Barryboarding a.k.a. Hope & Change

Here we go again. To waterboard or not to waterboard. Executive signing orders okay now. Meet the new boss ... same as ... you know the rest.

Obama signed an executive order which (you know, those things that progressives screamed about when Bush "ruled" by signing orders), supposedly revamps US detention and interrogation. However, Obama's new order applies only to employees or agents of the United States - meaning if buddies of the US want to do a little nail extraction and cattle prodding for us ... the buddy system, my little changelings, has been the US M.O. for decades anyway. Another word for it is "rendition" or as with everything else these days, "outsourcing." (Buddies are not "agents" of the US, they will do this of their own accord.)

According to the Army Field Manual, the bible of interrogation methods, waterboarding is not allowed. Waterboarding is also known as Bush's "harsh interrogation techniques." Yet, Obama's pick for DNI, Dennis Blair, dodged the question of whether waterboarding was torture or not, and he believes that possibly additional interrogation methods will be considered for use by trained CIA personnel. Does that mean if you're trained CIA personnel, it won't hurt as much? Wiggle wiggle.

The 3 detainees who underwent waterboarding probably considered it torture.

As for closing Gitmo, that will take a year - and a lot can happen in a year. Apparently the government has still not found a way to do anything in a timely manner (other than looting your tax dollars).

Dennis Blair is one of those "experienced" folks. He sits on the board of Tyco (scandal scarred), Iridium Satellite (extensive DoD client), and the stink tank Center For a New American Security, that sounds eerily close to Project for a New American Century (PNAC).

One supposedly potential problem for Blair's confirmation was "... he violated conflict-of-interest standards because he was involved with a study of a major military contract for the F-22 fighter jet while sitting on the board of the company that produced the aircraft. However, the inspector general found that Adm. Blair didn't seek to influence the outcome for the study." Dennis also headed a couple of Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) task forces. Chaaange chaaange chaaange. Can I have a fist bump folks?

Know what a "task force" is? More often than not it's a group of individuals (sometimes military but can be civilian) who are paid to skim over boring reports (or pay staffers to read thoroughly and give a synopsis) and sit in brief meetings to offer opinions and ineffective strategy; i.e. presidential task force to fight drug trafficking. Totally useless but on a resumé it gives the appearance one has actually done something.

A military "joint task" is such as Joint Task Force Guantanamo (JTF-GTMO), one of the Gitmo units overseeing "enemy combatants." Again, a group of individuals who may or may not be accomplishing anything other than providing sound bytes and platforms for pundits and pols who use it to keep your knickers in a knot - as if you have a say-so in government affairs.

But, I think Blair is a fine example of the military/industrial/government complex, eh? Don't be alarmed if you feel a tightening, it's just the same old Pentagon grip. Gimme another fist bump.