A number of politicians have rightly noted that torture is not about the character or lack thereof of the folk in custody. It is about us. If we torture prisoners, it says something profound about who we are as a nation. I do not want to be that nation.
John McCain said that one of the things that enabled him to endure his torture in a North Vietnamese prison was the knowledge that if his captors were in a US military prison, they would not be treated the same way.
And here we are, once again leaving the door open to torture. Michael Mukasey was confirmed as attorney general in spite of his inability to decide whether water-boarding is torture. I am once again ashamed of the Democratic majority in the Senate and I am deeply saddened to think that this is who we have become. This is not the America I grew up in, nor is it the one I love. This is not who I want to be.
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2 comments:
this is a note that I sent off to my senator who voted for the confirmation...
Senator Feinstein,
I was deeply disappointed to see that you voted to confirm Michael Mukasey. Any nominee for a position of that level who does not know that waterboarding is torture is either lying or ignorant. A vote for him was one more capitulation to a corrupt administration and an abrogation of your oath to defend the constitution.
Your vote contributes to making this nation less than what it once was, what it claims to be, and what it should be. We are becoming something that I do not want to be. Any representative of the people without the courage to stand up against the use of torture does not deserve to be in the Senate.
I totally agree with you, and I keep wondering how the apathy of the public transcended itself into an apathy of the democratic party. Their inability to take a stand on any injustice is a reflection of our apathetic or even helpless nature that we have had for the past few years. And now people get mad at the government's inability to do what is right? (not a potshot at you, by the way, just in general).
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