Always Cover Your Tracks

The Bush administration has drafted amendments to a war crimes law that would eliminate the risk of prosecution for political appointees, CIA officers and former military personnel for humiliating or degrading war prisoners, according to U.S. officials and a copy of the amendments.

This strikes me as a complete acceptance of guilt on the part of those who are directing the torture activities of our government. If they knew they weren’t doing anything wrong, it would never even occur to them to make this kind of amendment. The torture policy changes bantied about earlier in the summer were never intended to effect the activities of the CIA, only the military.

Americans must rationalize living under the oppression of torturers the same way they deal with eavesdropping—“if I didn’t do anything wrong, I don’t have anything to worry about.” The idea that they support a government that tortures innocent people doesn’t worry them in the least. Injustice will never cause insomnia for them.

Again, I must say that the real problem around here is the voters. Our amoral, me-first culture continues to implode, taking with it every principle we ever claimed to care about. Trade the lives of people we’ll never know for a false sense of security? As a nation, we’re willing to make that deal all day.

Can anything or anyone turn the tide?

(The Washington Post via Digg)