Steve has little respect for people who do not fulfill their responsibilities, those who shirk their duties and protect their own behinds while leaving others in vulnerable positions. Dick Cheney has been the subject of our scorn for many years. When people like him have power, without ever sacrificing for others or suffering, they have no empathy, no moral center. They use and abuse with remorse of conscience. Five times he evaded service in Vietnam and expressed contempt for those who were "suckers" and served. None of what Steve endured in that year in Vietnam was easy or convenient or self-serving. Not like the life course Cheney took. But his experiences molded him into the honorable, self-sacrificing man he is today.
Think of the harm that Bush and Cheney did to the youths of this nation when they ordered the invasion of Iraq on false pretenses. Thousands dead, wounded, shattered. Now more will pay for the torture of Muslim captives. Around the world, more innocents will be taken hostage by extremists and tortured using the same horrific methods used by American interrogators. We tried Nazis and Japanese for war crimes at Nuremburg and Tokyo. Will Bush and Cheney ever be held accountable for their crimes? Doubtful.
Today, Timothy Egan wrote about two old men, John McCain and Dick Cheney. I don't agree with Sen. McCain on much, but he had the courage to condemn the use of torture against our captives. He knows it does not produce results or useful intelligence. He knows, because he was held prisoner of war and tortured for seven years during the Vietnam War.
Many people have condemned the release of the Senate report. It makes them squirm. It should. In a democracy, we must be subject to self-examination and reflection. What I've read is horrifying and I share in a collective sense of shame that I doubt the chicken hawks feel.
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