Sean Hannity, the ball is in your court.

[Neil D]

Friday, Apr 24

Olbermann Takes Hannity Up on Waterboarding Charity Challenge

Last night on Countdown, Keith Olbermann took the FNC host up on his offer, made Wednesday on "Hannity" in a discussion with Charles Grodin, to get waterboarded for charity.

"For every second you last, $1,000," said Olbermann. "Live or on tape, provided other networks' cameras are there, $1,000 a second, Sean, because this is no game. This is serious stuff. Put your money where your mouth is, and your nose. Oh, and I'll double it, when you admit you feared for your life."

Guest Lawrence O'Donnell added fuel to the fire. "The reason Sean Hannity thinks torture is a good idea, the reason he thinks it works, is because it would work on him," he said.

Hannity Challenged

[Woody]

The justice department has ruled that Waterboarding is not torture. So, what is all the fuss?

[Bravus]

So, if Hannity won't subject himself to it, are you keen to?

[Woody]

I'm game.

[Neil D]

The justice department has ruled that Waterboarding is not torture. So, what is all the fuss?

Apparently, the Justice Department is reviewing that ruling...Which kinda explains why Cheny is loudly asking for justification of torture...If those torture memos are released, they can take some of the pressure off Cheny for justification of that torturing

WASHINGTON - Congressional Democrats and activist groups turned up the pressure on the Obama administration yesterday to pursue investigations or prosecutions of Bush administration officials who authorized brutal interrogations of terrorist suspects.

MAKING THE CALL

But the White House declared yesterday that it opposes an independent panel to investigate the interrogations, two days after President Obama opened the door to a panel similar to the bipartisan commission that looked into the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

A coalition of liberal advocacy groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union and MoveOn.org, delivered petitions with 250,000 signatures demanding that Attorney General Eric Holder appoint an independent prosecutor to investigate allegations that US intelligence agents used torture while questioning detainees.

Obama and Holder have both said there will not be prosecutions of CIA officers or military personnel who aggressively questioned detainees with methods approved by the Bush Justice Department. But Obama said this week that it's Holder's call whether to prosecute the lawyers and others who wrote memos authorizing the harsh tactics.

Holder, the nation's top law enforcement officer, says he will follow the evidence. "I will not permit the criminalization of policy differences," he testified yesterday before a House committee. "But it is my duty to enforce the law."

The petitions landed on Holder's desk just two days after the Democrat-led Senate Armed Services Committee released a report detailing how interrogators began training in the harsh techniques - including severe sleep deprivation and simulated drownings known as waterboarding - long before the Department of Justice gave legal permission to use them. The report also states that the Bush White House ignored career intelligence officials who argued that the controversial methods were illegal and ineffective.

Angered by that report and by the once secret Bush legal memos Obama released last week, Democrats on Capitol Hill pushed past the president's more moderate position to declare they will "get to the bottom" of how former President George W. Bush, his Cabinet, and his legal advisers decided to use what critics call torture.

At least two powerful Senate committees, led by Democrats, have already completed major portions of their investigations, and others, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, want an independent "truth commission" to publicly air the facts.

"Out of all this, we will learn more," said Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, a Rhode Island Democrat who sits on the Senate Intelligence Committee, which is in the middle of its own investigation. He said it is possible to also name a "national accountability commission" composed of prominent citizens with impeccable reputations.

But several top Republicans, including Senator John McCain of Arizona, are pushing back. A day after they sent a letter to Obama arguing that any investigation criminalizes political differences on national security, McCain and several colleagues applied more pressure on the White House through a round of interviews on TV news programs.

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[carolaa]

The petitions landed on Holder's desk just two days after the Democrat-led Senate Armed Services Committee released a report detailing how interrogators began training in the harsh techniques - including severe sleep deprivation and simulated drownings known as waterboarding - long before the Department of Justice gave legal permission to use them. The report also states that the Bush White House ignored career intelligence officials who argued that the controversial methods were illegal and ineffective.

More stuff confirmed that we already knew. [bold emphasis mine]

[Woody]

Obviously there are sincere differences of opinion on this matter.

[carolaa]

There is mostly heads in the sand on this issue.

[Woody]

I am curious as to which side has their head in the sand.

[carolaa]

Those who have their heads out of the sand already know the answer. Those who have their heads in the sand are still curious.

[Woody]

[Neil D]

The challenge was given Thursday, but after 24 hours, Hannity has no comment.... Too bad...I am sure there will be ...um...proper reply to the challenge...

[Dr. Shane]

Quote:

GRODIN: Would you consent to be waterboarded? We can waterboard you?

HANNITY: Sure.

GRODIN: Are you busy on Sunday?

HANNITY: I'll do it for charity. I'll let you do it. I'll do it for the troops' families.

Sounds like just the details need to be worked out. This could be a huge media event for Hannity.