Tuesday, March 29, 2005

Re: Stonewalling On Torture, And Blatant Hypocrisy

March 29, 2005


Dear Larry:

I forwarded your latest article to my son who is teaching in a charter school in Chicago. I thought he had an interesting and thoughtful response.

Keep up the good fight.

David


Solid writing that will come of nothing. Until mainstream media breaks the story and puts the emphasis on it that it has for Schiavo, little will come of it. Even if that were to happen, many if not most Americans are okay with the idea of torturing terrorists and thus apply to electoral pressure on officials to risk themselves by pushing the issue. Sadly, one of the great testaments to the poor quality of American intellect and critical thinking is the repeated mistake we make of evaluating moral, ethical and legal situations as though they existed in a vacuum. So was the case with the passing of the Patriot Act which many Americans now wish to draw back.

Unfortunately, once it is in place it is too late to do so. Had people thought about the implications of chipping away at civil liberities before demanding quick passage by Congress, we might have a more meaningful and effective bill that is in the spirit of our constitutional freedoms. Too many Americans adopt the "I have nothing to hide" stance. A truly ignorant stance for it is not those that are truly guilty who complain about bad legislation, but rather those whose lives are irreparably harmed by false accusations. Read the poem, The Hangman by Maurice Ogden, for a beautiful representation of the idea if we do not stand up against injustice against others then who will speak for us when injustice comes to us.

I would love to see Bush impeached over something like this. He is a Nixon type except that instead of being the Alpha-male thinker that Nixon was, this guy can't even define his own ideas without his little clique whispering in his ear first. Of course, what good is impeaching him if that means that Cheney becomes President, a fate far worse than our current plight. Condy Rice would start wearing seal fur jackets and oil wells would be placed in the middle of school lunchrooms so underage workers could get an education while also maintaining the wells during a 14 hour work day for which they are paid $2.

-peter-