Damn You Pelosi, You Make This Difficult For Me

From Politico:

Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) promised to keep up the heat, telling reporters last week, “She and other leaders were fully briefed on all of these interrogation techniques. There’s nothing here that should surprise her.” Democrats dismiss such talk as a sideshow, arguing that the criticism of Pelosi is nothing compared with the long-term damage done to Republicans by the disclosure of Bush administration interrogation abuses.

And from CSM:

President Obama’s decision to make public four Bush-era memos authorizing “enhanced interrogation techniques” of terrorist suspects is now putting key Democrats on the spot, too. The top Republican on the House intelligence committee is calling for the release of the names all members of Congress briefed on these techniques, as well as the substance of those briefings.

I think what upsets me the most is that the democrats are firing back with a "well, torture is far worse than lying about it" tone. How have we not completely lost faith in humanity? This is not a game. This is not about winning or losing; it's about doing what is right versus what is wrong. Stop all this bullshit and get to work. There is so much that I have wanted to say with regards to all this torturing business, but it just makes my head hurt. There is nothing I can say that hasn't already been said by Andrew Sullivan. The case on whether or not to pursue prosecutions of Bush administration officials is closed here.

Political Impartiality

This post was intended for publication on January 31st.

The departure of the Bush administration and the arrival of the Obama administration has thrown me into a flux of being supportive of both Republican and Democratic party ideals. Of course, I've always considered myself a fiscal conservative and a social liberal; and I've also never associated myself with any political party. Why? George Washington told me not to do so, and he was right. Gays should have equal rights; taxes should not be given out (or back, in this upcoming stimulus package) to those who don't pay them; that government is best which governs least.

It would make sense, to me at least, that if there is a giant deficit hanging over our heads, we should be putting efforts into reducing that deficit. I have credit card debt. The monthly bills drain me of all my income. What should I be doing? Paying off those debts, and not adding to them. The stimulus package passed by the House this week is said to be 2/3 spending and 1/3 tax cuts. Granted, I will enjoy having more money in my pocket, but we cannot continue to cut taxes. The intent of cutting taxes is so people get so flash flooded with money, which results in an increase in consumer spending. I just got $500 for free (inaccurately so), and I've always wanted a new flat screen television. Let's illustrate this process:

1. My employer makes money.
2. I work, so I get a share of that money.
3. A share of that money gets taken by the government.
4. I use my money as a consumer; the government uses my money for its [own use].

[Note: I became distracted whence writing this post, and therefore, it must remain incomplete. I still find value in what it has to say, and so I am posting it as I left it.]

Reasons For My Thoughts On Torture

If you haven't done so already, read this post. Then watch this [depressing] video:



Mr. Bush, Ms. Rice, you belong in jail for your crimes.

Here is a list of memos that specifically authorizes torture.

My Issues With Torture

I recently got into a heated argument with a close relative of mine regarding the Bush administration's authorization and utilization of torture on suspected combatants. I use the term "utilization" loosely, because I believe that torture does not produce accurate or valuable information. I can only imagine that I, myself, would start telling people anything they wanted to hear if they were torturing me.

My conversation went (as I recall) somewhat like this:

"...the authorization of the use of torture."
"Oh really?"
"Yes, really. It's disgusting and doesn't do anything"
"Oh it does plenty. It says 'don't fuck with me' ".

Of course, my jaw dropped from having heard my relative just exclaim that. Also, this is a person who has never had anything but unwavering support for the conservative movement and the Bush administration.

This is all merely leading me to my position on torture: it's an absolute sign of how disgusting human beings can be. I understand that there are people who are probably deserving of torture or even immediate death, given certain atrocities that they committed. But we have to look at it from a different angle.

First of all, who has the 'right' to torture anyone? Secondly, who can bring themselves to inflict horrible pain and trauma on another human being? I think people fail to realize that these are still, despite what they may or may not have done, human beings. At the same time, our government [was] saying it was wrong and illegal to harm Americans, and yet, our government [was] committing atrocities of equal proportion.