Lately I've been incensed that the Republicans are trying to end Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's career, on the basis that she knew American forces were torturing sundry Muslims.
I'm not a fan of hypocrisy. It strikes me as dishonest that the Republicans contend it was okay for Bush and Cheney to authorize torture, which was called "enhanced interrogation", and it was just dandy for it to be done, in the national interests, and all that, and that it was important right up until January 18, 2008 to both carry out and defend this practice heartily... AND that Cheney, Bush, Rice, and all their cohorts should be enshrined in history as American heroes and certainly under no means judged figuratively, much less literally, for this... BUT that Representative Pelosi's career should come to an end just because she may or may not have known it was going on. The people who ordered it are heroes, but someone who had no power to stop it should be condemned and thrown aside?
Incidentally I'm no fan of Pelosi's. I live in her district and voted for Krissy Keefer last time out (I turned against Pelosi in the nineties when she proposed that the Presidio be financially supported by authorizing a large animal testing facility there). I'm angry on her behalf nonetheless.
7 comments:
I don't really think that's what they're doing. They are pointing out the it wasn't ONLY Republicans who knew about the torture. The Democrats are acting all righteously indignant about it, so the Republicans are simply pointing out that they weren't alone. Not that there isn't hypocrisy from Republicans too, but their current actions are a result of the Democrats' hypocrisy.
Personally, I think both parties suck.
I concur Janet!!! I think Pelosi's comments towards the CIA were pretty inflammatory and the response she received from the CIA was rather incendiary as well. I think turnabout is fair play and Pelosi has been throwing some big stones around. Righteous indignation never turns out well for anybody, including me.
Yes, you do have a point. I'm willing to admit that the Democratic party has its share of hypocrisies. This one by the 'pubs just strikes me as so big that I can't swallow it, though.
Just my 2cents... I don't think anyone should be enshrined for authorizing torture. Not sure how to get the information we need, but I'm also not entirely comfortable with the "enhanced interrogation measures". (Why must they always have such silly names for things?
I wish that just ONE politician (be it Pelosi or Bush or whoever) could get up and honestly say, "Yes I knew about it. No I didn't do anything to stop it. Yes I would do things differently now. Yes I will work to change things in the future."
Is simple honesty too much to request?
Personally I think politicians in general, and of both parties, are full of crap. We all just have to decide which ones we personally think are lower on the crap-o-meter.
Amazes me how people are so eager for one thing when a crisis is in full swing.
Then afterwards want to back peddle and throw blame around.
On 9-12 the majority of people in this country would have cheered in the streets at a public hanging for any of these germs that were involved in the previous days activity.
But now want to give them dental care, a clean prayer rug, a nice gentle conversation which may or may NOT produce any useful info.
I don't like that we all can't get along. The whole thing is stupid. War is stupid. But we are all not on the same page.
They laugh at us. That we actually have people in this country running to their defense.
Hell if I was one of them, I would love to be captured here. Milk and cookies all around....
Littlepurpleroom, believe me, I've been solidly against capital punishment since I was 18 and read Camus on the subject. No wavering on my part...
One major problem with torture is that it does not get one good information. That has been proven since the Inquisition, when people pled guilty to things which are impossible (cursing crops, flying through the air at night, etc.., etc..) You know what works? That old cliche, "good cop-bad cop."
I also believe that our use of torture harms the U.S.'s image and makes us more at risk for future acts of terrorism. Ironic, eh?
oops, that was the Drunken Housewife.
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