraq strategy “in the days ahead” in an opinion column in the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday.

    This is the asshole who kept saying that a “timetable for withdrawal” gave too much information to “the enemy?” So now we are spending two weeks floating timetables and numbers out to the punditocracy and taking the temperature of the US population …. giving the distinct impression that Bush is looking for political cover.

    And this is what they are calling a “strategy?” A ten or fifteen percent bump in troop levels is a “new strategy?” Requiring two months of meetings and photo ops?

    At what point do we just give up on these amazingly inept assholes and just march on Washington? If the Dems don’t flay these shitheads, then the people should just rise up and run them out of town.

    Victory? Winning? They’re just fucking with us at this point. I think they’re laughing at us.

  6. 6.

    Pb

    January 4, 2007 at 10:16 am

    Excellent post, John. Of course, it has been a huge outrage, from the start, but I think the last line of that article really says it all (emphasis mine):

    Indeed, there are even some within the government who think it might be best if Padilla were declared incompetent and sent to a psychiatric prison facility. As one high-ranking official put it, “the objective of the government always has been to incapacitate this person.”

    They have no decency, and no shame.

  7. 7.

    Zifnab

    January 4, 2007 at 10:20 am

    That would be fucking outrageous even if Padilla was actually caught red-handed or could reasonably be assumed guilty. but the fact that every aspect of this case has turned out to be complete bullshit and that Padilla is in all likelihood innocent of all the serious charges against him sends me through the roof.

    I imagine he’d have been treated a fair site better had he actually committed a crime. But because he had nothing to actually confess, and the interogators weren’t supposed to stop beating him till they found something to charge him with, he got the extended treatment.

    Exhibit A: Jose Padilla – poster child for why torture doesn’t work.

  8. 8.

    Steve

    January 4, 2007 at 10:23 am

    And this is what they are calling a “strategy?” A ten or fifteen percent bump in troop levels is a “new strategy?” Requiring two months of meetings and photo ops?

    I wonder how many people saw this?

    Last night on NBC News, Jim Miklaszewski reported that the new strategy will be announced next Tuesday, and that an administration official “admitted to us today that this surge option is more of a political decision than a military one.”

    Just as with the Padilla case, it requires a lot of moral emptiness to be on the administration’s side on these issues. Then again, I’m not sure if you can have a lot of emptiness.

  9. 9.

    Krista

    January 4, 2007 at 10:29 am

    Disgusting. Absolutely disgusting. The hell with impeachment — that bastard should be in prison.

  10. 10.

    Zifnab

    January 4, 2007 at 10:32 am

    Citizenship doesn’t mean what it used to.

    That’s one other thing that really chaps my ass.

    You’ve got the right-wing punditocracy out back crying foul at the idea that non-US Citizens should be treated with the same rights and respects a US Citizen is expected to receive. The Bill of Rights shouldn’t apply to illegal immigrants. Suspected terrorists aren’t protected by the Geneva Conventions because they aren’t members of a qualified nation/government. Human rights violations don’t happen if they happen in designated countries or gulags.

    Nationalism, it’s the new racism. Being born in America suddenly means God loves you just a little bit more and taking jumper cables to your nipples isn’t as on the table as it used to be.

    Jose Padilla comes as a worse shock than Abu Garab because Padilla is American and that just makes him more super special. Gitmo wasn’t so bad because at least they weren’t US Citizens. What a load of shit. What a horrible country we’ve become.

  11. 11.

    Teak111

    January 4, 2007 at 10:52 am

    What kills me is some prosecutor representing the Fed is gonna get up in front of a jury and dodge and weave his way to convict this poor slob on trumped up criminal charges. What kinda of lawyer would do that? An ambitious one I guess.

  12. 12.

    Walker

    January 4, 2007 at 11:07 am

    What kills me is some prosecutor representing the Fed is gonna get up in front of a jury and dodge and weave his way to convict this poor slob on trumped up criminal charges

    Even money says this never goes to a jury. With all I have read there is no way he is mentally competent to stand trial.

  13. 13.

    Steve

    January 4, 2007 at 11:19 am

    There is virtually no chance Padilla ever goes to trial. The Feds would end up looking worse than the Duke prosecutor.

    By the way, isn’t it awesome how so many people that get all worked up over the Duke case could give two shits about Padilla? And I don’t mean because the Duke case has gotten more publicity, I mean for reasons of pure partisanship. If George Bush had thrown the Duke lacrosse team into Gitmo those same people would regard them as terrorists to this day.

  14. 14.

    Jake

    January 4, 2007 at 11:35 am

    Rather than echo what everyone else has said:

    …Judge Michael Luttig, exploded in written rage, refusing to transfer the case to the civilian courts. Luttig accused the Bush administration of a legal shell game that had the “appearance” of “avoiding review by the Supreme Court.”

    Irony du jour: Bush creates “Activist Judges.”

    The judicial branch is probably more pissed off that any Democratic legislator you care to name and has been for a long time. And at this level we’re talking about life-time tenure so they could give a fuck about what the public thinks. The Bush Admin’s approach to ruling: “Because we can” has made a pair of pincers out of Judicial and the Legislative branches of the government and guess whose nuts are clamped in between?

  15. 15.

    Ellison, Ellensburg, Ellers, and Lambchop

    January 4, 2007 at 11:41 am

    What kills me is some prosecutor representing the Fed is gonna get up in front of a jury and dodge and weave his way to convict this poor slob on trumped up criminal charges.

