The Benefits of Freedom

As someone was channel surfing earlier today I momentarily caught a glimpse of our loony President. I guess during an interview of some kind. All I really heard from him was something about the benefits of freedom. I don't know exactly what he was talking about but of course it made me think of the benefits of freedom as brought to Iraq. Let's see, two million Iraqis have left their country. Another two million have had to leave their homes but have not been able to leave the country. One point one million Iraqis estimated to have died, mostly innocents, including women and children. Almost four thousand American troops dead, perhaps thirty or more thousand wounded seriously. The Iraqis are going without electricity much of the time, and water is also a serious problem. Their infrastructure has been mostly destroyed and not yet replaced. They are without adequate health care, their national treasures have been looted, and their surviving children traumatized probably for life. Many have been abused and even tortured. Some benefits! I bet the rest of the world can't wait to receive our benefits of freedom.

I just heard Keith Olberman's tirade about Bush and waterboarding. Aside from Bush, Cheney, and others in their administration there seems to be a wide consensus that waterboarding is, in fact, torture. Apparently it has been since the Spanish Inquisition and right on up until the present time, being employed both by the Nazis, the Japanese, and now in Burma, and no doubt elsewhere as well. As it is torture it is also illegal. Thus, if Bush authorized it, he committed a criminal act, and could end up in jail. No wonder Mukasey, who wants to be Bush's new Attorney General, can't come right out and say it is torture, because by doing that he would also be saying Bush was a criminal (and therefore subject to prosecution). If Mukasey really doesn't believe it is torture that is one thing, but if he knows that it is, and refuses to say so because he wants to be appointed, he is not fit for the job. Olberman believes the Bush/Cheney administration is now nothing much more than a great conspiracy to keep Bush and some of his cronies out of jail. Is Mukasey part of this conspiracy? As he also seems to believe the President can break our laws if he wishes, does that make him any better than Gonzales? It is now clear that our people have used waterboarding, and it is also clear that Bush ordered it. Is he going to get away with continuing to insist that we do not torture (because his flunky Gonzales redefined torture to exclude waterboarding)? It appears that a large majority of citizens and lawyers agree that it is torture. So will anything come of this? Don't bet on it. Schumer and Feinstein don't seem to care as they have already caved and will support Mukasey. People with the courage of no convictions.

Frankly, however terrible waterboarding and torture may be, it pales into insignificance alongside the rest of the Bush/Cheney war crimes. If Bush were to go to jail because of torturing it would be something like Capone going to jail for tax evasion. But I sincerely hope it happens. As we say, it couldn't happen to a nicer guy.

LKBIQ:
"This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.
T. S. Eliot