In just twenty-six days, the United States will no longer have a sociopath serving as the most powerful Vice President in history. But we will still have the stain of having allowed a war criminal to continue to run free and be treated like a respectable member of society.
Look at this interview with Cheney and tell me it isn't utterly chilling. Cheney is clearly proud to have facilitated the use of torture -- there is no shame, no hesitancy, no equivocation whatsoever. This guy is a moral monster.
There was a time when the United States was very clear that waterboarding was torture and that it was a war crime. Japanese soldiers who engaged in the practice against Americans were prosecuted as war criminals and given lengthy prison terms.
Why am I returning to this story on Christmas Eve of all times? (Well obviously the booze isn't producing happy drunk Sir Charles). Because, of all of the bad and incompetent things that this godforsaken administration has done in our collective names, it is the use and legitimization of torture that I find most appalling, the most contrary to what I think this country is about. I personally feel a deep sense of shame and revulsion that this is what we have come to as a people and that these are the kind of people that my countrymen could have chosen to lead us.
In a New Year in which I have more than a few wishes on my list, a couple that are very near the top are that President Obama will from day one forbid the use of torture (and extraordinary rendition), close Guantanamo, and require some form of due process to deal with these detainees. Another, which may fall more into the fantasy realm, is that Cheney is arrogant enough to go abroad to the wrong country and ends up beiong detained and tried for what he has done. It would be poetic justice if nothing else.
Alright -- I'll lighten up now.