    Yeah, since when is it a crime to go to Al-Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan to train to kill Americans? When joining the enemy becomes a crime, haven’t the terrorists already won?

    Jose Padilla al-Muhajir is a hero! A hero, I tell you! Free him and Tookie!

  16. 16.

    Zifnab

    January 4, 2007 at 11:48 am

    Yeah, since when is it a crime to go to Al-Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan to train to kill Americans? When joining the enemy becomes a crime, haven’t the terrorists already won?

    That’s funny, cause I didn’t see “went to Afganistan to give bin Laden blowjobs” among the charges. But you’re right E3L. Padilla deserves to be tortured to insanity because of… something. Cause if allegedly going to Afganistan isn’t a crime, I just don’t feel safe anymore.

  17. 17.

    James F. Elliott

    January 4, 2007 at 11:49 am

    Yeah, since when is it a crime to go to Al-Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan to train to kill Americans? When joining the enemy becomes a crime, haven’t the terrorists already won?

    Too bad that wasn’t what he was accused of when he was originally detained and tortured, pal. How can you even stand there and with a straight face gloss over the simple fact that the government drove a man legally insane by torturing him and then turns around and claims that he’s too incompetent to testify as to his treatment?

    That you can is an indication of mental illness.

  18. 18.

    Gold Star for Robot Boy

    January 4, 2007 at 11:50 am

    Yeah, since when is it a crime to go to Al-Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan to train to kill Americans? When joining the enemy becomes a crime, haven’t the terrorists already won?

    So, no mention of the dirty bomb plot that wasn’t? Apparently, you’re cool with the government lying right to your face.

  19. 19.

    Zifnab

    January 4, 2007 at 11:59 am

    That you can is an indication of mental illness.

    Maybe he is (they are?) a victim of Stockholm Syndrome.

  20. 20.

    Ellison, Ellensburg, Ellers, and Lambchop

    January 4, 2007 at 12:04 pm

    Padilla deserves to be tortured to insanity because of… something.

    What he deserves is what every terrorist who trains to murder innocent civilians deserves — two to the brainpan. But alas, it’s not a perfect world. “Stress positions” is way too light for this waste of carbon.

  21. 21.

    Steve

    January 4, 2007 at 12:12 pm

    Of course, we “know” Padilla trained as a terrorist because the same government that lied about him being a dirty bomber tells us so.

    To these idiots, everything the government says is true, and when we elect a Democratic President again, everything the government says will be false. Better adversaries, please.

  22. 22.

    jh

    January 4, 2007 at 12:17 pm

    Yeah, since when is it a crime to go to Al-Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan to train to kill Americans? When joining the enemy becomes a crime, haven’t the terrorists already won?

    If it’s a crime, allow him to see the evidence against him and give him a speedy trial before a jury of his peers.

    As an American, he is entitled to that much due process you fancy, fascist f***head.

    What he deserves is what every terrorist who trains to murder innocent civilians deserves—two to the brainpan.

    Look everyone. Another armchair Jack Bauer who thinks America’s hard won principles are for sissies.

    E.E.E.L.,

    And you are certain of his guilt because of what again? . Here in America, we believe in things like ‘the rule of law’, ‘innocent until proven guilty’, and no ‘cruel and unusual punishments’.

    We even took the trouble to encode these principles into law.

  23. 23.

    Jonathan

    January 4, 2007 at 12:29 pm

    America now has no leg to stand on when American citizens are captured and tortured in other countries. All the other countries have to do is point at the treatment that America considers just and righteous for it’s own citizens.

    Indefinite detention without trial. OK
    Torture. OK
    Official lying about the above. OK

    Here’s the really sick part of all this.

    By Robert J. Barro

    The Political Power Of The Pew

    A new study shows how churchgoing affects voting preferences

    Church attendance is a powerful predictor of voting behavior in U.S. Presidential elections. Exit polls from the 2004 election show that, among voters for the two main candidates, 37% of those with zero church attendance voted for George W. Bush, vs. 61% for those who attended at least weekly.

    As you can see from above, it is the most devout Christians who most strongly support Bush and his merry band of torturers.

    The fundamentalist Christians are really and truly no better than fundamentalist Muslims. I’ve believed this for a long time and now we have undeniable proof.

    Matthew 7:

    1Judge not, that ye be not judged.

    2For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.

    3And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?

    These people may constantly read their Bibles but they have not the slightest clue what the words really mean.

    And people wonder why atheists think that many theists are self delusional freaks.

  24. 24.

    mrmobi

    January 4, 2007 at 12:34 pm

    I was over at TPM earlier and saw this, which I think is appropriate to this thread. Lambchop, I believe you are the “base” he refers to. You would probably have been very content in Stalin’s Russia. Why do you stay here if you don’t believe in democracy? There must be some country which welcomes sociopaths, no?

    Anyway, here it is.

    Rule of law isn’t some neat extra cool thing that democratic countries came up with because its nice and convenient, it’s like oxygen, entirely necessary. It’s what gives the entire process of justice something more than simple bloodletting.

    We see the consequences of a lack of respect for the rule of law in the savagery of Saddam’s execution, do we imagine that these thugs are any less savage to anybody else they deem “guilty” but is actually simple an innocent from the wrong tribe?

    The longer this thing goes on, the more clear it becomes that the current Iraqi government is the child of its Republican fathers in every meaningful way. Are we suppossed to imagine that a (Republican) government which is so clearly incompetent, dangerous, savage when it can get away with it, elevates political theater above actual results, and plays hard to its base somehow created a government that does the *same exact things* in Iraq (where those tendencies have even worse results) by *accident* or *coincidence*? No. The Iraqi government is as much an import from the US as the US solders sustaining it are.

