Congresswoman Ellen Tauscher

[Richard]

http://americanthinker.com/comments.php?comments_id=2536

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Haha.  Haha.

[angus]

http://americanthinker.com/comments.php?comments_id=2536

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Haha.  Haha.

ouch. 

well, am I the only poster on this forum who has actually voted for Ellen Tauscher (D-CA)?  twice?  probably the only republican anyway.  (Full Disclosure:  there are two other current housemembers I have helped elect and re-elect.  Michael Capuano, D-MA, and Martin Frost, D-TX)

okay, so her legal training's the same as mine:  she watches TV.  (although I also watch such enlightening high-brow shows as The Simpsons, Family Guy, and King of the Hill).  Still, she very clearly states that we have, and adhere to, the rule of law.  She only quibbles a bit with the fact that we "interject" it around the world.  And she's right about one thing:  we do put our soldiers at greater risk if we are seen being hard on them.  I'm not saying you can never beat a confession out of someone (hey, I watch NYPD Blue also!), but you can't let the press see you doing it.  And let's look at the rest of the interview, shall we?

For example, she says that there had been progress since reports about alleged human rights abuses:  "The Guantanamo we saw today is not the Guantanamo we heard about a few years ago,"  She goes on to say that she has pushed for greater transparency about the facility and is generally pleased at the progress.  She also agrees with Rep. Joe Schwarz, R-MI, when he said "I think they're doing the best they can to define due process here."  Spaced-out??!  c'mon.  Who among us hasn't claimed to be an expert on something just because we saw it on TV?

alright, I'm just digging deeper, I suppose.  Some of you people who voted for Congressperson Tauscher really need to step out of the closet and give me a little help here...

[Joe Republic]

Looks like she's had just about as much legal training as about 98% of the American people.  Read into that how you will.

[Blue Rectangle]

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To be fair, I'm not a lawyer or a Constitutional scholar but for some reason I think my opinions on Supreme Court rulings have merit.  But then again, at least I’m smart enough to proclaim such things in public.  In any case, that is a hilarious quote.

On a another note, the interrogation tactics at Gitmo don't sound that much worse than what you see on Law & Order.  I wonder if she watches 24, a show where the hero commits acts of torture a hundred times worse that even the most outrageous claims about abuses at Gitmo.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

That sounded more coherant than Bush quite a lot of the time.  Do you have a point?

[Alcon]

DEM: "Did you hear the stupid thing Bush said yesterday?"
GOP: "Verbal gaffes mean nothing in regards to intelligence!"

GOP: "Did you hear the stupid thing Howard Dean screamed yesterday?"
DEM: "Verbal gaffes mean nothing in regards to intelligence!"

LBT: "Did you hear what Michael Badnarik said yesterday?"
GOP: "No."
DEM: "Michael who?"

[socaldem]

http://americanthinker.com/comments.php?comments_id=2536

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Haha.  Haha.

Whatever...I like Congresswoman Tauscher...though she's a little conservative for my tastes on econ issues...

There's really nothing wrong with her analysis besides the gaffe...and the gaffes are endearing. Her lack of legal experience is refreshing in a congress filled with hated lawyers!  Her quote shows some good common sense and her mistaken word choice shows that she is not some slick politician...

[angus]

http://americanthinker.com/comments.php?comments_id=2536

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Haha.  Haha.

ouch. 

well, am I the only poster on this forum who has actually voted for Ellen Tauscher (D-CA)?  twice?  probably the only republican anyway.  (Full Disclosure:  there are two other current housemembers I have helped elect and re-elect.  Michael Capuano, D-MA, and Martin Frost, D-TX)

Martin Frost was defeated in 2004.

ah.  Redistricting.  Of course.  Frost had a good run, though.  He was a Jewish Democrat.  From Texas, yet.  Can't get much more neocon than that.  Tauscher was more of a mainstream dem.  Capuano still there at least?  He was mayor of Somerville when what's his name, somebody Kennedy, killed himself in a skiing accident.  Like a dumbass.  Capuano was one of seven contenders.  Remember, Somerville is fairly blue-collar, and the races are decided in the primaries.  I voted for Capuano above the rest on the basis of him being my former mayor.  Always vote for the local guy.  People usually do (Gore's Tennessee being a notable exception).  Somebody's gonna get the pork, may as well be you, right?  Your former mayors, of either party, are usually a good choice in this regard.

