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• Saturday, May 10, 2008 12:04 PM

  Truth is not a luxury

  I, as bamage, wanted to ask 'What now?'. You point out the internal investigation by the DOD Inspector General being called for in Congress. I hope more voices will follow to match the profound seriousness of the issue. This must ultimately lead to clarity, real change and prosecution. I would like to second Pedinska and ask "Glenn, will you and Jane be sending out a call to arms on this?"

  And I would also like to concur with Pedinska, that for me too "it is a real pleasure to watch you take an issue like this, sift through the raw material, and day by day winnow it down to the finest points with the most exquisite impact."

  For it is clear that Propaganda is the tool of a dictatorship. These backroom connections must be severed and prosecuted, for whatever reasons they have happened. The attitude that, just because 'it's normal', 'we already know they're corrupt' etc., will only allow the propaganda to prosper and its propagators to strengthen their stranglehold. The Germans have not ceased to publicly repeat "Währet den Anfängen" as they know where beginnings end (as Indiana Bob similarly points out in its English/American version and parallels.)

  It's no wonder I thought the US Media in the run-up to the Iraq war sounded just like listening to radio when driving through East Germany before the wall came down. It was.

  The other question that needs to be addressed is 'Why?'. What motivates such vast numbers to support/tolerate/be blind to this? I can only offer a few thoughts.

  As DrEyeBall notes "It is hard to imagine it even being possible." While he refers specifically to the possibility of this happening under Democratic administrations, it is I believe, another reason why seemingly the majority are not bothered today: They simply cannot believe it is possible. The good 'ol US of A doesn't do that, and if they do it, then it's only because it's for the good. But possibly they're just too busy shopping. Or working around the clock at Wal-Mart to make ends meet.

  DCLaw points out that the media is actively biased and ready to jump in to gear to defend that bias. Truth, it seems, is something to be avoid at all costs. As truth is neither 'liberal' nor 'conservative', would it help the cause to stop 'slicing and dicing' this one too, emphasizing, that anyone caught offending truth and breaking the law is to be castigated, as harping on the dichotomy seems to just enflame the emotional - non-rational - element that's always on auto-pilot and immediately jumps in to defend the undefendable? I think cabdriver highlights some portion of this emotional element at work.

  I'm jumping from one thing to the next here, but I think cabdriver's comment and explanation of the military mindset, also points to the civilian/Congressional lack of oversight that has allowed this debacle to happen.

  It also, however, reflects that the military needs to be better educated in the law, because - as Pedinska points out - their duty is to the Constitution. And if they are taught the ethics of unlawful commands, and certain of them act in full knowledge of their unlawfulness, then this also needs to have a consequence. Again, the Congressional and legal bodies would not seem to be doing their duty in allowing this to happen without accountability.

  Was it Obama who recently said 'Truth is not a luxury?'. Please everyone, listen carefully, deep down, stand up and 'Währet den Anfängen'.

  —two_cents Read two_cents's other letters
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