Betrayal

Today the Washington Post revealed a two-faced treachery of the worst kind. The democratic leadership in Washington DC, the very same one that has been leading the outcry against detainee abuse and torture, has been shown to support and encourage detainee abuse and torture in secret meetings while claiming to oppose it in public.

These meetings revealed to congressional leadership, including Nancy Pelosi(D), Jane Harmon(D), Bob Graham(D), John Rockefeller(D), Porter Goss(R), and Pat Roberts(R). Only Jane Harmon has claimed to oppose the discussed plans to torture detainees by way of a confidential letter to the CIA sent after the meetings. There was no dissent during the meetings from either Democratic nor Republican leadership during these secret meetings, and in fact some urged the CIA to use even harsher torture methods because they thought waterboarding was too mild.

For me, this is significant because they are not alone, the local democrats, especially county executive Ron Sims(D), here have done exactly the same thing by suggesting that abusing and torturing detainees in the King County Correctional Facility in Seattle is perfectly legal and not a violation of anyone's civil rights. So, not only do local democrats support torture, so does the entire democratic party and their leadership. I won't even discuss republican support of torture and prisoner abuse, we know where they stand as well.

So, today we find out that no political party in the United States of America understands why the founding fathers of this nation saw fit to specify that all detainees, foreign and domestic, should be treated in a humane way, that they understood it was best not to induce further hate and anger by mistreating those charged to their care.

As the victim of prisoner abuse I fear what will become of this country now, where it has been decided that it is perfectly fine to torture and kill people prior to their day in court. What have we become now that we no longer understand the need for due process and protections from cruel and unusual punishment?

Have we, as a nation, finally looked upon the face of evil for so long and so deeply that we too have become the monsters we sought to slay?

To me... Today, we have indeed done just that... and I am deeply ashamed and afraid.