In discussing the current discussions regarding the Bush Administration’s use of torture as an active part of American foreign policy, I would like to risk a literary analogy that may offend some, but explains the situation very well. That analogy is the Uncle Remus story of the Tar Baby.

Getting past the racial stereotypes of the story’s settings, we look at the story and note that, whoever touched the tar baby was stuck, and could not get free, and in short order was covered in tar.

Similarly, the Bush Administration has committed so many crimes, against American law, against internal law, and against basic standards of human decency, that it has constructed a moral “tar baby” that it is gladly leaving on to the United States.

And that tar has been spread far and wide. Anyone who has had even the slightest contact with the Bush Administration has been branded by the tar of indecency, torture, deceit and cynicism. That ranges from the origin of that immorality: George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Alberto Gonzalez, Condoleeze Rice, et al, to those who were merely insufficiently resistant to their schemes: Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi and Barak Obama, to name a few.

Over the next few years, we can count on the standard Conservative excuse for their actions, “It must be OK since you did not stop us from doing it. (In the world of Republicans, if I rob a convenience store, and you witness it and do not call the cops immediately, then I am innocent of any crimes). That is, of course, a false argument. But one we can expect to hear from Republican outlets, such as Rush Limbaugh and FoxNews forever.

It is time for those who are morally offended by the moral depravations of George W. Bush to take a stand and declare that, “Yes, we are guilty of not doing enough to stop torturing of prisoners, renditions to states that practice torture, and the deaths of inmates while being tortured by the United States and its henchmen. But enough is enough. We cannot pretend that America has not been degraded by its association with George W. Bush and Dick Cheney. We must declare an end to the torture as official US policy and promise, ‘Never again!’”.

And we cannot let the howls in favor of a return to torture, or alibis that “Bush is innocent because no one stopped him” from Conservatives prevent this. Conservatives have amply demonstrated over the past few decades that they are completely devoid of either morals or a conscience. There is absolutely nothing they will not do or say for power, regardless of the consequences for their country. And it is about time to stop allowing the amoral ideology of Conservatism to dominate American politics, simply because the rest of us are embarrassed by that spot of tar on us left from being near them.

Never again!

But I'd love to see the Giuliana-Palin debates in the 2012 Republican Presidential primaries. Wouldn't anyone? The blood would be all over the floor, with red meat comments to the crowd and Right-wing pundits tearing into one another.

The "God vs Guns" battles for what passes for a Republican soul would make for months of entertaining television.

I can hardly wait!

I posted in the Guiliani thread about Palin-Guiliana debates in the 2012 Republican Presidential primaries. I was looking forward to the red meat and blood everywhere.

But this thread offers an even more enticing concept:

Rudy-Sarah-Newt three-way's!

Each one would slaugter the others:

>Ms Palin mentions "Family Values" and Newt/Rudy (with six marriages and counting between them try to defend).

>Rudy shouts "9/11" five times and Sarah/Newt get tangled up as they thump their chests repeatedly to look as tough as Rudy.

>Newt drops fifty meaningless statistics about sixty unrelated areas and Sarah/Rudy give blank looks because they have no idea of anything Newt is talking about (but then neither will anyone else).

And watching the FoxNews team take sides and slit each others' throats will just add to the carnage/fun.

Re: "...make me hope for a Giuliani-Gingrich ticket in 2012."

That would make an interesting ticket, since the Family Values Party would have a President/VP ticket with six marriages between them (so far).

But what about the other possibilities?

A Palin-Gingrich ticket would offer America the very real possiblity of the President/VP having an affair with each other (!)

A Giuliana-Palin ticket would present the possiblity of the Republican nominees each declaring that (s)he was actually the President and the other was the VP (since facts never stood in the way of either one, the actual events at the GOP convention would be irrelevant).

The material provided by any of the combinations above would almost certainly mean that The Daily Show would have to expand their format from one to two hours, just to keep up with the comedy issuing from the factions. It would make anything we have seen in the McCain-Palin fued look tranquil by comparison.

It would, however, put The Onion out of business since there is absolutey no parody they could put out that would match reality (but then the GOP managed that feat long ago, so perhaps I'm premature).

I'm excited!