    Emphasis mine. Lambchop, you and your ilk must be driven from power and made an unfortunate footnote in American history. Your murderous philosophy, shared by our President, is as un-American as it is immoral.

    I fart in your general direction.

  25. 25.

    AkaDad

    January 4, 2007 at 12:35 pm

    Krista Says:

    Disgusting. Absolutely disgusting. The hell with impeachment—that bastard should be in prison.

    This needed to be repeated.

  26. 26.

    Jonathan

    January 4, 2007 at 12:35 pm

    What he deserves is what every terrorist who trains to murder innocent civilians deserves—two to the brainpan. But alas, it’s not a perfect world. “Stress positions” is way too light for this waste of carbon.

    Anyone wanna bet that Lambchop considers itself a devout Christian?

  27. 27.

    Sojourner

    January 4, 2007 at 12:48 pm

    What he deserves is what every terrorist who trains to murder innocent civilians deserves—two to the brainpan. But alas, it’s not a perfect world. “Stress positions” is way too light for this waste of carbon.

    Yikes! I missed the trial. Can someone fill me in on when the Padilla trial happened and what he was convicted of?

  28. 28.

    Jake

    January 4, 2007 at 12:57 pm

    Yikes! I missed the trial. Can someone fill me in on when the Padilla trial happened and what he was convicted of?

    Oh pshaw! According to Madame Eeel, we don’t bother with that nancy pants stuff no more. All you have to do is say someone is a terrorist and voila! They are a terrorist. You see, terrorist is not a legal term any more, it is a majikal term. Apply it to anyone you like and you can screw them anyway you want!

  29. 29.

    Ellison, Ellensburg, Ellers, and Lambchop

    January 4, 2007 at 1:04 pm

    Is anyone here questioning that Padilla went to Al-Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan?

    Stand up and be counted. I want to see how ignorant/BDS you guys really are.

  30. 30.

    Sojourner

    January 4, 2007 at 1:05 pm

    Oh pshaw! According to Madame Eeel, we don’t bother with that nancy pants stuff no more. All you have to do is say someone is a terrorist and voila! They are a terrorist. You see, terrorist is not a legal term any more, it is a majikal term. Apply it to anyone you like and you can screw them anyway you want!

    Sad but true. That sound you hear is our forefathers spinning in their graves. Can’t you hear them saying “And we put our lives on the line to create a free country for these assholes?”

  31. 31.

    Sojourner

    January 4, 2007 at 1:07 pm

    Stand up and be counted. I want to see how ignorant/BDS you guys really are.

    Are you questioning our claim that Padilla never received the trial to which he is entitled as an AMERICAN CITIZEN?????????

  32. 32.

    SeesThroughIt

    January 4, 2007 at 1:07 pm

    Being born in America suddenly means God loves you just a little bit more

    For many people, it’s not “suddenly” at all–it has always been that way. I saw on some sitcom a wisecrack about how “America is where God actually pays attention.” It was meant to be a little joke; some people, unfortunately, take that idea very seriously. Even more unfortunately, those people are presently called the executive branch of the federal government.

    I didn’t think Lambchop was a troll when he/she/it first showed up. Now I’m not so sure.

  33. 33.

    RSA

    January 4, 2007 at 1:18 pm

    Is anyone here questioning that Padilla went to Al-Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan?

    ‘No!’ said the Queen. ‘First the sentence and then the evidence!’

  34. 34.

    Anne

    January 4, 2007 at 1:28 pm

    Innocent until proven guilty. So a solid no from me as well.

  35. 35.

    Jake

    January 4, 2007 at 1:32 pm

    Wait a minute. I thought the leftie demoncRAT tree huggers were supposed to be the communist scumbags. Eeel is confusing me!

  36. 36.

    Anne

    January 4, 2007 at 1:33 pm

    Wait a minute. I thought the leftie demoncRAT tree huggers were supposed to be the communist scumbags. Eeel EEEW is confusing me!

    Fixed

  37. 37.

    Ryan S.

    January 4, 2007 at 2:00 pm

    Is anyone here questioning that Padilla went to Al-Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan?

    No, but that is NOT illegal.

  38. 38.

    jh

    January 4, 2007 at 2:05 pm

    Is anyone here questioning that Padilla went to Al-Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan?

    No EEEL, we are questioning when Mr. Padilla will be put on trial and allowed to mount a defense against the charges against him.

    If the government has airtight evidence that Mr. Padilla has broken the law, it should be willing to submit to the judicial process that is afforded to ALL AMERICANS.

    If you don’t like all these pansy legal pressedures ‘n stuff, perhaps you would feel more comfortable living in Uzbekistan, Syria or any of the other nations that torture their own citizens absent any evidence or due process.

  39. 39.

    Jay C

    January 4, 2007 at 2:05 pm

    EEE&L:

    Yeah, since when is it a crime to go to Al-Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan to train to kill Americans? When joining the enemy becomes a crime, haven’t the terrorists already won?

    I realize that debating the troll is usually a waste of effort: but Lambchop: if YOU are so certain of Jose Padilla’s guilt (of something) why do you not think that a jury of twelve other Americans at least as intelligent as you (low bar, I know) wouldn’t be able to come to that same conclusion: during say, a trial: with credible evidence, testimony, witnesses, etc.??

    is anyone here questioning that Padilla went to Al-Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan?

    Stand up and be counted. I want to see how ignorant/BDS you guys really are.

