Stuff Happens

Yo, one and all. Greetings.

What would Shakespeare say about this nasty torture business revealed in today's New York Times? I'd have to seek out Macbeth or Richard III to find the right words.

It seems that the Bush Administration was lying (big surprise,right?) about what we were doing to detainees; that we were indeed committing torture, contrary to the The President's stern disavowal; all "legally " accomplished through secret approval from then-AG Gonzalez.

"Mom, I didn't have my pals torture Mrs. Johnson to death (which is kind of true because Dad told me it was okay to do it)." Basically, that's what's happened.

Isn't it creepy that this hasn't caused more of an uproar?

Have we become so jaded that this new set of outrageous crimes merits little more than a shrug from one's neighbors and friends? How can it be that this morning's national news televised far more in-depth coverage of a pop singer's marital woes?

What does this acceptance of cruel acts and lies mean we have become?

Am I the only one who is scared of the message this sends to law enforcement?

I doubt it. But the callous on the heart of our nation is every bit as dangerous as terrorism. It's making us sick.

Richard III talks about the rot that afflicts a country when the people have been fooled just enough to let a Monster run loose on their government. The Monster Richard is successful for a while, until finally the ghosts of all the people he's killed come back to haunt him; he feels horror and doubt for the first time, and loses his life in battle the next day.

Macbeth is about the relentless guilt that tortures the ambitious Thane of Cawdor after he commits terrible crimes in order to be King.

Both these guys are pretty neat; smart and sexy and fun, in a way. When they finally get their comeuppance, it's sad, you feel for them, because they're tortured by what they've done.

Any bets that anyone in this Administration will someday admit to guilt for any of the blood that's been spilled in our name?

Or maybe the epitaph will read, "The President doesn't have second thoughts."