"The United States should be an example to the world, sir," Maj. Gen. Scott C. Black, judge advocate general of the Army, told Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.) at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. "Reciprocity is something that weighs heavily in all of the discussions that we are undertaking as we develop the process and rules for the commissions, and that's the exact reason, sir. The treatment of soldiers who will be captured on future battlefields is of paramount concern."
This quote from yesterday's Washington Post article leads me to wonder how Americans, in particular Christians, can stand by as the administration asserts its position on the treatment of detainees? This is our values candidate? This is our security man?
The lack of listening, the low moral ground on this issue, and the persistence in the face of highly credible opposition increases my deep disappointment with our President and his appointees.
In today’s Commercial Appeal Paul Krugman points out something I have been berating myself about for the last several years. He says, "Those who cling to the belief that polictics can be conducted in terms of people rather than parties are kidding themselves." My ill cast vote for the self proclaimed "uniter," George Bush, in 2000 helped put in place a divider--the "Decider--" and thus a regime finding no grounds for healthy compromise or debate. I prided myself on thoughtful nonpartisanship for many years, but I am see clearly that in today’s politics, there is no effective place for the moderate non-partisan with type of leadership that has evolved.
What was it my momma said? "You didn't just vote that man, you voted for all of the people he'll bring in with him."
And what Bush hath brought.
The Bush regime thumbing its nose at the international community in the run up to war in Iraq, now determines to do ANYTHING it chooses regardless of the voice of the Congress. It declares its intention to enforce only parts of laws it wants and we the people stand for it.
This administration ignores the values, the advice, and the very men who wear the uniform of our country, to perpetrate their agenda.
It is not unpatriotic, it is not partisan, to question an administration that has compromised all of us by its violation of human rights.
Today the leaders of our military legal system object to the nature of the administration's approach to detainees because it besmirches our international stature and endangers our soldiers.
It strikes me as ironic that Christians who claim to follow immutable laws of justice would buy into the "9-11 changes everything" mentality.
Mr. Bush: “We should be an example to the world, sir.”
