Jim Devine wrote: > > Kristol: > >> Obama stipulated that no one should be > >> above the law. But he praised C.I.A. > >> employees, and said he didn't want them > >> "looking over their shoulders and lawyering." > >> He took the general view "that when it comes > >> to national security, what we have to focus > >> on is getting things right in the future, as > >> opposed to looking at what we got wrong in > >> the past." > > Julio: > > Blah blah to Kristol. Hope that's okay with Jim and Michael. > > So Kristol is simply blathering because his facts are wrong? or his > logic? or his ways of combining them? or is he wrong by definition, > because he's a conservative?
By the beginning of the 20th century the world was approaching a near consensus (nearer than it ever had on almost anything) on the absolute unacceptability of torture. The Twentieth Century shattered that hope of consensus, but I can remember that in the 1940s u.s. propaganda, movies, etc. focused on the horrors of torture practiced by its enemies. The U.S. (officially) stood tall on denouncing the use of torture. (Imperialist nations always practice torture, so the U.S. was hypocritical, but it has been said that hypocrisy is the homage vice pays to virture.) Now in the 21s century first the Bush Administration adopts torture as national policy, and Congress (both DP & RP) goes along with it, though there are shrieks of dismay from liberals. Then the Liberal Hope, Obama says he will protect the murderers and torturers and other willing thugs in the CIA, as well as those in high places) against being held responsible for their crimes against humanity. A writer dares to suggest that perhaps the u.s. ought to pretend at least to be a decent nation, and that it is Obama's responsibility to uphold some minimal standards of decency. And some person who dares to call himself a "progressive" and argue what "progressives" should do, announces to Pen-L that of course is acceptable. He is cowardly, and hides that approval of torture under the mask of rhetorical criticism (Blah Blah). It has become blah blah now to speak up for humand ecency. So be it. Carrol _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