[migrendel]

I think Ellen Tauscher's somewhat less than erudite remarks make one thing clear: recent American policies on the treatment of suspected terrorists are so removed from legal tradition and so flagrantly opposed to the standard precepts of legal procedure that they have begun to offend the moral standards of equitability that most people have (or at least like to think they have). She is simply expressing something that conscientious people should feel preternaturally.

[MODU]

DEM: "Did you hear the stupid thing Bush said yesterday?"
GOP: "Verbal gaffes mean nothing in regards to intelligence!"

GOP: "Did you hear the stupid thing Howard Dean screamed yesterday?"
DEM: "Verbal gaffes mean nothing in regards to intelligence!"

LBT: "Did you hear what Michael Badnarik said yesterday?"
GOP: "No."
DEM: "Michael who?"

HAHAHA . . . excellent!   

[Erc]

She was my congresswoman for about one-and-a-half years in the late '90's...she's a good Representative for the area in my opinion (certainly better than my current Representative).

Hard to make any judgments without actually hearing the clip itself--was probably trying to make a little joke which failed.  Politicians do it all the time.  Big deal.

[Storebought]

She was my congresswoman for about one-and-a-half years in the late '90's...she's a good Representative for the area in my opinion (certainly better than my current Representative).

Hard to make any judgments without actually hearing the clip itself--was probably trying to make a little joke which failed.  Politicians do it all the time.  Big deal.

You can do much much worse in the Bay Area than Ellen Tauscher as a congressional rep.

[angus]

I think Ellen Tauscher's somewhat less than erudite remarks make one thing clear: recent American policies on the treatment of suspected terrorists are so removed from legal tradition and so flagrantly opposed to the standard precepts of legal procedure that they have begun to offend the moral standards of equitability that most people have (or at least like to think they have). She is simply expressing something that conscientious people should feel preternaturally.

well, that's a mouthful of fifty-cent words, but anyway it's nice to know we have some sliver of philosophical overlap.  Anyway, you're goddamned right about one thing:  you don't gotta be a lawyer to figure out that if we go around giving our POWs the high hard shaft without the common courtesy of a reach-around, we're bound to be ensuring that sort of treatment for our own soldiers at the hands of our enemies.  much obliged.

[Erc]

I think Ellen Tauscher's somewhat less than erudite remarks make one thing clear: recent American policies on the treatment of suspected terrorists are so removed from legal tradition and so flagrantly opposed to the standard precepts of legal procedure that they have begun to offend the moral standards of equitability that most people have (or at least like to think they have). She is simply expressing something that conscientious people should feel preternaturally.

well, that's a mouthful of fifty-cent words, but anyway it's nice to know we have some sliver of philosophical overlap.  Anyway, you're goddamned right about one thing:  you don't gotta be a lawyer to figure out that if we go around giving our POWs the high hard shaft without the common courtesy of a reach-around, we're bound to be ensuring that sort of treatment for our own soldiers at the hands of our enemies.  much obliged.

And our enemies follow the Geneva Convention?

Either line of argument on that tack (It's fine to torture them, our enemies would do the same! [R]  or  If we torture them, our enemies will do the same to us! [D] ) is completely besides the point and fallacious to boot.

[muon2]

http://americanthinker.com/comments.php?comments_id=2536

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Haha.  Haha.

ouch. 

well, am I the only poster on this forum who has actually voted for Ellen Tauscher (D-CA)?  twice?  probably the only republican anyway.  (Full Disclosure:  there are two other current housemembers I have helped elect and re-elect.  Michael Capuano, D-MA, and Martin Frost, D-TX)

Martin Frost was defeated in 2004.

ah.  Redistricting.  Of course.  Frost had a good run, though.  He was a Jewish Democrat.  From Texas, yet.  Can't get much more neocon than that.  Tauscher was more of a mainstream dem.  Capuano still there at least?  He was mayor of Somerville when what's his name, somebody Kennedy, killed himself in a skiing accident.  Like a dumbass.  Capuano was one of seven contenders.  Remember, Somerville is fairly blue-collar, and the races are decided in the primaries.  I voted for Capuano above the rest on the basis of him being my former mayor.  Always vote for the local guy.  People usually do (Gore's Tennessee being a notable exception).  Somebody's gonna get the pork, may as well be you, right?  Your former mayors, of either party, are usually a good choice in this regard.

