Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Amerika, Amerika, verschüttet
Gott Seine Gnade auf Ihnen. . . .

Andrew Sullivan sums up an account of what the Bush Administration has ordered -- and which American personnel carry out -- in your name, which happens to be identical to what Adolf Hitler ordered in the name of the Third Reich.

Critics will no doubt say I am accusing the Bush administration of being Hitler. I'm not. There is no comparison between the political system in Germany in 1937 and the U.S. in 2007. What I am reporting is a simple empirical fact: the interrogation methods approved and defended by this president are not new. Many have been used in the past. The very phrase used by the president to describe torture-that-isn't-somehow-torture - "enhanced interrogation techniques" - is a term originally coined by the Nazis. The techniques are indistinguishable. The methods were clearly understood in 1948 as war-crimes. The punishment for them was death.
WHOA. HE'S RIGHT. Thus, I am here to advocate on President Bush's behalf.

For criminal malfeasance in ignoring -- or, at a minimum, failing to act upon -- intelligence questioning the wisdom of going to war with Iraq and predicting what would happen if we did, the president (and other key figures in his administration) deserves impeachment, removal from office, criminal prosecution and jail time.

For criminal malfeasance in failure to take serious measures -- in the aftermath of Sept. 11, 2001 -- against the illegal and uncontrolled flow of foreign nationals across our southern border, the president (and other key figures in his administration) deserves impeachment, removal from office, criminal prosecution and jail time.

For
war crimes relating to authorizing torture of select "enemy combatants" -- several of whom have died -- in defiance of domestic and international law, it at first glance seems that the president (and other key figures in his administration), according to U.S. law, would be eligible for the death penalty.

AS A CATHOLIC, HOWEVER, I do not believe in applying the death penalty when imprisonment is sufficient to remove the threat from society. So, in the name of mercy, I merely advocate impeaching George Bush, Dick Cheney and other officials as necessary, removing them from office, prosecuting them according to U.S. law and international covenant, then throwing their asses in prison long enough to make a point.

It's less, certainly, than they deserve. But, then again, aren't we betting everything, as Christians, on getting much less than we deserve.

Book him, Danno.



HAT TIP: Mark Shea.

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