...policies of torture...

I beg everyone to watch Standard Operating Procedure by Erroll Morris, it goes pretty deep into the stories of the atrocities at Abu Ghraib. Now I got that out of the way though, I am pissed and confused about all of the torture talk and Obama's decision to hold on to additional photos of prisoner abuse.

First, Obama is lying to us, the same exact way that Bush and Co. lied to us, about the photos. We do all need to see the photos, period. Obama's defense in not releasing is that it will only, and exclusively, work to incite rage by our enemies. Lie.

It will incite rage, yes, but it will also do other things, its not going to only incite rage. Our troops are scattered around the Middle East, and when you watch Standard Operating Procedure, it brings into focus how poorly led and managed they are. I have no interest in speaking about the realities of troops, who they are, what they do, what their mindset is, what their education level generally is...they are absolutely STRANDED individuals, left to do all the dirty work, with 100% of the blame and scrutiny on them.

We have a serious, horrific, terrifying problem in this country, and I don't think its drugs, its not crime, its not the economy or swine flu - it is the fact that there are different sets of rules for the wealthy and the privileged. We all know this, and we have all been forced to accept it, but it comes into sharp focus in Standard Operating Procedure, as well as in the comments Obama made regarding the new set of photos he doesn't want to release.

Obama had the nerve, the audacity, and unfortunately, the political balls to say that torture, as an act of violence in our wars, is something that is carried out and executed by a few individuals - you have got to be kidding me. Torture is a policy, its a policy that Cheney and Co. brought back to life with a vengeance - they gave torture a good name, they have convinced a Nation that torture, despite nearly all Psychological emperical evidence, is an effective tool in the War Against Terror.

Now, its 2009, we have a new regime, a new world perspective, and our leader is willingly falling into the same trap - he is telling the world that our atrocities aren't scary enough to merit digging deeper. He is telling our richest, most powerful, most highly visible American Military members that their actions aren't worth prosecution, but if you are a 14 year old on a corner in Tuscon Arizona selling $400 worth of heroin to an addict that won't live 5 more years, then you deserve that many years in prison.

In the game of politics, the Democrats are winning. By a long shot...they are way ahead, they are in 1st place, the Republicsn's aren't on the board. What it will take for the Policies of Hate, Policies of Greed, Policies of Individualism to come back in full force are small victories. The Republican's are going to continue to take their lumps, a very liberal Supreme Court Justice will be appointed, hatred within the party and defections will continue to be the norm, but small victories, piled on top of each other over the next 4 years, will go a long way.

Nancy Pelosi, our wonderfully awful Speaker of the House, is a series of small Republican victories balled up into 1 individual. We are seeing a miraculous thing right now, the woman is giving an entire party, and an entire Nation, reason to hate her (and with her, her party), and rightfully so. Her backtracking on torture, what she knew and when, is classic Nixon, classic Clinton. She is not as skilled in front of a mic as either of those two, unfortunately, and she is going to only serve as a horrific bruise on the skin of the Democratic party, if she is not ousted.

And why should she be ousted? Its not because she is embarrasing, but because she lies, she lies and lies and lies, and I am so sick of it. She clearly knew about the torture, and if she didn't, for the reasons she gave as to why she didn't, she clearly should be let go of her responsibility.

I was going to hold on to this post. I started writing it on Friday, and now its Sunday and I was going to just sorta let it fall away b/c I don't want anyone to read this, as if anyone is reading, and get mad or upset...or critique me, I guess. I just am so fed up with the politicians, but beyond that, I'm fed up with the blind following of either party. Obama can do no wrong to those on the left, and that's disappointing. You know why its disappointing, because I think if you look deeply into things, he does more wrong than right at this point, and we can't be honest enough with ourselves to point to those things.

I decided NOT to hold on to this for 2 reasons:
1. This article, in today's Sunday Globe...

It speaks further to the two sets of rules I mentioned before, and how disgusting the fattest of the fat in Washington are. I promise, tomorrow, my next blog post will be about Obama's speech to Arizona State graduates, which made me want to find a hammer and a flat surface so I could make sure my thumb was laid on solid ground, and I could make sure I bash it as many times as possible to take my mind of the stupidity of what he said to them...

and..

2. Errol Morris' tweets this morning from his twitter account where he asks the same questions he asked in Standard Operating Procedure, why the highest military personnel aren't prosecuted for their actions, yet those who carried out ORDERS are prosecuted, makes me so sick, and him too, and he motivated me.

DISCLAIMERS, PS's, ETC's....
I don't claim to know how to write a critique, this is clearly me sitting down and typing for my own mental health, and I should have put things in better order, I apologize.