Letters to the Editor
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Remember Guantanamo and secret prisons?
I understand the point that Rorytheta and "New Deal Democrat" make when they advocate civil disobedience and paying the consequences for one's actions. Under other circumstances I'd be right there with them. Just one little problem: the United States's executive branch of its government lies in the hands of people who have established secret prisons, indefinite detention, the demise of habeous corpus and most chilling, two-faced mealy mouthed justifications of toruture (or attempts to define it out of legal consideration).
Rorytheta wrote:
"If you genuinely believe that you are engaging in an act of civil disobedience, then remember that civil disobedience means breaking unjust laws -- and facing punsihment. It means making a statement that you feel strongly enough to break the unjust law, take it on the chin, and use that as a platform for change. Anyone can break a law. Someone who breaks the law, serves the time, and campaigns for the law to change has real moral authority."
Well put, but when "taking it on the chin" could include who knows what will be in store for consciencious objectors under the Bush regime, I'm not so sanguine about the "stand for something and go to prison" option. During WWI conscientious objectors were forced to advance across no-man's land in their underwear (refusal to wear uniforms), prodded by bayonetes. What punishments await the deserter under the present administration?