From today's Miami Herald

Saturday, March 15, 2008

America must not justify torture

By DENNIS JETT

In his final months in office, President Bush is desperately trying to improve his place in history. Yet last Saturday, he vetoed a bill that would have banned the CIA's use of interrogation techniques that are not in the Army Field Manual. Ensuring his title as torturer in chief is not as inconsistent with his hopes for history as it might seem, however.

The quest for a positive legacy dictates what the president does these days. His Middle East peace conference in Annapolis in November and his follow up trip in January were designed to showcase his interest in peace. After all, not only did he spend several hours at his one-day conference, but he dedicated a whole week to visiting the region.

read more

Can you hear me; this one voice of dissent speaking out for freedom, the freedom to be who I am – in peace?

Would you listen; as I gave my thoughts on where we have arrived together – knowing that I am not walking in your shoes, but my own – and the path we travel intersects nowhere else but where we are?

Could you understand; if I choose words you have not chosen to describe a shadowy place you have not seen – knowing you will only see it through my eyes?

Will you see my reasons; even when they are obscured by a time and place you couldn’t know – strong enough in meaning to me that I am willing to stand against the tide to defend them?

read more

Which one of these headlines scares you the most? "Recession fears rise on more job cuts." "Fed takes new steps to boost cash for banks." "World markets slide as US economy groans." "Housing market spirals, no end in sight." "Consumer confidence at lowest since 2002." "Studies: Iraq costs US $12B per month." "Gas prices rise to new national record." "Consumers increased their borrowing by $6.9 billion in January." "Bush says no recession in sight."

Yeah, I know. It's not even close. Once again, our President emerges victorious.

Over the years, Bush has acquired many critics. Some think him as being arrogant, stubborn, ill informed, short-sighted, paranoid, clueless and out of touch. Others consider him an ideologue, an overgrown frat boy with a warped sense of entitlement, a dry drunk, a sociopath, a fascist, a belligerent blow-hard, a monarch wannabe with the inherent intelligence of a kadota fig and a total failure. To be fair to Bush, he is all that and more - an unprecedented Black Hole in the history of American governance.

read more

What if Senator John McCain were forced to choose an extremely and increasingly unpopular position and stand by it for months as it became less and less popular?

No, I don't mean his support for a permanent occupation of Iraq. Nobody forced him to take that position, and Senator Barack Obama is not exactly taking optimal advantage of it. Were Obama opposing the occupation, committing to filibuster further funding, promising to prosecute the architects of the war, devoting himself to bringing our troops home and taking a different approach toward the world, then McCain might find himself in a jam. Obama's "redeployment" to Afghanistan schtick, and his refusal to filibuster the funding, leave McCain looking like the tough and decisive choice.

read more

For all intents and purposes, the national news purveyors have decided that the war in Iraq is no longer of much interest, and no longer has the power to help cable news networks in their ongoing work of peddling Viagra and prostate nostrums to the American public. Ask your doctor if serious news coverage is right for you.

Violence is down (though 12 more U.S. soldiers died there this week), so the surge "worked." That's what we're told, anyway. So now we can all turn our attention to more important matters here at home, like news-free speculations and tea-leaf readings about the Democratic primary race and around-the-clock coverage of the sex scandal in New York. On those occasions when the subject of Iraq does come up, it's seldom much more than a sound bite or an off-the-front-page piece in which John McCain equates a Democratic victory with defeat in Iraq.

read more