“Well, yes. As Americans, we should be ashamed that we’re systematically torturing our enemies (real and imagined).
Most of us are not, though, and I hope your starry-eyed optimism about the great people of this country will allow you to see the truth. It’s true, the media has done a crummy job of exposing our government’s approval of torture. And it’s true, the government itself has – as governments always do – done its best to hide the truth.
But let’s be honest about this, Andrew . . . There have been enough vivid reports, enough stomach-turning photos, that anybody who has the slightest amount of interest must know what’s been happening since the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. And the fact is that if we really cared, we would have demanded, from our political and military leaders, some real accountability. We haven’t demanded anything because we do not, in the end, care about people from other countries, particularly if those people 1) don’t look like (most of) us, and 2) might wish us harm.
We like to think we’re special. We’re not. Which is why we need laws that are enforced, and responsible adults in positions of great power. At the moment, I’m afraid we have neither.”
For further evidence, check out the most trafficked sites of the conservative blogosphere, Instapundit, Powerline, National Review, Michelle Malkin, Little Green Footballs, Hugh Hewitt, and Red State. Yes, there’s other news. But the universal silence is telling, I think. Defending this adminsitration’s record on the treatment of detainees is simply impossible any more. So let’s forget the past, shall we? Can we have an agreement that the McCain-Graham proposed legislation to legally enshrine new detention policies that bar inhumane treatment should be passed as soon as possible?
The Dish 