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The Truth-o-Meter says: Barely True | Gingrich wrong on Democrats and waterboarding

Under pressure of a lawsuit, the Obama administration recently released memos on the interrogation of terror suspects during the Bush administration. The memos detailed techniques that included waterboarding, a simulated drowning maneuver widely considered to be torture. Some torture opponents have called for the prosecution of Bush administration officials. Republicans, meanwhile, are firing back at Democrats in Congress, saying that they implicitly condoned the actions. Democrats “had control since January of 2007,” former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said in a television interview. “They haven’t passed a law making waterboarding illegal. They haven’t gone into any of these things and changed … >> More

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The Truth-o-Meter says: True | Durbin correct that convicted terrorists are in federal prisons

Republicans have been complaining for several weeks that President Barack Obama’s plan to close the detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, would force the government to bring dangerous terrorists to prisons in the United States. They’ve even introduced a bill that would put restrictions on the transfers called the “Keep Terrorists Out of America Act.” In response to the criticism, Sen. Richard Durbin of Illinois, the assistant majority leader, declared on the Senate floor May 20, 2009, that, “The reality is, we are holding some of the most dangerous terrorists in the world right now in our Federal prisons, including … >> More

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The Truth-o-Meter says: Mostly True | Dick Cheney claims Blair said high-value information came from controversial enhanced interrogation techniques

In a speech on national security, former Vice President Dick Cheney argued that despite all the controversy about the propriety of waterboarding and other “enhanced interrogation” techniques used on terror suspects in the wake of 9/11, one fact has been lost – the techniques worked. And Cheney cited comments from an appointee of President Obama to back up his point. “President Obama’s own director of national intelligence, Admiral Blair, put it this way: ‘High-value information came from interrogations in which those methods were used and provided a deeper understanding of the al-Qaeda organization that was attacking this country,’” Cheney said … >> More

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The Truth-o-Meter says: Half-True | Colin Powell overstates Bush-Cheney differences on closing Guantanamo

In a much anticipated interview on CBS’ Face the Nation on May 24, 2009, former Secretary of State Colin Powell fired back at former Vice President Dick Cheney’s public criticism of President Obama’s decision to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. In a speech on national defense on May 21, Cheney said Obama’s announcement of his intent to close Gitmo “came with little deliberation and no plan” and might result in terrorists being brought to the United States. “The administration has found that it’s easy to receive applause in Europe for closing Guantanamo,” Cheney said, “but it’s tricky … >> More

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The Truth-o-Meter says: Half-True | RNC claims Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor said judges make policy

On the day President Obama announced Sonia Sotomayor as his Supreme Court nominee, many conservative opponents seized on a Sotomayor statement they say revealed her as someone who thinks judges make laws. While Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele struck a measured pose – saying Republicans would “reserve judgment on Sotomayor until there has been a thorough and thoughtful examination of her legal views” – the RNC also sent around a talking points memo to the press and hundreds of influential Republicans that claimed “Judge Sotomayor has also said that policy is made on the U.S. Court of Appeals.” And … >> More

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The Truth-o-Meter says: Half-True | Sotomayor’s experience does not significantly outstrip other justices

President Barack Obama introduced his first nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court with much praise. “It’s a measure of her qualities and her qualifications that Judge Sotomayor was nominated to the U.S. District Court by a Republican President, George H.W. Bush, and promoted to the Federal Court of Appeals by a Democrat, Bill Clinton,” Obama said. “Walking in the door she would bring more experience on the bench, and more varied experience on the bench, than anyone currently serving on the United States Supreme Court had when they were appointed.” Listening to that quote, you might think Sotomayor was way … >> More

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The Truth-o-Meter says: Half-True | Sotomayor’s comment about Latina women versus white men

If you’ve been following the story of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor via cable news, you’ve undoubtedly heard this sound bite from a 2001 Sotomayor speech: “I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life.” For many conservative detractors, the quote has formed the nexus of their opposition. In a released statement, Wendy E. Long, counsel to the Judicial Confirmation Network, a conservative nonprofit, said “Judge Sotomayor is a liberal judicial activist of the first order who … >> More

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The Truth-o-Meter says: Half-True | Libertarian party claims Sonia Sotomayor has had four rulings thrown out by the Supreme Court

Shortly after President Obama announced Sonia Sotomayor as his pick for the Supreme Court, conservatives pulled this bit out of their arsenal: Sotomayor is not up to the job because some of her cases have been thrown out by the Supreme Court. Wendy E. Long of the Judicial Confirmation Network was one of the first to knock Sotomayor’s record, saying that she “has an extremely high rate of her decisions being reversed, indicating that she is far more of a liberal activist than even the current liberal activist Supreme Court.” Wendy Wright of Concerned … >> More

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The Truth-o-Meter says: Barely True | Rush Limbaugh says Sotomayor disregarded law to rule against white firefighters

While many Republican leaders have been publicly cautious with their opinions about President Obama’s nominee for the Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor, radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh has been crystal clear about his opposition. “Do I want her to fail to get on the court? Yes,” Limbaugh said on his show on May 26, 2009. “She’d be a disaster on the court.” In making his case, Limbaugh cited a Sotomayor ruling that has drawn scrutiny from critics this week. “She ruled against the white firefighter – Ricci and other white firefighters – just on the basis that she thought women … >> More

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Warner Todd Huston and Branden Durst debate Liberty University desanctioning the Liberty University College Democrats

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