    And speaking of ignorance: if you truly think that Jose Padilla’s actual actions (whatever they may have been) are what is really at issue here (as opposed to the wholesale shredding of US citzens’ rights by the Bush Administration on specious grounds) then you really need to go back and study the issue some more. Take your time. A LOT of it.

  40. 40.

    Pooh

    January 4, 2007 at 2:16 pm

    Jake Says:

    Rather than echo what everyone else has said:

    …Judge Michael Luttig, exploded in written rage, refusing to transfer the case to the civilian courts. Luttig accused the Bush administration of a legal shell game that had the “appearance” of “avoiding review by the Supreme Court.”

    Irony du jour: Bush creates “Activist Judges.”

    Luttig’s opinion is about as close as you or I are ever likely to see to a sitting judge saying “Fuck me? No, FUCK YOU!” in a court proceeding. If a judge wrote about me they way Luttig went after the DOJ, I’d cry.

  41. 41.

    TenguPhule

    January 4, 2007 at 2:56 pm

    No matter how many of his fellows the lamb is willing to give to the butcher, he never leaves the killing room floor.

  42. 42.

    Krista

    January 4, 2007 at 2:57 pm

    No EEEL, we are questioning when Mr. Padilla will be put on trial and allowed to mount a defense against the charges against him.

    If the government has airtight evidence that Mr. Padilla has broken the law, it should be willing to submit to the judicial process that is afforded to ALL AMERICANS.

    Exactly.

    If it were up to Lambchop et all, Richard Jewell would have met the same fate as Jose Padilla.

  43. 43.

    Zifnab

    January 4, 2007 at 3:01 pm

    Is anyone here questioning that Padilla went to Al-Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan?

    I think I speak for everybody here when I say…

    Link plz!

  44. 44.

    Krista

    January 4, 2007 at 3:17 pm

    Is anyone here questioning that Padilla went to Al-Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan?

    Are YOU advocating the denial of a vital constitutional right to an American citizen?

    EEEL – why do you hate the American Constitution?

  45. 45.

    Ellison, Ellensburg, Ellers, and Lambchop

    January 4, 2007 at 3:20 pm

    So most of you guys (the ones with at least a tenuous grip on reality) actually realize that Padilla is a traitor and a terrorist, but you’re too wrapped up your BDS to acknowledge that what terrorist/traitors should rightfully get is a nice, quiet execution — not a trial where their lawyers can whine that Poor Jose had a terrible childhood, so he’s not to blame (hey, it worked before!).

    Free Mumia Tookie Jose al-Muhajir the Gangbanger Terrorist!

    So even though he didn’t get his justly-deserved bullets to the base of the skull, you and Nina Totenberg (I’m stunned anyone employs that partisan hack, but it is NPR) still whine about his harsh treatment. Hey, anything to rail against the Real Enemy Bush, right?

    I’ve come to the conclusion that you’re just garden-variety fools. But that’s OK. All that matters is that it seems that this traitor has been incapacitated, and that’ll have to do for now. May all his terrorist allies suffer the same fate or much, much worse.

  46. 46.

    Zifnab

    January 4, 2007 at 3:26 pm

    Alright, we’ve had an explosion of about four different r-wingers on this site in less than 24-hours. I’m calling spoof.

  47. 47.

    Krista

    January 4, 2007 at 3:36 pm

    So most of you guys (the ones with at least a tenuous grip on reality) actually realize that Padilla is a traitor and a terrorist,

    What we realize is that he’s been accused of being a traitor and a terrorist. What we also realize is that he’s an American citizen. And, we realize that as an American citizen, he has a right to a trial to determine whether or not he is a traitor and a terrorist. He’s only been accused. He has not been tried. He has not been convicted.
    Is he innocent? Maybe, maybe not. We’ll likely never know, because instead of putting him on trial, your president preferred to have him tortured for two years, and now, he’s unable to stand trial due to being completely mentally fucked up from the ordeal.

    An American citizen was imprisoned and denied his constitutional right to a fair trial. Period.

    How can that not disturb you?

  48. 48.

    jh

    January 4, 2007 at 3:38 pm

    E.E.E.L,

    That’s some good trollspoofery. Yum.

  49. 49.

    Steve

    January 4, 2007 at 3:39 pm

    So most of you guys (the ones with at least a tenuous grip on reality) actually realize that Padilla is a traitor and a terrorist, but you’re too wrapped up your BDS to acknowledge that what terrorist/traitors should rightfully get is a nice, quiet execution—not a trial where their lawyers can whine that Poor Jose had a terrible childhood, so he’s not to blame (hey, it worked before!).

    Execution without trial.

    You seriously consider yourself an American?

  50. 50.

    Jake

    January 4, 2007 at 3:42 pm

    So, if someone utterly rejects the principles of their nation and supports the erosion of those principles, does that make him/her/it a traitor?

    Just wonderin’.

  51. 51.

    James F. Elliott

    January 4, 2007 at 3:45 pm

    So most of you guys (the ones with at least a tenuous grip on reality) actually realize that Padilla is a traitor and a terrorist, but you’re too wrapped up your BDS to acknowledge that what terrorist/traitors should rightfully get is a nice, quiet execution—not a trial where their lawyers can whine that Poor Jose had a terrible childhood, so he’s not to blame (hey, it worked before!).

    Because it needs to be said: Fanatic. You’re essentially advocating thoughtcrime. George Orwell is in his grave screaming “Off by 23 years, dammit!” Padilla is a terrorist only if you stretch the definition of “material aid” to the point where it is gossamer thin.

