Letters to the Editor
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The president's a big boy
The chilling provision in the bill not covered in the article is the retroactive immunity for Bush et al from war crimes related to torture and interrogation. This provision should be erased. The president is a big boy who should know the consequences of his actions. Let him lead by example and show his conviction in the usefulness of torturing people for info.
By seeking immunity, the president is hedging his bets: it shows a lack of conviction in his actions. A leader of sound conviction would proceed with torture at the risk of prosecution, believing that Americans would eventually see in hindsight that his methods had been worthwhile--that the gaining of info had saved the country. In seeking immunity he is in effect showing he needs an escape hatch in the event his interrogations not yield anything or enough.
Worse, we should conclude that immunity for torturers and their highers-up will only incentivize an increase in the frequency and severity of torture. Woe to the incarcerated.
Finally, as a matter of character, we are reminded that Bush has casted his presidency in a religious light. "I answer to a higher father," he once said referring to God. If in fact he answers to God, then why is he seeking immunity on earth? God will protect him, as God always provides for those whose ways are righteous. Indeed, if torture is righteous, God will grant eternal immunity for our president. And we will all be saved. But something makes me think torure is not righeous. Moreover, something makes me think that seeking immunity is not the business of the righteous, but rather the business of the selfish. Forgive me then for inferring that immunity is not something God would arrange but rather God's selfish counterpart.
On theother hand, perhaps torture is a pursuit of the blessed (or at least those who thought they were). The Spanish Inquisition comes to mind. Those guys were hardcore Christians too, weren't they?
I say if Bush is a man of courage he will stand up in the sheer light of his convictions rather than crawl into the deep, dark crawl space of a provision tucked in the nether-side of a bill.