Torture: A Sin That Americans Will Have To Live With Forever

This is not the type of post I wanted to write on a Friday afternoon. Originally, my plan was to upload a clip of the Red Hot Chili Peppers covering the classic Ramones song, "Havana Affair" as part of a new idea I had that would highlight one cover song a week.

However, with this dominating the news I think it needs to be discussed. There is no more debate, the secret is out: during the course of the Bush Administration the CIA and military regularly tortured terrorist suspects.

Now I don't want to hear about how, "waterboarding isn't torture. It's a 'enhanced interrogation tactic.'" That is complete and utter bullshit. Waterboarding is torture. You don't believe me? Watch the video yourself:

"Creates the sensation of drowning..."

How can you watch that video and say that waterboarding is not torture?

Also this whole argument about how it is effective is bogus. Time and time again torture has been shown to be ineffective in obtaining credible information. If a person is being tortured, they will say whatever it takes to make the practice stop. If you have 10 suspects and one of them has information, if you torture all 10 of them you will get 10 different leads. Is it possible one of them is correct? Maybe, but all the time and manpower that will be wasted on pursuing the nine other leads leaves our country even more vulnerable to attack.

September 11, 2001 was an awful day for all of Americans. It's very painful for me to think about. I went to High School right outside of NYC and I knew people who lost loved ones on that day and I thank God every night that I wasn't one of them. Until about two years ago I still had nightmares right around 9/11 of that day. I never want to see that happen again.

Torture couldn't have prevented 9/11 (what could have was top security documents in August of that year that said "Bin Laden determined to strike inside the US" but that's not the point right now). As a means of interrogation, torture is not effective and it won't prevent future attacks on the United States. What will prevent further attacks on the United States is multi-national cooperation of law enforcement agencies and military's. However, the international community will not help us if we are breaking international law left and right.

During the Cold War against the Soviet Union one of the constant weapons of propaganda the Soviets used against the United States in the 1950s and 1960s was the treatment of blacks in this country. The Soviet Union mocked our freedoms by pointing out the fact that black people in this country were being treated as second-class citizens. The civil rights movement in this country really gained steam with Eisenhower, Kennedy and Johnson not just because it was the right thing to do morally, but it took a weapon out of the Soviet Unions arsenal.

Never underestimate the power of human rights when fighting an ideological war, be it against Fascism, Communism or Terrorism.

Look, no matter what way you look at it torture is an evil and illegal practice. Torture is illegal in international law and under our own United States constitution!

All we have in this country is the rule of law. We were founded on laws, there is no history of monarchy or theocracy that we can hearken back to for guidance. We are a nation of man-made laws and if we begin to violate them left and right, the very fabric of our country is dissolved. So for no other reason than for the survival of our country, we should not be torturing people.

Additionally, there are so many in this country who take their personal guidance from the Bible and other religious institutions. Can they really say that torture is not an affront to our Judeo-Christian beliefs? Jesus Christ, son of God, was tortured and died for our sins...and now we are treating people no better than Punchos Pilot. It is sickening.

Fox News' Sheppard Smith says it best (I know, right? Fox News of all places has the guts to say it):



This is truly an awful chapter in American history. I'm not going to go on a rant here and list all the other regime's throughout history that have tortured, but needless to say we are not in good company.

However, we do have a chance to do something about it.

We can hold those who advocated this horrible practice accountable. We can prosecute them, put them on trial and send them to jail. It is the right thing to do and while it will not erase what we have done, it will acknowledge at least that we know it is wrong.

It won't be easy. Torture apologists will claim it is no more than a political witch hunt with Democrats trying to score points on Republicans. Well let me make one thing clear: this is not a partisan issue.

Just like the Bush Administration was responsible so were Senate and House Democrats who new about this, but sat complacent. The six Democratic Senators who confirmed Michael Mukasey for Attorney General in 2007, even though they knew full well he supported torture.

History is watching us right now, how will we act? Will we acknowledge the evil or simply brush it under the rug?

Teabaggers need to get a clue

I am really getting pissed off with this whole idiotic Republican "Teabagger" movement. It is a dishonest campaign of misinformation and it's time for the facts to come out.

Here you have a bunch of rich Republican hacks, lying to an ignorant minority about a tax increase that will not affect a full 97 percent of the population.

Here are the facts:

* The Obama Administration is planning on letting the Bush tax cuts expire in 2011.
* This means that the tax rate for Americans earning over $250,000 a year will increase 3.6% from 36% to 39.6%. Furthermore, Americans making over $200,000 a year will see an increase of 2% from 33% to 35%.

So to recap, if you make under $200,000 a year you will see ABSOLUTELY NO TAX INCREASE. At most, the richest Americans will see an increase less than four percent.

Nationally, this increase will hit less than 3% of the population.

Yet to listen to these GOP hacks you would swear that the British were coming and they could kiss their money good bye.

You really have to hand it to these Republican Governors. The hubris on their part to deny much-needed stimulus aide to their people, while rallying them against a tax policy that benefits much of the state is remarkable.

Check out Texas Governor Rick Perry today, talking secession in the Lone Star State:



Un-F'n-believable.

So what is Perry talking about?

Texas
Percentage of population earning over $200,000 a year: 3.9%
Amount of aid Governor is costing the state through rejecting stimulus funds: $5.13 Billion (2nd overall).

Ok so let's see if I get this, in Texas less than 4 percent of the population will see a maximum 3 percent tax increase?

Ohhhh the horror!

Meanwhile, if you look past that 3.9 percent in Texas that make over $200K a year, the median income is a paltry $47,548/year - good for 28th in the nation. So with half of his state making less than $47,548/year, Rick Perry has shown that he is more concerned with thee 3.9 percent making more than $200,000.

What a joke.