And This Is Why I Can't Be A Democrat

Over the last week or so, details have begun to emerge concerning the knowledge that Congressional Democratic leadership -- and particularly Nancy Pelosi -- had about America's use of "enhanced interrogation techniques" (read: torture) in the period immediately following September 11, 2001.

Sadly, after much dissembling and backtracking by the Speaker, it has become apparent that, at the very least (and despite her knowledge), she failed to raise any meaningful objections to these techniques until it became politically expedient for her to do so. Or, as 2004 candidate John Kerry might have said, Pelosi was "for torture before she was against it."

This is exactly why I can never be a member of the Democratic Party, why I could not bring myself to vote for John Kerry, nor for Al Gore before him, nor for Bill Clinton before him. Too often, too many Democrats (even on occasions when their inclinations may be correct) tend to take the path of least political resistance and ignore their principles. Or what should be their principles, were they not almost as corrupted by power and special interests as are their Republican rivals.

And what I find almost as disturbing is the willingness of many on the left to act as mere shills, to be apologists for the dereliction of duty practiced by Pelosi and her ilk. If she failed in her responsibilities to America, then let her face the consequences. She -- and all Democrats -- must be made to understand that enduring American ideals matter far more than the latest opinion poll, far more than the fleeting popularity of a Republican administration, far more than the next electoral cycle.

And, if they cannot understand this, then they do not deserve to maintain their current positions of power.

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That said, let us take a look at a point of emphasis about which the Left is currently obsessing: torture investigations and prosecutions. To me, there could be no worse idea. The President is correct; there is little of value that can come from such an endeavor.

Yes, I recognize that the Bush Administration lost sight of the ideals that make our nation extraordinary, and, yes, they may have violated both U.S. law and our international treaty obligations. But, I beg you, let us look back to the days after 9/11, to the desperate fear that gripped much of the country. Another attack was inevitable, went the conventional wisdom -- and soon. (And, many feared, in their own backyards. You narcissists know who you are.)

Was the Bush Administration torture policy morally right? No, I do not believe so. But was it borne of a sadistic desire to break the law -- or of a fervent inclination to protect America from further catastrophe? I must conclude that it was the latter.

We must learn from the pseudo-legal darkness into which we, as a nation, willingly descended. But to further descend into a spiral of retribution and bitterness could serve no good of which I can conceive.

A Film Worth Watching

Today I was able to finally watch the much-talked-about documentary, Taxi To The Dark Side. Not exactly the feel-good movie of the summer, it is nonetheless well worth seeing for any concerned and engaged denizen of this planet.

I know, I know: some people will call me an America-hating monster for ever letting such treasonous photons enter my eyeballs. I would beg to differ.

Certainly, it would be easy to blind myself to the harsh realities of this world. I would wish nothing more than to believe that the U.S. is an unadulterated force for good, that our actions are always true and righteous. But I am no longer eight years old; those fantasies have been left behind as surely as have my G.I. Joe figures.

The world is not a simple, easily-explained place, unless you are a mental midget. And Taxi To The Dark Side gives -- or should give -- all of us things to ponder about the nature of our nation's place in the world, about the disparity between our purported ideals and our realities, and about what has been inflicted upon the servicemen and servicewomen whom we ask to do our dirty work.