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The striking thing about "fed up" and his rant is his emphasis on the domestic political ramifications of discussions and opinions about the Abu Ghraib "incidents".
The problem is that we're not talking about steel tariffs, or zoning laws, or some other relatively mundane issue of everyday politics. We are talking about the torture and murder of human beings who have had NO trial or any sort of judicial oversight in their treatment while being held as prisoners by the US military, an institution once considered realtively noble by world standards.
Hitler's party rode to victory on a platform of German (Aryan) dominance and the scapegoating of Jews and others for Germany's problems. Since this political formula was "successful" (at getting Hitler installed into power), does that make it right?
At what point do we stop focusing on this insane "red state/blue state" tug-of-war crap and find some common ground in basic moral values as Americans and human beings? The indefinite detention and abuse/torture/murder of faceless middle-eastern men might play well to the lowest common denominator of some American voters, but does that make it justified? Many of those held in Gitmo and other US detention centers were not even apprehended in the actual commission of acts against US forces, but rather are there because of cash-reward-subsidized 'tips' by their neighbors. It is very likely that some of them are not guilty of any sort of aggresive intentions towards the US. It is equally likely that at some point they will have to be returned to their countries, and now they WILL have a good reason to hate America. Does that sound like a smart way to try and eventually end this conflict?
Stop the madness. "Fed up", do you believe in God? Who would Jesus torture? Please put down the Ann Coulter columns, shut off the Limbaugh show and return to the world of feeling human beings, where many people manage to love their country fervently and STILL recognize that ALL fellow men (and women) everywhere deserve some basic minimal rights to live in peace and receive some kind of justice, regardless of nationality.
That notion might seem idealistic or unrealistic in the age of nuclear weapons and terrorism, and it damn well should because that's what America is all about. Our founding fathers were starry-eyed idealists when it came to the basic rights of men to live in freedom and with justice, consequences be damned. They were somewhat ahead of their time in that regard and I like to think that is part of what has made America so succesful as a nation. Ben Franklin never shrugged his shoulders and dismissed slavery as the work of a "few bad apples" so he could forget about it and sleep well when he went to bed at night. He argued passionately for abolition of slavery even at the Constitutional convention, even though he was at that time in the minority and died without seeing his efforts bear any fruit. He never gave up his ideals. He was an American.
Arguing that non-US citizens are not entitled to full Constitutional rights is one thing, but arguing that it is somehow okay to torture, kill or even "indefinitely detain" people who have not been proven guilty of anything by any sort of judicial process simply because they are "foreigners" is simply inhuman and UN-American, period.
