I haven’t said anything about the torture revelations because, well…it hurts to think about it. Unfortunately, I’m completely unsurprised that we not only did it, not only destroyed evidence of it, but did so when under DIRECT judicial order not to do so…and even so, it’s not the knowledge of the incidents that hurts the most right now (those that knowledge hurts terribly). What hurts the most is that I’m unsurprised. What hurts the most is watching us do this to ourselves; to this grand experiment that so many fought and died for.

We’re so far down this slippery slope now that we’re in a twilight zone where headlines like Waterboarding ‘saved lives’ seem uncontroversial. Can I even explain how wrong that is, if someone doesn’t understand? I have no doubt that it’s possible for torture to save lives; I can think of other ways to do so as well…

Capital punishment for repeat DUI offenders…they statistically have a much higher chance of killing others in accidents. Let’s save lives. Immediate execution of prisoners of war (well…after torturing them for info); eliminates any possibility that they could escape (or be freed at the end of present hostilities) and wreak revenge. Heck…based on the demographics of Islamofascists, we could forcibly sterilize women in certain Middle Eastern countries and drastically reduce the chances of future suicide bombers being born…thus saving lives.

There’s a reason that the ends justify the means is a bad idea, folks. Maybe at some point in this dark time, we’ll learn that lesson.

Note: in case I’ve been unclear here, or at any other time; I don’t disagree with torture because it puts our troops in harm’s way, or because it’s not particularly useful…though I happen to believe that both of those things are true. I disagree with it because it is ethically repugnant to me to do that to another human being, regardless of what they’re done. Yes. Regardless. Period. It’s wrong…that’s why it’s wrong. Funny…some people say I’m the one who lacks moral convictions…

UPDATE: Never fear, steadfast readers…er, reader. Whatever. I haven’t given up. I tossed some cash in the ACLU‘s coffers, I’m checking out more anti-torture organizations to support, and I’m emailing and snailmailing my Congresscritters. We may be in a bad place, but I don’t think the Bad Guys of any stripe have a lock on things. Not by a long shot. There are a lot of good people around, who wake up slowly, and reluctantly sometimes…but they wake up.