Crime and punishment.

Is it me, or does the mainstream media seem even more ridiculously susceptible to political distraction than ever? I have to admit to being a bit gob-smacked by their laser-like focus on Nancy Pelosi and the question of whether or not she has prevaricated over C.I.A. briefings about the use of torture in interrogations. They seem to be taking their lead not only from Republicans in Congress, but from retired G.O.P. leadership, like Newt Gingrich (a.k.a. the embodiment of all that is good and right). What the fuck, friends - this is like speculating over who listened in on the police scanner the night some arsonist burned an apartment house to the ground. Sure, even Pelosi's explanation makes her seem hypocritical, but that's a pretty minor matter next to the implementation of a broad policy of torture and prisoner abuse, in service to even more serious crimes.

Here's what astonishes me about this. While the entire nation is obsessing over what Nancy Pelosi knew and when, very little attention is being paid to the still-emerging narrative of how extreme interrogations fit into the Bush team's push for war in Iraq. Sure, there's discussion on MSNBC and other outlets about the use of waterboarding and its illegality. But last I looked, invading a country for no justifiable reason is also a violation of international law. And the more information that comes out about the interrogation program, the more it looks as though it was being applied as a means of extracting confessions - false ones - about a connection between Al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein. If that seems like old news to anyone, it bears reminding that crimes of this magnitude should by rights remain news until the perpetrators are held to account. That's the general standard to which we hold our official enemies, and the one the Nuremberg principles call on us to observe with regard to our own behavior.

Doesn't it seem like just yesterday that Bush/Cheney and friends (of both parties) were railroading us into a completely unnecessary war? Actually.... it WAS just yesterday that the object known as Dick Cheney was heard making the same fraudulent claims before the American Enterprise Institute. At least he's keeping this heinous piece of history fresh in our minds... though why we should need any kind of mnemonic device is a bit beyond me. The war they started is, after all, still going on, still killing scores at a time. That is why waging an unprovoked war of aggression is considered the most egregious of crimes - because so many evils are contained within it. Cheney and his administration, the broad swath of congressional supporters, and ultimately every citizen of our nation bears responsibility for everything that proceeded from that fateful decision back in March of 2003. We are not a dictatorship; we are a democracy, and that is part of the price of democracy - taking ownership of your nation's misdeeds.

And whatever Cheney tells his fans, waterboarding someone 180 times does not indicate a determination to learn the truth in a very short time. It's a means of extracting false information that can be used to help drive a nation to war. If that isn't criminal, I don't know what is.

luv u,

jp