One of the problems when a high government official commits heinous acts is that when one accuses him of doing so, one can too easily be accused of being shrill and demented. Folks in the 60s and 70s, who called Johnson, McNamara, Nixon, Kissinger, and so on (and not totally without reason) "war criminals," "evil," and what have you, made it difficult for reasonable people, later on, to actually point at horrific activity of their government officials later on and do anything similar. "Tinfoil hat behavior!" their opponents say. "You're demented!" the opposition cries. This puts one at a disadvantage when truly awful things are actually occurring.
Which brings us to Dick Cheney.
Folks, I lived through Watergate. I was in D.C., and we watched it on T.V. at my Elementary school. I remember the secret bombings of Cambodia. I have read about the Shoah, and talked to Holocaust survivors. I don't fly off the deep end. You can believe me or not, as suits you.
But I truly believe that Dick Cheney is a war criminal, and a deeply evil man.
Dick Cheney, with the aid of a few men, changed the policy of the United States significantly. No longer are we a country that abides by the law; we are a country that tortures people. Cheney himself denies this, with carefully parsed statements. He says that we don't "torture," but he has defined "torture" in such a way that it doesn't include waterboarding, stress positions, sensory deprivation, and other tortures that were, literally, sanctioned by the Nazis and Stalin's secret police. I assure you that I am not making this up, nor am I making this connection as a rhetorical device; this is an established fact.
There is no doubt that our President, George W. Bush, has approved of all this, and he bears a portion of the blame. But this policy was forwarded and put into place by Cheney, and put through the system by Cheney. This is Cheney's work. Cheney has changed the United States from a place of freedom to a place that tortures people, that imprisons them without trial, without telling them what they are in prison for, and keeps them incommunicado for years. American citizens have been removed from American soil and taken away with no charges, simply on governmental say-so. This is the work of Cheney.
I am appalled to live in a country where this has happened. I have no idea what we can do about it. I wish there was something I could do. I wish the Congress had the 'nads to impeach this evil monster, but I don't think it's ever going to happen. I can only hope that the damage he does in his remaining 18 months in office can be repaired by the next President. I pray that this is so. And I pray too that he pays for his heinous crimes.
About Me
- Douglas Moran
- When I'm asked “Where are you from?” I usually answer either, “Uh…,” “Most recently, you mean?” or “The Northeast,” which is about as specific as saying “The Western Hemisphere.” The fact is, after kicking around Connecticut, New Hampshire, Long Island, and northern Virginia, the longest I stayed any place was the 12 years he spent in Santa Cruz, California. My caustic sense of humor precludes saying he is a Santa Cruzan, however, so I usually say, “Uh…” With a Computer Science degree in my hot little hands and a modicum of writing ability, I somehow fell into a career as a technical writer in the computer biz, which allows my to work from my current home in Austin, Texas, be with my two kids, and still get in plenty of time researching new gadgets, watching science fiction DVDs, playing with A/V software, and hitting the frisbee golf courses nearby. My insanely tolerant wife (who once encouraged me to buy a sports car so as to preclude any midlife adulterating) fluctuates between living with my weird hobbies and urging me to engage in them even more, which helps explain why I am so inordinately fond of her.
No comments:
Post a Comment