Letter to the Oregonian...sent last evening...

[varropdx]

Shame, shame to Senator Gordon Smith and Representative Greg Walden for approving the use of torture against
people captured by American forces in the Middle East.

Some people might say that we need torture and kangaroo courts to fight terrorism. Funny, we didn't torture
German soldiers or captured Nazis in World War II - not even Hermann Goering, Rudolf Hess, Joachim von Ribentropp, or
any of the surviving top Nazi officials. (Because of George W. Bush and his henchmen, Godwin's Law is
suspended until at least January 20, 2009.)

We also don't torture Mafia members, members of drug or street gangs, or any other members of criminal
organizations to gather information. We cajole information out of captured criminals, offering more lenient sentencing,
freedom, and the Witness Protection Program for people willing to give up information to undermine criminal enterprises. Which
is what terrorists are - members of criminal organizations.

For those of you who might ask "What about a terrorist who knows about a bomb about to explode" - the "ticking bomb scenario" you might see on television doesn't exist in the real world. It's fabricated by people like Alan Dershowitz who want to justify torture.

Nothing can justify the use of torture in the service of the United States of America. NOTHING.

(varro)

Comments

[luckycee.livejournal.com]

Amen. Shame on them all.

[almanzo.livejournal.com]

I decided that from now on I will try very hard not to refer to Those People as the GOP or the Republican Party. I like Stephanie Miller's "American Taliban" better.

[xakko.livejournal.com]

didn't you take relativistic moral math in school? - evil (terrorists) + evil (torture and the like) equals votes from people to whom America is just a label, and no longer an ideal.

[ms-xeno.livejournal.com]

Now that torture is a-okay to use on your enemies, the Democratic Party could start by torturing the 42 asswipes on their own team that voted for this shit.

[roll on snaredrum]

Thank You ! I'll be here all week !

[prince-cosmic.livejournal.com]

Good letter!