At long last there is agreement between the Republicans and the Democrats. During this election silly season, corporate media interests will hype the Presidential race as being a great competition between valid philosophies upon which the future of the earth and existence itself will rest.
As we all know, that’s rubbish.
Within the last week results from an interesting poll were released. It was reported that 70% of those who consider themselves to be “liberal Democrats” agreed with President Obama’s position regarding Guantanamo. 70% of those who less than four years ago were screaming for George W. Bush to close this torture/detention center on occupied Cuba, now agree with the position that Guantanamo should remain open indefinitely; and who needs the rule of law anyway? Hey, if it’s good enough for Barack, it’s good enough for us!
And there you have it. Republican and Democratic both saying that the executive branch of the United States government can incarcerate anyone they want for as long as they want! All they have to do is call someone a terrorist, toss them into a cell in Cuba and voila, you have both major parties in complete agreement.
But wait, there’s more! Not only do both parties agree human beings have no rights if the executive branch says they don't, both parties also agree that if Americans order or commit torture, there will be no investigations or prosecutions of those involved. As a matter of fact, both Republicans and Democrats agree that if a former President of the United States of America publishes a book where he admits ordering the torture of defenseless prisoners, well, why don’t we all just forget about it because, you know, it would be so inconvenient if the law of the land were actually enforced. Bet 70% of those who identify themselves as “liberal Democrats” would support their party leader, Barack Obama, in ignoring his legal responsibility to investigate and prosecute all instances of torture which occur within his jurisdiction.
And how about those drones, you "liberal Democrats", you! Bet 70% of you support the President in the way foreign enemies are assassinated along with their wives, families and a good part of their neighborhoods. Can you say “collateral damage”? Aren’t you proud to be such a screaming liberal?
Now let’s review. If a Republican President holds enemy combatants forever, not recognizing any of their legal or human rights somewhere in occupied Cuba, that’s a bad thing. If a Democratic President does the same, well, we have to vote for him because the Republicans are worse. If a former Republican Pres admits to war crimes, it’s just dandy for the Democratic Pres to pretend it never happened. And if a Democratic President assassinates innocent family members of his enemies, well, love me, love me, love me, I’m a liberal.
If neither the Republican nor the Democratic Parties deserve your vote, there are other people for whom you can cast your ballot. You might not be supporting a winner this time around, but at least you won’t be supporting parties which support those who commit crimes against humanity.
-------------------------------------------------------
TIP:
Enter the amount, and click "Tip" to submit!
Lizz Schumer
Francois Arouet
Watching Frogs Boil
Alysa Salzberg
Mary Shaw
cjackbOnOpen
Salon.com
Comments
.
Great post, by the way.
Are all words being defined by GE?