President Obama Denounces Torture, Right Wingers Go Loony Tunes
In his press conference today, President Obama said, “After 9/11… we tortured some folks. We did some things that were contrary to our values.”
And you can just imagine the reaction from conservatives to that. Well, actually, no need to imagine. Here’s a representative tweet from Ted Cruz’s senior communications advisor.
I am stunned our President just said “we tortured” people from the podium. This is a PR victory for our enemies. Make it stop. Make it stop.
— Amanda Carpenter (@amandacarpenter) August 1, 2014
And of course, that’s just the tip of the crazyberg that is the conservative movement. I’ve been blocking and muting people on Twitter for the past hour, many of them self-professed “Christians” like these:
Replace “Folks” with “Terrorists”. Obama can’t do it. That would be talking against his kin. @joshuafoust
— Boston Strong (@UmassAlum28) August 1, 2014
@UmassAlum28 @Kragar_LGF @Green_Footballs @joshuafoust Islam kills people for no reason.
— Skipp Sykes (@SkippSykes) August 1, 2014
Anti-American Filth Obama: ‘We Tortured Some Folks’ After 9/11 http://t.co/0sGuIzjUuT #tcot #pjnet
— Patrick Dollard (@PatDollard) August 1, 2014
Obama’s statement on torture wasn’t really news; in May 2013 he said pretty much the same thing: Remarks by the President at the National Defense University | the White House.
Meanwhile, we strengthened our defenses — hardening targets, tightening transportation security, giving law enforcement new tools to prevent terror. Most of these changes were sound. Some caused inconvenience. But some, like expanded surveillance, raised difficult questions about the balance that we strike between our interests in security and our values of privacy. And in some cases, I believe we compromised our basic values — by using torture to interrogate our enemies, and detaining individuals in a way that ran counter to the rule of law.