Monday, June 30, 2008

Perhaps you were wondering...


... whether I had forgotten about torture, or FISA, or the Constitution, or princes? Not at all, but time and energy are severely limited, especially the latter. [In the category of good news, I have been getting a lot more sleep and am feeling almost human. If I get enough I may feel ursine again - even better! Private joke with my ex-honey.]

You can check out Emptywheel on the charging of Abd al Rahim al Nashiri for conspiring to attack the USS Cole. He is one of the Gitmo detainees who has been waterboarded. There seems to be evidence that he was involved in the suicide attack on the Cole and, if so, I would like to see him tried and convicted for the same. But can we ever pursue honorable legal mechanisms to deal with such a person if all we do is tainted with torture? And can the government afford for details of what has been done to him to come out in the public forum? You can bet they will try to minimize or squelch it.

It was a sad day when torture became an acceptable topic and an acceptable procedure and the Bush administration must be made to own and carry that stigma into history. We, the American People, must work to undo that legacy and fight to ensure that it is never repeated.

I've given up hope of educating Fox viewers about Jack Bauer being a fictional character operating immorally in unrealistic circumstances.
--the BB

2 comments:

June Butler said...

The US has participated in torture over the years, but at least we thought it was shameful enough to keep hidden. The attempt to legitimize it by calling it by another name is what's different with the Bush maladministration.

Fran said...

God help us all. The people have a taste for revenge.

God help us all.