Thursday, August 10, 2006

[1809 - Ecuador declares independence from Spain]

No Foul, No Harm?

Now, let us just imagine that the article from the newspaper of August 9, 2006, depicted above was on the sports page instead of the front page. Let us also imagine that instead of the current world wars and conflicts the subject of the article was the recently completed World Cup of soccer. It is 2007, and the French government has appealed to the governing body of the World Cup, asking it to change the rules of soccer so that a flagrant head butt will no longer be considered a red card offense. The French have asked that this rule change be made retroactive to January 2006. On the basis of the rule change, they further plead that the absence of their star player and team captain, who was ejected from the final game of the World Cup for the now infamous head butt, was clearly the cause of their loss to the Italian team. Using this argument, the French contend that it is they, not Italy, who should be awarded the 2006 World Cup.

Do any of you sports fans out there (or non-sports fans) imagine that this transparent ploy on the part of the French would pass the smell test? Can any of you US citizens out there fail to see that the Bush administration's attempt to legalize torture and murder smells just as ugly? It was the President, his advisers, the Secretary of Defense, the Vice President, and their respective staffs that tore up the rule books, encouraged, and implicitly authorized the shocking mistreatment of prisoners. They did so over the objections of the Judge Advocates General of the Armed Forces, and over the objection of many of the professional civil servants, who knew better. Now, in a transparent attempt to avoid personal responsibility, they seek to further sully the honor of my country and yours. Is it not time we impeached these criminals?

William's Whimsical Words:

One wonders what condition the docks at Nuremberg are in, and whether Spandau prison can be reopened. Don't any one of you try to tell us that you were only carrying out orders. Don't you, Mr. President, dare to say that you prayed to Jesus and he told you that torture and murder were okay.

to Summer 2006

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