Sunday, July 08, 2007

Group of Presidential Scholars Give President a Letter Asking to Cease Torture

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(Mari Oye second from right)

The Presidential Scholars of 2007 visited the President this summer like they do every summer. But this time, several of them (almost a third) signed a letter asking the President to stop torturing prisoners and enemy combatants.

Mari Oye (second from right in photo) was the one to hand the letter to him. To his credit, the President read the letter right there in front of her. His only response was "America doesn't torture people. America doesn't torture people."

This has to be the most underreported story of the summer. Why are the networks all Paris Hilton's butt and totally missing this story? I heard it originally on the Democracy Now! podcast but also found an article on the Boston Globe Website that is pretty good.

Democracy Now! has the entire transcript of Amy Goodman's interview with Mari Oye and one other scholar who was involved.

Democracy Now! is my new favorite podcast. Here is some background on the Presidential Scholars program.

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