What Have We Become?

Put away any sharp objects that might be near you, as a matter of fact lock them away and lose the key. Yes Virginia, it is that bad.

The Guardian reports of the sad tale of Omar Deghayes a man who has been pulled into the Kafkaesque nightmare that is the US "War on Terror." His family has released a dossier on his case that outlines a true chamber of horrors. What it reveals is what "enhanced interrogation techniques" are all about. One of the accusations is that American Jailers poked one of Omar's eyes out and then laughed as he screamed in pain.

Think of that for a second, think on it long and hard. These are literally Gestapo tactics. These are the methods of the old Soviet Gulag. No one deserves this kind of treatment, not a soul. Even if were proved that Omar Deghayes ate new born babies on a daily basis this would not be justified. This is savagery, this is barbarism, these are the tactics of Attila the Hun and Ghengis Kahn. These are not the acts of a country founded on the rule of law.

The true horror is that the methods used on Omar Deghayes were "legal" by the lights of the John Wu / Alberto Gonzales memo. Remember dear reader, "pain equivalent to major organ failure?" Since Mr Deghayes has two eyes losing one is no great deal, right? Water boarding is cool and humiliation is just dandy in George W's world view. Getting smeared with human feces doesn't really hurt anyone now does it? In Alberto Gonzales’ fantasy land we can electrocute, beat, and sometimes kill with impunity. Why? Because we are the good guys, that is why.

Once upon a time the USA protected people like Mr. Deghayes, a refugee from an oppressive state. We used to welcome people like Mr. Deghayes, the Son of a labor leader cruelly cut down by a Authoritarian state. Now we let bounty hunters kidnap him and others like him. Now we pay those kidnappers off handsomely and deliver Mr. Deghayes into the arms of sadists. Now we don't even let Mr. Deghayes know what he is accused of. Now we don't offer him a real chance to defend himself or his honor.

What is truly appalling is that some Americans will rise up to defend this behavior. They will scream "terrorist sympathizer" and "Support the Troops." They will bellow "9/11" and yammer about "Islamic Fascism" all the while supporting a vile, illegal, Anti-American form of Proto-Fascism here.

What happened to Mr. Deghayes violates our American core values fundamentally. Our nation was founded in opposition to Executive Absolutism. Our nation outlawed the abuse of power that was the Court of the Star Chamber in England. Our founders reigned in the power of the executive with the 4th, 5th,6th,7th and 8th amendments to the Constitution. Our government is a signature to the Geneva Convention and as such, by the Constitution, is legally bound to follow the Conventions rules. The Geneva Convention is NOT a quaint out of date document, it is the LAW OF THE LAND.

Somewhere we have lost our fundamental values. Somewhere we become obsessed with "winning" at all costs. We have applied a sports game mentality to the world at large. We have adopted a "whatever it takes" attitude where a "fair play is for losers" mind set is our guiding light. We have adapted Vince Lombardi's dictum that "winning is the only thing" to just about everything in our lives. We have adopted a "might makes right" attitude to the whole world.

We have done this either actively via the efforts of neo-con propeller heads or passively by not pushing back at the horror show that the Bush Administration has become. Ladies and Gentleman the results are in. With 99.99% percent of the ballots in, we have a landslide : The Bush Administration is a radical right, ideologically driven governance that is profoundly Un-American. Its' Unitary Executive philosophy is what our founders fought and died against. It is a profoundly dishonest leadership spouting Orwellian talking points to the masses. It screams "freedom is on the march" all the while stripping away the very rules that protect our freedoms.
It yammers about "democracy" while supporting oppression. It touts its' Godliness all the while violating Jesus' injunction to "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you ."

Why are we not paying attention? Why are we still talking about Lindsey Lohan and Brittney Spears and Paris Hilton? Our government has become a criminal enterprise and all our Congress can do is roll over and give King George W a pass. With the passage of the new FISA law our Congress, ex-post-facto , gave its stamp of approval to five years of vile Bush Administration lawlessness. Now the Bush Administration can totally and LEGALLY ignore the courts. Now we are placed in the position of trusting Alberto Gonzales to do the right thing. We gave a cruel, cynical, dry-drunk, man-child permission to continue his vile, sadistic renditions. King George W gets to continue playing his cruel, homo-erotic games with any one he deems a terrorist or an unlawful combatant. Why are we not meeting our elected representatives with pitchforks and torches for this abject surrender to the worst president ever? Are the reruns of "Lost" THAT compelling?

Again, what have we become?
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