Anonymous 1:

But for the record, the military was irritated with Bill Clinton for using them for other purposes than what their main job was. Again, that was irrelevant...he was the President and so we obeyed his orders...PERIOD.

Speak for yourself. I served under three Presidents (Reagan, Daddy Bush, and Clinton) and never felt that I was being used for anything that wasn't within the scope of my mission. You want to provide some specifics, there?

As for obeying the President's order, "PERIOD" -- um, no. Neither the President or anyone else can give a lawful order which contradicts the UCMJ or the Constitution. If such an order is given, it is unlawful, and to obey it is itself unlawful. I think this issue was pretty conclusively settled, oh, about sixty years ago.

Anonymous 2:

So you are alluding to the idea that there will be voter fraud in the military? If so, I think whomever has the nerve to try that is one brave SOB! Remember, those in the military are subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice...and you don't have a lot of the rights civilians enjoy. Boy, just thinking about being prosecuted for that is a scary thought!!!

If you think fear of the UCMJ will prevent the right-wing cabal which has seized control of much of our officer corps from carrying out voter fraud, you're desperately naive. The US military is in serious danger of being taken over completely by criminals.

bignose:

The main job of the military is to do what the commander in chief (i.e. POTUS) tells them to do. Perhaps if they were able to apply a little more critical analysis, our men and women would not be fighting and dying for a bunch of fucking lies.

The main job of the military is to support and defend the Constitution of the United States of America. Following the orders of the President and military officers is, ideally, supposed to be how this function is performed; it's tactics, while defending the Constitution is strategy, if you see what I mean.

I agree with you that critical thinking about the current war would lead to the conclusion that the strategy and the tactics are in conflict with each other, but try to look at it from the perspective of an 18-year-old who's just been thoroughly indoctrinated in the idea of instant obedience. Mutiny is a big, ugly word, and it's about the scariest thing any soldier, sailor, airman, or Marine will ever have to contemplate -- scarier by far than the idea of dying in combat.

... but I see that I was wrong.

Businesses do occasionally change their behavior in response to customer complaints, you know. If I weren't a subscriber, I'd keep my mouth shut. But the fact is, I'm paying a portion of Tennis' richly undeserved salary. My hope, naive as it may be, is that if enough paying customers complain enough times, maybe Salon's management will take notice and replace this pointless, self-indulgent, and occasionally dangerous column with something worthwhile.

... than a lot of the other crap IP trolls regularly sue over.

Do you think we shouldn't prosecute garden-variety murderers because they're not as bad as serial killers?

There have been hundreds of reports from all over the world about CIA black sites. The fact that this individual is the first to talk in detail about his experiences does not mean that there is no corroboration.

And yes, open dissent in America is still possible, for now. What people like you never seem to understand is that by exposing the truth about the worst government abuses, news sources like Salon are trying to keep it that way.

Tyranny is slow and patient. France did not go instantly from liberte, egalite, fraternite to the Reign of Terror. Russia did not tumble overnight from the euphoria of revolution to the grinding horror of the gulag. Germany did not elect the Nazis into power one day and start building death camps the next.

These were processes -- opposed at every step of the way by thoughtful, brave, patriotic people who genuinely loved their countries, but who were drowned out by the sheep happily baaa'ing, "Oh, it's not that bad ... it can't happen here ..."

If you're going to quote Sherman, maybe you should give the full version:

I am tired and sick of war. Its glory is all moonshine. It is only those who have neither fired a shot nor heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded who cry aloud for blood, for vengeance, for desolation. War is hell.

I'd say old Billy had folks like you pretty well figured out.

Sorry if I wasn't clear enough. I agree that Bashmilah is innocent. The crime is what was done to him. I was responding to thingswesaid's implication that since Iraq under Hussein and Afghanistan under the Taliban tortured people, that somehow makes it okay when the US does it. In my analogy, the US government is the "garden-variety murderer" and dictators such as Hussein are the "serial killers" -- my point is that no matter how bad they may be, that doesn't excuse it when we do it, and since in this country we (theoretically) have control over the actions of our government officials, we should expose and prosecute their crimes.

For some reason, they just don't work for me. I love music, and I love movies and plays, but try to put them together, and most of the time they fall flat in my eyes (and ears.) Abstractly, I admire the skills that go into creating a good musical, but abstract admiration does not equal enjoyment. So it shouldn't be any surprise that I have no opinion on Sondheim's music in general.

And I thought Sweeney Todd was one of the best movies I've seen in years.

Take that FWIW.