Gotta like that.

[Alcon]

http://americanthinker.com/comments.php?comments_id=2536

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Haha.  Haha.

ouch. 

well, am I the only poster on this forum who has actually voted for Ellen Tauscher (D-CA)?  twice?  probably the only republican anyway.  (Full Disclosure:  there are two other current housemembers I have helped elect and re-elect.  Michael Capuano, D-MA, and Martin Frost, D-TX)

Martin Frost was defeated in 2004.

ah.  Redistricting.  Of course.  Frost had a good run, though.  He was a Jewish Democrat.  From Texas, yet.  Can't get much more neocon than that.  Tauscher was more of a mainstream dem.  Capuano still there at least?  He was mayor of Somerville when what's his name, somebody Kennedy, killed himself in a skiing accident.  Like a dumbass.  Capuano was one of seven contenders.  Remember, Somerville is fairly blue-collar, and the races are decided in the primaries.  I voted for Capuano above the rest on the basis of him being my former mayor.  Always vote for the local guy.  People usually do (Gore's Tennessee being a notable exception).  Somebody's gonna get the pork, may as well be you, right?  Your former mayors, of either party, are usually a good choice in this regard.

Gotta like that.

Having some thoughts there?

[angus]

I think Ellen Tauscher's somewhat less than erudite remarks make one thing clear: recent American policies on the treatment of suspected terrorists are so removed from legal tradition and so flagrantly opposed to the standard precepts of legal procedure that they have begun to offend the moral standards of equitability that most people have (or at least like to think they have). She is simply expressing something that conscientious people should feel preternaturally.

well, that's a mouthful of fifty-cent words, but anyway it's nice to know we have some sliver of philosophical overlap.  Anyway, you're goddamned right about one thing:  you don't gotta be a lawyer to figure out that if we go around giving our POWs the high hard shaft without the common courtesy of a reach-around, we're bound to be ensuring that sort of treatment for our own soldiers at the hands of our enemies.  much obliged.

And our enemies follow the Geneva Convention?

Either line of argument on that tack (It's fine to torture them, our enemies would do the same! [R]  or  If we torture them, our enemies will do the same to us! [D] ) is completely besides the point and fallacious to boot.

you make a good point.  obviously it's not a valid assumption that if we don't break the convention rules then our enemies won't either.  I don't think I suggested that this would be the case.  What I said was:  whatever their propensity to break the rules, the likelihood will be greater if we do.  And what I meant was:  we forgo our moral leverage to demand that our prisoners are treated in accord with convention rules if we are unwilling to do the same.  That said, the bush administration was wise enough not to categorize these "detainees" as prisoners of war, and probably precisely for that reason.

[muon2]

http://americanthinker.com/comments.php?comments_id=2536

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Haha.  Haha.

ouch. 

well, am I the only poster on this forum who has actually voted for Ellen Tauscher (D-CA)?  twice?  probably the only republican anyway.  (Full Disclosure:  there are two other current housemembers I have helped elect and re-elect.  Michael Capuano, D-MA, and Martin Frost, D-TX)

Martin Frost was defeated in 2004.

ah.  Redistricting.  Of course.  Frost had a good run, though.  He was a Jewish Democrat.  From Texas, yet.  Can't get much more neocon than that.  Tauscher was more of a mainstream dem.  Capuano still there at least?  He was mayor of Somerville when what's his name, somebody Kennedy, killed himself in a skiing accident.  Like a dumbass.  Capuano was one of seven contenders.  Remember, Somerville is fairly blue-collar, and the races are decided in the primaries.  I voted for Capuano above the rest on the basis of him being my former mayor.  Always vote for the local guy.  People usually do (Gore's Tennessee being a notable exception).  Somebody's gonna get the pork, may as well be you, right?  Your former mayors, of either party, are usually a good choice in this regard.

Gotta like that.

Having some thoughts there?

Not for that office, but higher office than present, yes.