    So even though he didn’t get his justly-deserved bullets to the base of the skull, you and Nina Totenberg (I’m stunned anyone employs that partisan hack, but it is NPR) still whine about his harsh treatment. Hey, anything to rail against the Real Enemy Bush, right?

    I cannot begin to count the logical fallacies contained above. If they want to try and execute Padilla for thoughtcrime, well, I’m opposed to the death penalty and thoughtcrime legislation, so I’d still be against it. I’d be against it for another Timothy McVeigh, too. That’s called principle. But the key word there is try. Padilla hasn’t faced a court of law, as is his right as an American citizen. Even the aforementioned McVeigh had his day in court.

    I’ve come to the conclusion that you’re just garden-variety fools. But that’s OK. All that matters is that it seems that this traitor has been incapacitated, and that’ll have to do for now. May all his terrorist allies suffer the same fate or much, much worse.

    Are you 18? Did you go to high school and pass your civics class? This really shouldn’t be that hard: American citizen. Right to trial. No trial. Tortured until his mind breaks. Broken mind used as excuse for no trial and not discussing the torture. Seriously, dude, it’s not a difficult logic progression. I can even try to use smaller words if it helps.

  52. 52.

    Krista

    January 4, 2007 at 3:47 pm

    Jesus H. Christ – I’m a better American than THAT asshat.

  53. 53.

    James F. Elliott

    January 4, 2007 at 3:47 pm

    So, if someone utterly rejects the principles of their nation and supports the erosion of those principles, does that make him/her/it a traitor?

    E.E.E.&L: Why do you hate America? Your Crawford values are ruining America and causing moral entropy in our children.

  54. 54.

    James F. Elliott

    January 4, 2007 at 4:00 pm

    But that’s OK. All that matters is that it seems that this traitor has been incapacitated, and that’ll have to do for now.

    This just occurred to me: E.E.E.&L., you do realize that this is essentially a Soviet (in case you’re too young to remember that’s Stalinist/Leninist Marxism – i.e. totalitarian socialism, i.e. bad in conservative books) tactic you’re endorsing there: Driving people so insane in government-controlled institutional settings that they no longer pose a threat to the state.

    Why do you love Stalin, E.E.E.&L.?

  55. 55.

    Thomas

    January 4, 2007 at 4:10 pm

    EEEL, enjoy your freedoms while they last, man. When Hitlery is elected, your only friend is going to be Nina Totenberg, because she’s going to be piped into your isolation cell 24 hours a day.

  56. 56.

    TenguPhule

    January 4, 2007 at 4:24 pm

    All that matters is that it seems that this traitor has been incapacitated, and that’ll have to do for now.

    Shorter Lamb: The Constitution is for Pussies! Stalin had a good thing going and we should follow his fine example.

    I fear Godwin’s law will be observed any moment now.

  57. 57.

    James F. Elliott

    January 4, 2007 at 4:34 pm

    NAZIS!!!!

    Couldn’t resist.

  58. 58.

    Jake

    January 4, 2007 at 4:58 pm

    E.E.E.&L: Why do you hate America? Your Crawford values are ruining America and causing moral entropy in our children.

    So long as he doesn’t abort them or expose them to the homosektyooall lifestyle, it’s all good.

  59. 59.

    James F. Elliott

    January 4, 2007 at 5:07 pm

    Apropos to the thread, this from a Vanity Fair profile of John McCain, via Spencer Ackerman:

    One of McCain’s aides tells me that two years ago, campaigning with McCain, George W. Bush asked him if the senator would like to work out with him. Told that McCain did not, could not, really “work out,” Bush replied, “What do you mean?”

  60. 60.

    Tim in SF

    January 4, 2007 at 5:14 pm

    I wonder if the framers would agree that it would be better to let ten terrorists go than to put one innocent person through the Padilla gauntlet.

    I can’t believe there are actual Americans who believe other American citizens should be executed without a trial or otherwise denied due process. People with this mentality were the ones behind lynchings.

    I doubt this EEEL person is an American. Certainly EEEL does not respect what makes this country great.

  61. 61.

    Anne

    January 4, 2007 at 5:19 pm

    I declare shenanigans on EEEL. Do you accept this declaration of shenanigans?

  62. 62.

    James F. Elliott

    January 4, 2007 at 5:21 pm

    If by “shenanigans” you mean “I get to kidnap and torture him in the name of national security” then yes.

  63. 63.

    Detlef

    January 4, 2007 at 6:17 pm

    I doubt this EEEL person is an American. Certainly EEEL does not respect what makes this country great.

    Does that mean that everyone in the Bush administration isn´t an American citizen either?
    Just asking as a non-American. :)
    Because unfortunately some Americans seem to support this.

  64. 64.

    ThymeZone

    January 4, 2007 at 6:21 pm

    Does that mean that everyone in the Bush administration isn´t an American citizen either?

    Citizenhip is a legal status. Americanism is a set of ideas.

    No, the Bush Administration does not represent American ideas. It represents fear, greed for power, self justification, and bigotry. None of those are American ideals.

    Does that answer your phony question?

  65. 65.

    The Other Steve

    January 4, 2007 at 6:25 pm

    This is one of those cases where I support the Death Penalty.

    It’s just too bad Prosecutors rarely get convicted for incompetence.

  66. 66.

    Tim in SF

    January 4, 2007 at 6:28 pm

    WHAT CASE? There has BEEN no case because there has been no TRIAL!

  67. 67.

