Tortured Logic

Yes, a header that's been used too often in recent years. The infamous Yoo memorandum (.pdf) was declassified and released yesterday. Glenn Greenwald offers his thoughts, as does Scott Horton.

If you're a citizen of the United States of America, what does it mean to you that your country, the country to which you have pledged allegiance since kindergarten, the country to which you have paid taxes since you've been of working age, has embraced the barbaric traditions of torture? What does it mean to you that this country has broken its international treaty obligations and gone against the Geneva Conventions - which the US largely wrote?

Abu Ghraib was not an anomaly, or the reckless behavior of a few "bad apples". Forget Jack Bauer! The use of torture has been systemic - it has not been used in "ticking time-bomb scenarios" as the administration's apologists would have it. The use of torture has been the signal element in a broader attempt to do away with any constitutional constraints on the Executive Branch.

The question for all of us is how do you explain this to your children? How do you explain to them that our president is free to break the rules, free to break domestic and international laws at will? To what, exactly, does your child say the Pledge of Allegiance every morning at school?

It is perfectly reasonable to love one's country and to not agree with its democratically elected (ha!) and temporary leaders. Personally, I won't be satisfied until I see the likes of John Yoo, Alberto Gonzales, Condeleeza Rice, Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, and George W. Bush in orange overalls doing a "perp- walk".

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In other news this morning, the Pentagon is considering reorganizing it's intelligence unit. Gee, think any documents will get lost in the shuffle? Irish PM Bertie Ahern has announced his resignation amidst corruption charges. Zimbabwe waits for change. Corrupt prosecutions, Part I and Part II. Going for broke. The first casualty. Project Trinity. Thirty-two. Live long and prosper. Travel through time. And please, just trust us.

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The World's Largest Folie. Stupid. And speaking of buildings, I apologize for having not put up any "Building of the Day" posts recently. I'll try to make up for it later today...