The Worst Kept Secret, The Worst Sin Yet!

George Bush has finally done it. He's finally admitted to what those of us with a conscience, with a sense of right and wrong, with a belief in human rights had hoped wasn't true. He's admitted that the United States government has willfully flaunted the Geneva Conventions and even sidestepped our own laws. Yesterday, George Bush publicly, and without shame or remorse, admitted that our government has sent prisoners to secret prisons in other nations. No one knows where these prisons are, the condition of the incarcerated, or even who they are for certain. They have not been charged with formal crimes, nor given access to legal representation. Every liberty and right that we as citizens of the United States enjoy, has been stripped from these individuals. Don't misunderstand me, I am not saying that we are likely to find good people in these places. But what disturbs me is this:

Our government, and far too many of our fellow citizens, are readily willing to cast aside the bedrock rights upon which our nation was founded, in the name of security.

I've said this before. The United States is the greatest beacon of hope, determination and experiment in democracy the world has ever seen. Every time that we fail to live by our values, every time that we disregard our laws, because they are inconvenient or because we are afraid, we become a caricature of freedom instead of the embodiment of it.

There is no acceptable excuse.

George Bush can now add to his record yet another staggering abuse of human rights. He can count among his attributes the very qualities that he claims to despise in leaders such as; Hugo Chavez, Kim Jong-Il and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

How is the world supposed to differentiate? How are we?

Instead of entering the Presidential pantheon of luminaries such as Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Roosevelt, Bush is likely to find himself viewed by historians in the company of James Buchanan, perhaps the most ineffectual president in our history. They share a striking similarity; the inability to rise to the challenge of their time. The result in both cases was severe: Death, suffering, destruction and war.
In Buchanan's case, the damage was to our nation. In Bush's case it is to our nation and to our world.

There's not a damn thing that I can do to stop George Bush, save write and do my part to see that Congress turns to the Democrats this mid-term election. Perhaps with Congressional checks we can begin to stem the wounds that ooze our liberty and rights one drop at a time. Perhaps. But when the President's term is over, I hope that the world will hold him accountable. Because of this I am certain.

George Bush should stand trial for crimes against humanity.