Letters to the Editor
mccaul.paul
Published Letters: 2
-
What ever happened to...
[Read the article: Only America-hating traitors believe in due process for journalists]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I'm not sure if someone has already brought this matter up, but the right-wing blog Mr. Greenwald sources towards the end (Classical Values) has a very disturbing insight into the neoconservative perspective on the legal system:
What bothers me the most about Greenwald's argument is that he goes out of his way to take the side of an accused enemy propagandist, Bilal Hussein, who has been detained in Iraq for being a suspected terrorist agent.
I may be misinterpreting, but it seems neoconservative commentators believe that a person is guilty until proven innocent; this flies in the face of all the civics lessons I was taught since secondary school about a person being innocent until proven guilty. I know this is very much part of habeas corpus and due process, but it strikes me as the most profound. Seriously, what's next? We bring back the witch hunts and create arbitrary tests of innocence that pretty much cannot be passed? A few years ago, I would have said this was implausible; today, with all the noise on the right, it seems inevitable.
I can't help but think of this quotation from P.J. O'Rourke:
The Democrats are the party that says government will make you smarter, taller, richer, and remove the crabgrass on your lawn. The Republicans are the party that says government doesn't work and then they get elected and prove it.
Ultimately, it probably comes down to the fact that the neoconservative movement reacts to the Constitution the same way it responded to the voice of caution before we invaded Iraq: eyes shut, fingers inserted into ears, loudly screaming like a child.
-
Complicated
[Read the article: Jonah Goldberg's deeply "conflicted" thoughts on war and torture]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Goldberg's entire rationale that there are "degrees" of torture is ridiculous; there is a Great Wall of China between torture and tough questioning. Having a spotlight in your face while the cop asks the questions is a very far cry from being drowned very slowly.
This is about one step up from Rush Limbaugh and his inane remarks comparing Abu Ghraib to a Madonna concert or a Skull and Bones initiation. Are these people truly sadists, finding sheer pleasure in others' misery?