- Top Features:
- War Room
- Glenn Greenwald
- Broadsheet
- Joan Walsh
- Camille Paglia
- Since You Asked
- Follow Salon:
Read other letters about this article
I used to admire Senator Feinstein, and in fact voted for her several times, even before she was suddenly elevated to the mayor’s office in San Francisco. Over the years I have come to view her as a closet Republican running in a liberal state, appealing to both Orange Country right-wingers and the more progressive northern part of the state. Some of us have talked about the Feinstein twins; they appear to be identical, but speak differently to whoever is the present audience. So I am not surprised to see her do a moral wheelie and follow whichever road she thinks will be to her advantage. In addition there have been charges that she has been conflicted, and used her position to benefit her husband’s investments in companies with government contracts. This could be one explanation for her militant change of mind.
I know little about Senator Wyden, and so leave comments about his apparent flip-flopping up to those who do.
Here is what I think is the bottom line. Americans cannot allow torture to continue in any respect. On top of that, those who have brought us to the brink of savagery must be held accountable in courts. I’m talking about all of those in the Bush administration, the military and any other group. Lawbreakers are lawbreakers.
By restating our nation’s respect for rule of law and disavowing all of the criminal aspects of the past eight years, we will get the attention not only of Senators Feinstein and Wyden, but the whole apparatus of the government. They will listen or they will be held accountable. We cannot allow criminal conduct to become a part of our official national fabric. At this point we need a whole host of special prosecutors opening up shop on January 21st.
Perhaps a few street demonstrations wouldn’t hurt, either.
