Unfortunately, I have to say that I'm pretty much in the same boat as malcontent. I'm feeling beyond hopeless these days.

As far as Jay Rosen's explanation for the indifference shown my the MSM, I have something to add that I think also helps explain it: A strong element of narcissism. It's hard to be outraged when you're SO into yourself--especially among the television punditry--from Richard Wolffe to Chris Matthews. They are all way to into themselves.

As a country, we've known undeniably for almost two years now that we have a lawless government and a President who routinely orders our laws to be violated.

If people were paying attention, wouldn't it actually be longer than that? Didn't we have an election in 2004 without any of the four candidates for the White House mentioning Abu Graib? Or Maher Arar? (Has ANY politician ever mentioned him?) The press, the politicians, and the public have all been silent on the matter of torture, for reasons of political expedience (politicians and the press, who don't want to be labeled soft on terrorism) and simple apathy (the public, who would rather watch American Idol than give an hour of their day to figuring out what crimes their government is committing).

The Bush administration, in concert with the Republican party, has turned the public's government into a Kabuki exercise, and the Democrats have been enablers every time they mumble phrases about "compromise." There's no way to compromise on torture. Good journalists (Seymour Hersh) knew what was happening early on. The ones that mattered, though, the ones with the largest audience, were just too cowardly to call the Republicans out.

Some months ago Bill Moyers did a show exploring Impeachment on PBS. On of the two Panelists was Bruce Fein. He argued that it is necessary to Impeach President Bush in order to prevent his abuses of power from becoming settled precedent and law for future administrations. I agree with him.

President Bush is , I believe, a well meaning man, but he is a cowboy, incapable of understanding the harm he has done to the Republic. Impeach him America must or the character of the Republic will be altered into a paranoid authoritarianism. But impeachment need not mean a lack of generosity; this president has acted in what he believes are the best interests of the nation. Congress could allow him the presidential perks and pension he would be entitled to if he leaves office normally in January 2009.

As to the granting of amnesty to Telecoms caught up in the misdeeds of this administration, this makes sense in return for a fine, admission of guilt, and cooperation with Congress in investigating the high crimes and misdemeanours of the Culprit in Chief. Moveon.org was petty in its treatment of General Petraeus. The attack should properly have been made against President Betrayus.

It is unllikely that there will be any solution to this situation generated by those in power. The Democratic party is complicit in all the activities of the current administration, and would open the door to having their own dirty laundry examined if they were to make any challenge to those in power.

Ghandi had the correct approach, and it is the only one which will eventually defeat those vested corrupt interests which cause the great divide between rich and poor.

Solidarity with your fellow man, and overcoming greed are the only tools to defeat an individualistic and aggressive oligarchy. People need to understand that they actually have a lot of power, and that the way to wield it is collectively. Oligarchs need the 'little people' to produce their profits. People need to unite to defeat the enemy which seeks to have its destiny using the old method of dividing and conquering.

The oligarchs only understand profit. Find ways to hit them in the pocket book. Stop contributing to mainstream political parties. Support third party candidates who are for people-centric ideas, such as universal health care. Insist on a fair and transparent voting system. (Google: theBradBlog) Encourage military members to refuse to follow illegal and immoral orders.

The fight will never be lost, and the people will eventually overcome, because an unjust society will never persist. It is simply a question of how long the people are willing to tolerate the current injustice. Best wishes in your continued pursuit of truth, and thanks for your diligent work in educating the people.

The NYtimes article reprises the role John McCain played in the 2005 efforts to achieve real Congressional action on torture. I still see his failure to follow through on this effort as a complete abdication of his character, but more importantly, a complete abdication of the unique position he holds. As a former prisoner of war who was subjected to torture, he was the natural leader to stand up in the Senate and deliver the message that the human rights of prisoners should outweigh all other moral considerations of any situation at hand. From his own experience, he easily could have pointed out the worthlessness of information extracted through torture. Is his desire to be President so overwhelming that he can simply walk away from this obvious obligation to take steps to assure that his own suffering and that of his fellow soldiers was not in vain?

Since McCain won't deliver this powerful message, perhaps we could work together to urge Congress to hold hearings on torture at which other former POW's from VietNam could testify. If banning torture isn't the best, most bipartisan way to support our troops, I don't know what is.

Glenn,

How right you are.

Hey, Democrat's, you're supposed to be the opposition party. Start opposing! Whimps...

I call, I write, I march, I e-mail. I'm tired of that. I want an alternative. I'm a peaceful person, but I grow weary. Still, I want a peaceful change.

Maybe if we all put on saffron robes and marched on D.C. and every state capitol, and representative's offices it would send a message.

Saffron Power!!!

When a country becomes indifferent to having sexual perverts and outright gangsters ruling over them and many of the presidents highest advisers, cabinet members and policy makers actually having dual citizenship with another country ( in this case Israel )it is no wonder as you so rightly pointed out Glenn that these things will continue to happen. The tip of the corruption iceberg has only been noticed by those willing to look, and far to many of the common folk do not seem to want to look, so it is likely nothing will be done about the corruption and we will only continue to erode further and further into a third world type of country. The middle class is currently being destroyed and our economic standard of living will continue to erode as well in a death spiral that will probably end in a disaster and to the complete takeover of our country by those that hate us and would love to see us destroyed as a national power. When foreign agents hold positions of power within a country, that country will not survive. These foreign agents are only concerned about their bottom line, how much money can I steal from America while at the same time destroying it by using the US military as the foreign agents personal police force to further their political interests by promoting a global agenda as ordered by the international banksters.