    Newport 9

    January 4, 2007 at 7:04 pm

    What he deserves is what every terrorist who trains to murder innocent civilians deserves—two to the brainpan.

    C’mon, folks, he named himself after an actual sockpuppet! And you’re trying to reason with him?

  68. 68.

    ThymeZone

    January 4, 2007 at 8:59 pm

    I support the death penalty here … for whoever decided to start locking people up and throwing away the key, without a trial.

    “Death” here mean “crotch infested with flesh-destroying mites for which there is no known remedy.”

  69. 69.

    Jessica

    January 4, 2007 at 11:02 pm

    What’s really illogical about “But he trained in Afghanistan! He doesn’t deserve a trial!” is that we have a very recent example of an American citizen who committed a terrorist act and killed over 200 people: Timothy McVeigh. He was granted a trial and executed, as I’m sure we all remember. If he can be given the right of due process, why can’t Padilla?

    The reason we have laws and a Constitution in this country is not to protect us against terrorists. It’s to protect us against the tyranny of our own government. Our founders deliberately structured the Constitution so that our government *could* not spy on our daily activities and violate its own laws at whim in order to best control us. The three branches of the government are supposed to oversee each other in order to prevent that from happening.

    For those who contend that terrorists will strike if the government doesn’t have the ability to ignore the Bill of Rights at its convenience, let me paint a scenario. Imagine that we’re about 2 more years into the future. The government tracks everything you read, everything you buy, every word you speak or write, and everywhere you go. Ostensibly, tracking the daily lives of all 300 million Americans in order to catch someone breaking the law that might pose danger to the country at large. Such clues to potential terrorist activity might range from such mundane occurrences as:

    1. Applying for a passport
    2. Travelling to a certain region of the world
    3. Being a known member of a religious group
    4. Participating in a political event, particularly of the party in the minority
    5. Spending a large sum of money, such as for a car, a house, a place of business, even a donation to charity
    6. Reading certain books
    7. Buying certain things in bulk, like fertilizer or gasoline
    8. Wearing a shirt that denegrates the current party in power
    9. Writing a letter, sending an email, or making a phone call in which you denegrate the current party in power or protest its policies
    10. Attend a political event when you belong to the opposing party, even if the officeholder is currently your representative in office

    All of these examples have caused people to be investigated, arrested, or their property seized in recent years. Not because they were breaking the law, mind you, because the above activities are all legal and some are even protected. But because the government, looking for patterns, has determined that “potential terrorists” might do one or more of the above in order to “support the enemy”.

    So, as a result, since you’re a law-abiding citizen who doesn’t want to draw undue notice from the government, you:

    1. Only travel domestically, or to approved locations such as Mexico, Canada or western Europe.
    2. Don’t exercise your religious beliefs in public
    3. Don’t read books or magazines that might give the impression that you have an interest in undermining the government
    4. Stockpile commodities, even if you have no intention of using them in a crime and actually have a legitimate need
    5. Convey any politically-motivated messages at any time, even a funny t-shirt or a bumper sticker on your car
    6. Are careful to censor your communications in order to not attract the attention of government auditing programs
    7. Don’t participate in the democratic process

    And if you should accidentally happen to buy several gallons of gas in order to fuel your ATV for your summer in the North Woods, or try to attend a town hall meeting being held by your Senator, even though he’s a Democrat and you’re a Republican, then you can expect a visit from the FBI or the Secret Service. Maybe they’ll throw you in jail for a few days to scare you. Maybe seize your assets. Maybe beat you up a bit. Maybe spread rumors about your supposed “crimes” so that you lose your job and can’t find another one. Maybe investigate your friends and family members for other “ties” to “suspicious activities”, and subject them to the same treatment.

    According to so-called ‘patriots’, these are all necessary adjustments in order to prevent terrorists from “destroying our freedom”. So, my question is, how does the above bear any resemblance to freedom?

  70. 70.

    John Redworth

    January 5, 2007 at 1:20 am

    come on… everyone knows that Bush is a serious Law and Order type of President… (by Law and Order, I mean like the tv show–fiction)

  71. 71.

    scarshapedstar

    January 5, 2007 at 2:57 am

    At this point, I’m seriously starting to wonder if Padilla knows (or, at this point, knew) something the government does not want getting out. If they really thought he just wanted to bomb something they’d simply lock him up with all the others. No, he’s getting the Special Treatment, and now they’ve come out and admitted that they really just wanted to shut his ass up.

    On the other hand, it could be the old Bush escalation logic: if we let him go, he’ll tell the world what we did to him, so we’ve got to go to greater and more ridiculous lengths to keep him under wraps…

    …yeah, that’s got to be it. After all, it’s not like anyone in the White House has anything to hide.

  72. 72.

    VidaLoca

    January 5, 2007 at 9:20 am

    Digby has a post up that quotes from the same NPR article that John cites above. The final paragraph (from NPR):

    Indeed, there are even some within the government who think it might be best if Padilla were declared incompetent and sent to a psychiatric prison facility. As one high-ranking official put it, “the objective of the government always has been to incapacitate this person.”

    So basically: the charges are shaky, and the defendant is so broken that it’s unclear they can even try him much less win a conviction. But above all things what they cannot do is ever let him talk about what was done to him, and by whom.

    So “it might be best” to ship him to the psychiatric gulag.
    Because, yeah — it’s not like anyone in the White House has anything to hide.

  73. 73.

