All right, I’m a slow learner. Until I saw the ad in the newspaper, I really didn’t get it. I didn’t really understand that if the Bush administration torture architects are brought to justice, it won’t be because of the Democratic Party, but in spite of the Democratic Party.
The sorry record of the Democratic establishment during the Bush years should have given me a clue. And the continuation of this sorry record by Barack Obama should have clinched the issue. He has made it clear that he is not interested in accountability for crimes by the Washington elite. He’s tried to preserve the “state secrets” privilege to block lawsuits by torture victims, and threatened the government of Britain if they release information on the torture of a British inmate at Guantanamo.
Just last week, Democratic senators responded to Dick Cheney’s cross-country pro-torture tour, by joining the freak-out about having alleged terrorists held in American prisons. Not to be outdone in pandering to panic, the President pledged to develop a “legal framework” for locking up people indefinitely without trial. Clearly, not much has changed in Washington: when a Republican says “Stoop!” the Democrats just ask “How low?”
And yet ... as I idly flipped through the business section of yesterday’s Toronto Star, this ad took my breath away.
An “exclusive event” sponsored by a major financial institution. A cheerful, gentlemanly “conversation” between the leader of the torture administration and his Democratic predecessor, who happens to be the husband of the Secretary of State in the new administration. A chance for the corporate elite of Canada to bask in the reflected glow of power, way more power than anyone in Canada has ever held. And a chance for two wealthy men to walk away with a couple of hundred thousand dollars each.
When being a Washington insider pays that well, can we expect any of them, Republican or Democrat, to really rock the boat?
They might quibble on some policy issues – “did deregulation of the financial markets really turn out to be a good idea?” … “is torture really a useful form of statecraft?” But when the two speakers, and their audience, walk out of the Convention Centre tomorrow evening, they will share warm feelings about the system that has rewarded them so richly.
So thank you, TD Bank Financial Group. Your exclusive event really sucks, but your ad paints a clearer picture than anything else in the newspaper.
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Margaret Feike
Steve Klingaman
Kent Pitman
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Comments
LaRae, I wonder if they would agree to a joint speaking engagement in the US. Perhaps the optics just wouldn't be right, since a big part of the game is for the two parties to carry on as if they're mortal enemies.
OEsheepdog, I suppose he can speak Canadish about as well as he can speak Americanish, but I wouldn't hold that against him.
Dorinda, a press pass as an OS writer is an interesting idea, which I hadn't even considered -- but I would think press credentials for this event will be very tightly screened.
Juliet, according to a presentation last Friday by Michael Mandel of Osgoode Hall Law School, Bill Clinton did indeed start the "extraordinary rendition" policy.
I, for one, would not mind listening in on a conversation between these two...although I would prefer that it not be a public conversation, because I am more interested in what they really think rather than what they think they can actually say in public.
If it is real, I am amazed that there is enough money on the planet to get George W. to go up against Willie!
In his defense, one might claim that the power of the Military-Intelligence-Industrial-MSM complex is way too powerful for any President to carry out a liberal program. Be that as it may, I'm going to support the Green Party in my region. Expending any further effort for the Dem bag men & women is fruitless.