OK, so, yeah, a lot of you are going to flame my ass. I get that. I know that. I can take it, it's OK.
The thing is, I think there's a whole aspect to this torture debate that you're not getting. And, really, I think it's THE point.
You see, many of us were hoping Barack Obama would go after the Bushies big-time and when he didn't we're playing Mr. Pissy-pants about it.
But it's not about Barack Obama and it's not about the Justice Department.
You see, in our divided constitutional government, expecting the executive branch to go after itself is folly. Always has been, always will be.
But, but, you sputter, it's torture and Barack is committing a crime by not prosecuting these scumbags. And he TOTALLY should. It's immoral after all. And I totally agree with you. Our man-slash-hero has totally let us down. He's proven himself of far greater character than his precedessor and still imperfect. I'm actually pretty annoyed about the whole thing to be honest.
But (listen up, people!) in terms of preserving our government as it was intended and preserving the civil liberties that are the backbone of our freedom, the principle here isn't that people should be better than George Bush, but that the government should enforce itself, backed by the pressure of the American people. There's a diary on the rec list talking about the people putting pressure on the president. That's a positive approach, but the pressure should be placed on Congress first and foremost. Until the Congressional leaders feel enough pressure to put the squeeze on the President, nothing will happen.
Keep in mind, especially, that there was no guarantee that we would even win this election. Would you have this same righteous indignation about John McCain's actions? When a single election determines who gets justice we've got problems. And when we rely on a politician to put principle first, we've got problems. And, it's possible that it's not realistic to expect any country to police itself.
So, what do we do? Where are we and who are we? Truth is, the great moral tragedy here is that Congressional members DURING the Bush administration utterly failed when history called them. In particular, Congressional Republicans, perhaps more than any other humans on the Earth aside from the torturers themselves, have blood on their hands. They're a sickening lot, devoid of morality and subject to all the scorn history has to offer. They have a special place in hell because, they, above all others, could have provided the political cover that would be needed to investigate and prosecute. But the Democrats as well were the accessories to the crime. Sometimes passive contributors and sometimes active. Disgusting, pathetic writers of letters. So next steps are murky.
But let's start with clear, honest public hearings and investigations. I'm not sure where the legal buck stops next but let's find out. Let's dig, let's press. When our elected representatives drop the ball, we need to step and put some fear into them. Might be checkbook, might be vote. But pressure is needed. Meanwhile, health care is dangled before us like a tantalizing mistress. Would we even trade universal health care for our morality? Is that even more moral? False choice, I know, but a clarifying thought experiment. Honestly, if they'll sell us out on torture, they'll sell us out on health care too. Better Democrats.
In the meantime, we can feel some relief that we have a great president in office and the torture has stopped. At least until the inauguration of President Palin.