    Ellison, Ellensburg, Ellers, and Lambchop

    January 5, 2007 at 11:05 am

    Since the PC way to deal with terrorists is with lawyers, not bullets, I vote that we take all guns and munitions away from our soldiers and replace them with restraining orders and arrest warrants.

    Because terrorists who want you dead have rights, too!

  74. 74.

    TenguPhule

    January 5, 2007 at 4:44 pm

    Because terrorists who want you dead have rights, too!

    Hello Darrell2, to your strawman stupidity I say Fuck you.

    Innocent until guilty proven, you sad excuse for a human.

    Where’s the proof that he’s a terrorist, you stupid spoof?

    They broke the rules again and again, and you still think Bush is your *special* friend?

  75. 75.

    Ellison, Ellensburg, Ellers, and Lambchop

    January 5, 2007 at 5:09 pm

    Where’s the proof that he’s a terrorist, you stupid spoof?

    Where’s the proof that anybody we’ve killed in a war was a terrorist, or Viet Cong, or Nazi? You don’t replace bullets with warrants, unless you want to lose.

    Keep playing kissy-face with this traitorous, gangbanging terrorist thug. You are who you roll with, leftards.

  76. 76.

    TenguPhule

    January 5, 2007 at 7:10 pm

    Where’s the proof that anybody we’ve killed in a war was a terrorist, or Viet Cong, or Nazi?

    What war? Padilla was arrested, accused of being a terrorist, held without charges, finally charged after his detention was appealed on something *different* from what he was accused of, charges were dropped *again* and changed to a third accusation without any evidence and as more details emerge it is becoming clear that the government has NEVER HAD an actual case against him based on any reliable evidence but *has* tortured him to the point that he is now insane.

    And you see nothing wrong with this picture?

    Be sure to give Empress Hillary’s Stormtroopers a big kiss when they ramrod you.

  77. 77.

    lard lad

    January 6, 2007 at 9:01 am

    Where’s the proof that anybody we’ve killed in a war was a terrorist, or Viet Cong, or Nazi? You don’t replace bullets with warrants, unless you want to lose.

    Keep playing kissy-face with this traitorous, gangbanging terrorist thug. You are who you roll with, leftards.

    I call spoof.

    Or maybe it’s Darrell operating under a new monicker. You sure catch a heady whiff of his spoor here. Especially the “replacing warrants with bullets” line.

  78. 78.

    Ellison, Ellensburg, Ellers, and Lambchop

    January 6, 2007 at 9:46 am

    I call spoof.

    In other words, you have no intelligent response. Join the other 99% of this ant-colony of uselessness.

  79. 79.

    Ellison, Ellensburg, Ellers, and Lambchop

    January 6, 2007 at 9:50 am

    What war?

    Really? You’ve got to do better then that.

    And you see nothing wrong with this picture?

    Of course, there’s something WRONG with it, bozo. This traitorous terrorist scum was arrested instead of immediately and quietly terminated. Try to keep up with the rest of the class.

  80. 80.

    Jessica

    January 6, 2007 at 8:02 pm

    The point you seem to be missing is that there’s no proof that he is, in fact, traitorous scum.

    And yet the government is throwing him in prison and torturing him anyway, without said proof. More than that, he’s being denied his Constitutional rights to due process and a fair trial.

    If you still think this is okay, just replace “Padilla” with your own name. I can tell you’re about to open your mouth and say, “But I wasn’t trying to bring down the government of the great nation that birthed me!”

    Neither was he, at least according to the evidence.

    So either you support the government arresting, imprisoning and torturing American citizens without any evidence or justification, which basically makes you a complete barbarian who considers the Constitution to be more useful as toilet paper when it comes to your pet agendas, or you support the rights of American citizens regardless of how much you like them, which means Padilla deserves a trial like everyone else in this country.

    So which is it?

  81. 81.

    lard lad

    January 6, 2007 at 8:22 pm

    In other words, you have no intelligent response. Join the other 99% of this ant-colony of uselessness.

    I didn’t bother to pen an “intelligent response,” because there have already been several excellent ones that articulated everything I would have said to you… and, of course, because I’m still about 80% certain that you are a spoofy troll. In case the 20% solution prevails, though…

    You, friend, are the one who wouldn’t know an “intelligent response,” if it bit you in the balls. Your only rejoinder to the many and well-thought-out arguments here is to plug your ears and screech “CAN’T HEAR YOU CAN’T HEAR YOU! Padilla is evil scum! Bush says so, that’s all the proof we need! He deserves to die! Kill! KILL!”

    Seriously, boyo… where’s the evidence that Padilla is “traitorous terrorist scum?” Circumstantial evidence, even? How about a few words on the subject besides “he just is”? Put something on the goddamn table besides your elbows.

    I’m not expecting a substantive reply, of course… just more frenzied hyperventilating and name-calling.

  82. 82.

    Ellison, Ellensburg, Ellers, and Lambchop

    January 11, 2007 at 10:06 pm

    Two douchebags wrote:

    Seriously, boyo… where’s the evidence that Padilla is “traitorous terrorist scum?”

    and

    The point you seem to be missing is that there’s no proof that he is, in fact, traitorous scum.

    Yeah, every two-bit gangbanger from Los Angeles winds up converting to Islam and taking “vacations” in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Happens all the time. I pray that you are Canadians, because Americans shouldn’t be allowed to be as moronic as you “Blame Bush First” lunatics.

