9/29/2006 12:42:00 AM | Timothy 'The issue isn't whether we are the same as the Khmer Rhouge. The issue is, we aren't different enough' The Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia also used 'waterboarding'. The title would be a paraphrase by a Kos diarist of Israeli historian Avi Schlaim's statement: "The issue isn't whether we are the same as the Nazis. The issue is, we aren't different enough" Sullivan has this quote from Republican Senator Specter: "What this bill would do is take our civilization back 900 years," to before the adoption of the writ of habeas corpus in medieval England, Senator Specter said.Then why don't you help stop it Senator Spector??? Is something more important. Sullivan says: "Neither party comes out of this looking anything but cowardly, unprincipled and morally bankrupt." Yep. The NYT says: There is not enough time to fix these bills, especially since the few Republicans who call themselves moderates have been whipped into line, and the Democratic leadership in the Senate seems to have misplaced its spine. If there was ever a moment for a filibuster, this was it.Sullivan talks about tyranny here and here. Sullivan says: Those of us trying to resist the Bush administration's seizure of permanent emergency powers have so far failed to alert the American public of the immense danger to their basic liberties that this administration represents. Maybe this story in the Washington Post today will help wake America up.In the other post, Sullivan says: Late last night, before nodding off, I wondered, as I often do, whether I'd hyperbolized the threat from the looming detention-torture bill. "Legalizing tyranny" is a very strong phrase and I don't want to cry wolf. In the sense that this president intends to seize random Americans and rush them into black sites and torture them at will, it's hyperbole. But in a deeper sense, I think it's completely accurate. The system we're talking about is to do with wartime. A president in the past has had the option of seizing enemy combatants on a battlefield and detaining them without charge as POWs. There's no threat to liberty there. What's new is that in this war, enemy combatants have been designated as such not just on the battlefield - but anywhere in the world. What's new is that they are no longer entitled to POW status. What's new is that this war is for ever. So any changes are not just for a time-limited emergency but threaten to alter basic balances in constitutional order. What's also new is that torture is now allowed on the down-low, on the president's authority. And what's also new is that an enemy combatant may or may not be an American citizen.I post too much from Sullivan. What's sad is that he is often a fine writer (unlike myself), but what's sad is that those of us on the left have been saying this for years. He doesn't come out too well in this either (though much better than a lot of people on the right). perma link |
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