Thanks Rach.

[lithera]

She linked to this Slate article which has me swinging between wanting to cry and wanting to scream.

Why can we NOT get rid of the crazy motherfucking bastard?

TORTURE IS WRONG. There is no acceptable level of torture. There is no acceptable level of pain for this or that or this sort of harm is okay while that isn't. It isn't often that I make statements flat out like this. I will accept that there is almost always an arguement to be made or a position to be understood but not on this one.

What the fuck is wrong with our government that they CAN'T UNDERSTAND THAT?

There are some things that are just WRONG no matter what. Torture is one of them.

MOTHERFUCKER! AUGH.

To quote Sean - "We really seem to be operating under the principle that war crimes trials are for "bad guys". Since "bad guys" are our enemies, we must make sure our people are immune to war crimes trials - no matter what they do." The problem with that is THESE ARE TRIALS. You can't go into something like that assuming EVERYONE IS A BAD GUY. Because right now, I don't trust us to rationally make decisions about WHO THE HELL THE BAD GUYS ARE.

I remember feeling this way not too long after 9/11. I remember walking down a street with Lu in Bologna feeling this general sense of anger and fear and hoplessness and... I didn't know what to do with it then and I don't know what to do with it now. All I know is that I hate it and the government that is currently in power is not representing me if they're allowing this crap to go forward. I don't know if I could feel less represented.

Fuck.

And I link here to my friend Chris who is much better with words than I.

Comments

[apestyle.livejournal.com]

I hate that this government has created (or at least utilitized) law-free zones such as Abu Grav in order to carry out the lawless deeds. Using loopholes in order to short-circuit due process and the Rule of Law sickens me.

Asses.

[fireballof3.livejournal.com]

That's fucked up.
We need to trash not only the prez, but most of congress at this rate too!

And thus I clothe my naked villainy...

[uberdude.livejournal.com]

Eddie Izard once compared America to the Roman Empire. I find it an astute comparison. We're in real trouble.

[fair-witness.livejournal.com]

I neglected to give proper credit to my friend wcg, a (retired) Marine.

[samy.livejournal.com]

I really do see disturbing parallels between the Bush administration and Hitler's gradual rise to power, how he bit by bit grabbed more power and eroded civil rights until, paraphrasing Niemöller, there was nobody left to stop him.

I am deeply concerned by America's direction and would be unsurprised to see the United States become the next Nazi Germany, initiating World War III. I think the next American president will be a watershed. Either he'll rein things in and save us all from a cascade into war, or he'll push on the Bush agenda and quite possibly ignite a world war. There really isn't any more time for subsequent presidents. Things will be decided during the next presidential term. You guys are going to have to win the vote for sanity in 2008, or the world may be doomed.

I *wish* I was exaggerating. Four years ago I would've scoffed at these thoughts. I'm not laughing anymore.

[m00t.livejournal.com]

Considering how the Bush family as a whole is at most 2 degrees from most ex-nazi's, and in many cases 1 degree, I am utterly not surprised.

[richardjgrayson.livejournal.com]

The facts are simple - torture is ineffective. It's been said as much by the military.

There's nothing to my mind worse than having a Commander-in-Chief who is as patently and willingly clueless as this man is to the needs of the 21st century and the reasons the Geneva Conventions exist. And he needs to quit stamping his feet like some spoiled brat who's not getting his way.

[jeditigger.livejournal.com]

I know that in some parts of the country, the fiscally successfully and self-aggrandized holier-than-thou people who vote for the Republican yahoos are happy to be here. For the rest of us, I cannot remember being ashamed of my nationality. I'm ASHAMED. I want to tell the world, "Our country is held hostage by this man and his rotten cronies, and they do NOT represent us."

And for what has happened in the name of this country, I apologize to the rest of the world. Sometimes I think that the only reason Shrub hasn't been assassinated is that the NRA nutballs are the sorts that support Bush.

[mike-mccall.livejournal.com]

As a Canadian, this bill comes with little surprise to me. After the Maher Arar incident (http://www.maherarar.ca/), it was pretty obvious that "innocent until proven guilty" had been chucked out the window.

Also, your point about war crimes tribunals is an excellent one, and unfortunately another one I saw coming. When Bush backed out of the International Criminal Court because they wouldn't give Americans immunity to prosecution, I had a feeling.

Best wishes to all my American friends, and good luck in getting rid of the bastard a year or two early.