    Chew:

    In 1998, Padilla flew from Miami to Cairo, where he spent the next year and a half. He has admitted that in March of 2000 he attended the religious pilgrimage, the hajj, in Saudi Arabia, and there he met a man from Yemen who was a recruiter for al Qaeda and they discussed the training opportunities al Qaeda offered in Afghanistan. Two months later, at this recruiter’s request, Padilla traveled in May of 2000 to Yemen, where the recruiter introduced him to a sponsor, somebody who could arrange for his training in Afghanistan by al Qaeda.

    In June of 2000 Padilla made that journey. He went to Pakistan and then traveled over land to Kandahar, Afghanistan. He has admitted that there he completed an application to receive training at an al Qaeda camp, sponsored by the man he met in Yemen who helped him fill out the paperwork. The FBI found Padilla’s application to the al Qaeda training camp. They found it in a binder that contained 100 other such applications, typewritten, each with the title at the top, “Mujahideen Identification Form/New Applicant Form.” Padilla’s application was dated July 24th of 2000, and bears one of his aliases, “Abu Abdullah Al-Muhajir.” It bears his date of birth, October 18th, 1970. It shows that he is an American citizen; that he speaks Spanish and English and is proficient at Arabic; that he has traveled through Afghanistan, Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

    Padilla has admitted that after filling out his application he attended the al-Farouq training camp in September and October of 2000, using the name Abdullah Al-Espani. Padilla says he went to the camp with the understanding that he would be sent to Chechnya to fight for jihad, although he recognized that the recruits of al Qaeda were offered no guarantees. According to Padilla, his training included weapons instruction on AK-47, on G-3, M-16, Uzi and other machine guns.

    Training on topography; communications; camouflage; clandestine surveillance; explosives, including C-4 plastic explosives, dynamite and mines; as well as physical fitness and religious training. Padilla completed this basic terrorist training successfully and then spent three months in the fall of 2000 with other new al Qaeda recruits, guarding a Taliban outpost north of Kabul, Afghanistan.

    Padilla admits that he first met al Qaeda’s military commander, Abu Hafs al-Masri, better known as Mohammed Atef. He met him in Afghanistan when Atef approached this American in the al-Farouk camp and checked him out to gauge his suitability and his commitment to the cause. Atef no doubt spotted the tremendous value this American terrorist offered because he met with him again several times, even giving Padilla money to go back to Egypt to visit his wife.

    In early 2001, Padilla walked into the American consulate in Karachi, Pakistan and said his passport had been lost in a market in Karachi and got a new one, a classic act of al Qaeda tradecraft designed to eliminate suspicious travel stamps and cover the nature of the traveler’s work.

    In April 2001, having completed his basic terrorist training and having found a mentor in the military leader of al Qaeda, Mohammed Atef, Padilla departed Karachi, Pakistan and returned to Egypt, ending his first trip to Afghanistan.

    Two months later, in June of 2001, Padilla returned to Afghanistan and sought out Mohammed Atef. He met with Atef at a safe house that was reserved for the instructors and the leaders of al Qaeda. According to Padilla, about a month later his mentor, Atef, asked him a question. He asked him if he was willing to undertake a mission to blow up apartment buildings in the United States using natural gas. Padilla told him he would do it.

    Do you losers ever get tired of being saps?

Comments are closed.

Trackbacks

  1. The Heretik : A Sorry Case says:
    January 4, 2007 at 12:37 pm

    […] A sad sorry case? What the prosecution’s case does fully reflect is the Bush administration’s view that it can do anything it wants to Jose Padilla. Stop us if you can. Power unleashed rarely returns to the tether. This case will only get sorrier. Legal evidence is slim because what the government did here is illegal. The case of Jose Padilla, United States citizen, is an abomination against all America and the rule of law stand for. […]

Primary Sidebar

On The Road - twbrandt - Belle Isle, Detroit, Michigan 7
Image by twbrandt (7/18/25)
Donate

Recent Comments

  • rikyrah on GOP in Disarray Open Thread: CVI Is the New Phlebitis (Jul 18, 2025 @ 4:52pm)
  • Kathleen on GOP in Disarray Open Thread: CVI Is the New Phlebitis (Jul 18, 2025 @ 4:51pm)
  • sab on GOP in Disarray Open Thread: CVI Is the New Phlebitis (Jul 18, 2025 @ 4:51pm)
  • Trivia Man on GOP in Disarray Open Thread: CVI Is the New Phlebitis (Jul 18, 2025 @ 4:49pm)
  • WTFGhost on GOP in Disarray Open Thread: CVI Is the New Phlebitis (Jul 18, 2025 @ 4:48pm)

Balloon Juice Posts

View by Topic
View by Author
View by Month & Year
View by Past Author

Featuring

Medium Cool
Artists in Our Midst
Authors in Our Midst
No Kings Protests June 14 2025

🎈Keep Balloon Juice Ad Free

Become a Balloon Juice Patreon
Donate with Venmo, Zelle or PayPal

Calling All Jackals

Site Feedback
Nominate a Rotating Tag
Submit Photos to On the Road
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Links)
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Posts)
Fix Nyms with Apostrophes

Social Media

Balloon Juice
WaterGirl
TaMara
John Cole
DougJ (aka NYT Pitchbot)
Betty Cracker
Tom Levenson
David Anderson
Major Major Major Major
DougJ NYT Pitchbot
mistermix

Keeping Track

Legal Challenges (Lawfare)
Republicans Fleeing Town Halls (TPM)
21 Letters (to Borrow or Steal)
Search Donations from a Brand

Donate

Site Footer

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Comment Policy
  • Our Authors
  • Blogroll
  • Our Artists
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2025 Dev Balloon Juice · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc

Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!