On May 21, President Barack Obama and former Vice President Dick Cheney both gave speeches on national security, specifically focusing on Guantanamo Bay, detainees and interrogation techniques. We combed through the transcripts of both and found a few items worth mentioning from Cheney’s speech.
In defending so-called enhanced interrogation techniques, Cheney quoted Obama’s director of national intelligence, Adm. Dennis C. Blair, as saying that "high value information came from interrogations in which those methods were used and provided a deeper understanding of the al Qaeda organization that was attacking this country."
Year: 2009
May 22, 2009
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was born today in 1859.
Source: The Chronicles of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Half the Story on Health Care
Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon has introduced his "Healthy Americans Act" before, aiming to bring about universal health coverage. This year he’s trying again, facing not only legislative hurdles in gaining support for the plan but a critical — and misleading — ad campaign by a coalition of labor unions.
The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the United Food and Commercial Workers and the National Education Association are airing a radio ad in Wyden’s state,
May 21, 2009
Nearly 41 percent of U.S. teenagers aged 16 to 17 report having tried marijuana at least once, and 6 percent say they have tried cocaine.
Source: National Center for Health Statistics
Pelosi’s Tortured Denials
Speaker Pelosi said in February that she was “never” told that the CIA was using waterboarding in interrogations. Then in May she changed her story to say she was told, but still claimed it was not quite as early as the CIA said. On that point she’s contradicted, however, both …
The Bad Apples Theory
CBS’ "Face the Nation" on May 17 featured the divergent views of Anthony Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, and Republican Rep. Peter King of New York. Host Harry Smith asked about President Obama’s decision to block the court-ordered release of photos allegedly showing harsh treatment of detainees during interrogations in Iraq and Afghanistan. That led King to say that top government officials didn’t know about the abuse of prisoners, while Romero said the "highest levels"
May 20, 2009
As one of the world’s largest office buildings, The Pentagon has three times the floor space of the Empire State Building in New York.
Source: The Pentagon
Soldiers’ Private Guns
Q: Is the Army demanding information about soldiers' privately owned firearms?
A: This is another false Internet rumor. A memo from one commander of a small unit in Kentucky was an isolated mistake that was quickly corrected; it wasn't Army policy.
May 19, 2009
Despite 17.5 miles of corridors it takes only seven minutes to walk between any two points in the Pentagon.
Source: The Pentagon
Moran’s Miscues in Virginia
Brian Moran is so far the least visible of the trio of candidates competing in the Virginia Democratic gubernatorial primary, set for June 9. He’s the only one who hasn’t run a TV spot yet. But on May 17, he went up with his third radio ad, aiming to show a lot of daylight between Terry McAuliffe, the front runner, and President Obama. McAuliffe, on his Web site, calls the ad a "False Attack."
"The truth is,"