Save the last bullet for yourself
Submitted by Stan on Fri, 11/09/2007 - 11:18am
When I was in Vietnam so many years ago (artillery) I sometimes wondered what I would do if I thought I was going to be captured. Stories of torture and atrocity were common place and I wondered whether or not I could withstand such things. It never came to that, but there were times I was pretty scared.
I've read the accounts of many who were captured and tortured. While I know the hope of returning to their loved ones and home sustained those brave soldiers, I also know somewhere in their minds they were also comforted and rebelliously sustained knowing they held the high moral ground and that their captors would someday be punished for their crimes.
The Geneva Conventions said all you have to give is name, rank, and serial #. And that's what many did. They paid dearly....but their heads were held high.
As I watched the debate on Mukasey's confirmation Last night on CSPAN and listend to Schumer equivocate and listened to the Republicans praise a man who says he doesn't know if multiple repetitions of artificially induced drowning is torture, I thought...it's over...The United States Senate has formally endorsed torture.
There is no more moral high ground. Through all the searing revelations about Abu Ghraib prison...and the tales of extraordinary renditions and all of it, there was, in my mind, a spark of hope that our elected representatives would rebuke these practices and start us back on the road to once again being a beacon of morality. Not perfect...but at least committed to the just and moral path in the treatment of our fellow human beings.
Last night, The US Senate flushed America down the toilet and invited all the world to the ceremony. And, we gave our enemies carte blanche to treat our loved ones, civilian or military, like pieces of meat if they are captured or taken hostage.
All Republicans present for the vote voted to confirm...no surprise.
Here are the Democrats who voted YEA for Mukasey:
Bayh (D-IN)
Carper (D-DE)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Landrieu (D-LA)
Nelson (D-NE)
Schumer (D-NY)
And here are the wimps who chose not to vote:
Alexander (R-TN)
Biden (D-DE)
Clinton (D-NY)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Dodd (D-CT)
McCain (R-AZ)
Obama (D-IL)
All I could think of while I watched these folks mill around on the floor of the Senate smiling and laughing while the votes were called, was House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Tom Lantos'(D-CA)recent remarks to the CEO of YAHOO regarding their collaboration in the jailing of Chinese journalists. Lantos angrily said
"While technologically and financially you are giants, morally you are pygmies."
Everyone who voted to confirm Mukasey is just that...a moral pygmy.
And those who chose not to vote...including CLINTON, DODD, OBAMA, BIDEN and McCain (can you believe it)...You're not just moral pygmies, you're gutless moral pygmies. And you want to be OUR president? Take a hike...all of you!
(cross posted at KOS) here
Frontpaged by Anglico
Dole and Burr, of course, both voted for torture.
Do good. Be nice. Have fun.
Actions like this prove these people do not have
the moral fiber to be president or lead me anywhere.
Cowards do not make decisions.
A coward cannot be our president. Is this how these guys are going to act for the next year? every tough bill or decision, they will let someone else make the choice so they do not offend anyone? Normally, I will vote for snoopy when I do not like the choices presented. Today, I have found a new write in candidate. a Piss ant.
A piss ant would be a better representative then any of these cowards who do not have the moral fortitude to act or to represent us. These cowards knew that regardless of their vote it was going to pass. So they opted NOT to vote so later they can support the position being asked at that moment. they have set themselfs up so they can waffle.....waffle waffle. I'm a coward and I make decisions so I can waffle. Flip flop is the way for me. Dont force me to take a stance.
McCain, of all people should have an idea of water boarding or of torture. For him not to vote either way???
Integrity has just flown out the window with these candidates. Edwards you have been handed a gift. You better use it to its fullest.
Excellent diary, stan
And it's really taken off on Kos.
Be the change you wish to see in the world. --Gandhi
So sad. That's all.
Thanks for telling it like it should be told Stan.
North Carolina. Turning the South Blue!
North Carolina. Turning the South Blue!
And all this time I thought
And all this time I thought we already had a piss ant for president.
Stan's diary is the top of the Kos recommended list
That ought to tell you something about the sense of outrage this vote has triggered.
Do good. Be nice. Have fun.
LATE last night, B*$h got his torture AG.
I just don’t understand what has happened to our country. OBL is (if he’s even still alive) probably laughing his ass off at the stupidity of the powers that have taken over the country. He knows that B*$hCo has done more damage than he, the Taliban and al-Qaeda all the rest could have ever done. WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO MY COUNTRY? The country I volunteered to protect and defend as a member of the US Air Force. The country that my forefathers fought and died to protect and defend. It's gone. It's ALL gone. May the Goddess save us all...
Two sets of standards
Our Constitution was not written to protect an exclusive class of citizens, it was written for all, including those who find themselves at odds with authority. And it's not just about being conscious of our rights, it's about being aware of the rights of others. This is where the current slope gets slippery.
Whether or not an individual is an American citizen, or a foreign national, or an enemy combatant, or a fucking alien from Alpha Centauri, does not matter. What matters is the way we behave towards our fellow man (or woman), and if that behavior is in accord with the spirit of the United States Constitution.
The following comment is for Kay and Jim and Larry and John and Marshall and Daniel and all the others aspiring to Congress, including the Republicans (although I don't expect them to agree):
If you find yourself trying to figure out if someone "qualifies" for the rights spelled out in the Constitution, you've already stepped off the path of enlightened reasoning and are thrashing around in the darkness.
It's not an exclusive club, it's a state of mind, and one that simply can't coexist with another state of mind.
Amen
This isn't just about 20th and 21st century progressive values anymore. We're fighting to restore the soul of what it is to be an American.
Great diary
I recd on Kos before I knew it was you. I was under the water during Nam so wasn't exposed to the possibilities that you were, but at the same time, the "my country doesn't torture" theme was a strong thread that ran through every conversation. No more.
I think that this is indeed a watershed moment in our nation's history. SchumerTortureStein have double handedly disgraced all that I served for. I'm feeling very, very bad about this. Do we need to add a "stan" to America's name? Ameristan? Americastan? Ameri-welove-torture-stan?