TresSugar

Mr. and Mrs. Bush Watch Abstinence Skit

LibertySugar — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 06:03:08 -0800

Above, President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush watch a skit about abstinence at a school in Kigali, Rwanda.

We're desperately searching for the lost script right now, but how do you think the story went?

PS - more awesome pictures from Bush's African voyage coming soon.

Check This: Bush a Hero in Africa

LibertySugar — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 15:00:14 -0800

President Bush is enjoying a hero's welcome as he tours Africa. This week he will visit Senegal, South Africa, Botswana, Nigeria, and Uganda during a mission to address the continent's economic, health, and security concerns. Programs that will fight AIDS and malaria, as well as aid plans that promote self-reliance instead of unqualified assistance, make President Bush much more popular in Africa than he is in other parts of the world.

The AIDS programs focus on preventing new infections in dozens of African nations, Haiti, and Guyana. The plans will provide medication to 2 million people already living with the disease.

On Monday, in Tanzania, Bush also unveiled a plan that will have a practical impact on people's lives - The US plans to fund millions of bed-nets that will protect every Tanzanian child aged one to five from mosquitoes that spread deadly malaria.

Of course, Bush's ceaseless critics have hesitations about his plans. For more on the critics, read more.

Activists worry that Bush's relief program will require that the medication funding be spent on high-cost patent-protected drugs, rather than on the cheapest possible generic antiviral medication. In addition, the plan requires that substantial funding go to faith-based organizations with the requirement that one-third of AIDS prevention dollars go to abstinence-only programs.

Do you think the critics raise fair concerns? Or, are you just excited to see Bush offering money and attention to Africa's dire needs?

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US Allegedly Using Navy Ships As Secret Prisons

LibertySugar — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 12:15:56 -0700

The US allegedly has used 17 ships as floating prisons to detain suspects in the war on terror, according to US military statements, the Council of Europe, European Parliaments, and prisoners themselves.

Human Rights group Reprieve is set to publish its findings, which also include 200 cases of rendition, a polite term for kidnapping and secret detention, since 2006, the year President Bush maintained the practice had ended.

One prisoner, released from Guantanamo, told the group:

One of my fellow prisoners in Guantanamo was at sea on an American ship with about 50 others before coming to Guantanamo. . . . he was in the cage next to me. [. . . ] They were all closed off in the bottom of the ship. The prisoner commented to me that it was like something you see on TV. The people held on the ship were beaten even more severely than in Guantanamo.

Even if the words of prisoners cannot be trusted, the US admits that it detains enemy combatants without trial. Recently the US released an uncharged cameraman after holding him for six years.

Imagine you were picked up and brought to a secret prison - none of your friends or family knew where you were, and you were being held without a trial and with no way to defend yourself. I think I would feel like a victim of terrorism.

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Should Bush White House Be Investigated for Crimes?

LibertySugar — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 09:00:03 -0700

Until last week, legal experts doubted George W. Bush, or anyone in his administration, would face criminal charges after his presidency finished.

But, revelations that top Bush administration officials participated in explicit conversations in the White House regarding torture techniques to be used on suspected terrorists have these experts taking a second look.

Presidential candidate Barack Obama has promised he would have his justice department investigate the Bush administration for war crimes - but seeks a balance between pursuing justice and orchestrating a finger-pointing circus. Obama said,

What I would want to do is to have my Justice Department and my Attorney General immediately review the information that's already there and to find out are there inquiries that need to be pursued. I can't prejudge that because we don't have access to all the material right now. I think that you are right, if crimes have been committed, they should be investigated. You're also right that I would not want my first term consumed by what was perceived on the part of Republicans as a partisan witch hunt because I think we've got too many problems we've got to solve.

So what do you think? Should the country move on, and let the commuted Scooter Libby be the sole (symbolic) legal casualty of Bush's scandals? Are investigations even necessary?

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