np congratulations

[David Morris]

David,

I agree with all you say, and also regret our lack of courage as a
nation to confront head-on the evil of torture and endless illegal
incarceration of post-9-11 random passers-by.  Barack has let this
issue slide, as has been his style of campaigning: positive looking
forward against earned recriminations of past evils.  His brand, now
that he's gained power may turn more AGAINST past injustices.   But
there's so much forward action that needs priority over that agenda -
so I agree that the least he needs to do is "focus on what can be done
to make amends."

You write a fine statement of concern, and it doesn't flatten my
celebration.  In fact it is a part of my celebration.  Let's just hope
that Cheney gets indicted in international court, because that's their
job too.

David Morris

On Wed, Nov 5, 2008 at 12:18 PM, David Patty <navan.ghee at gmail.com> wrote:
> That's the one thing that continues to bother me re: Obama--  I know he was running a clean, civil campaign, but his repeated insistence that McCain somehow -stood up- to the re-branding of torture irks me.
[...]
>I can understand Obama wanting to move us past this phase of history w/out any rubbernecking, because the longer my mind lingers on the subject of our brute behavior the more I want to see a new Nuremberg.  Many of us would all but embrace the idea of seeing the Bush admin tried & made to suffer, but it won't happen.  Prosecution's out of the question; at best we might expect the admin to throw a general or two on the fire, as opposed to actual architects of atrocity  --so perhaps it's best to drop the subject and focus on what can be done to make amends.
>
> First thing would be to shut down Gitmo & its sinister siblings abroad, then set about restoring our adherence to the Conventions, IMO.  Symbolic, sure, but only proper, too.  There are people in there who haven't seen their families (or even lawyers) for over seven years.  They deserve to be known as more than combatants out of uniform, driven to suicidal acts of 'asymmetrical warfare'.  We need to know their names & faces, to see them reunited with what's left of their families & lives, to be properly shamed for our passivity in the lynch-mob rush to get revenge post-9/11.
>
> In a better world, these people would have been our friends, neighbors, even relatives.  As it stands, we have some twenty-odd years of repair to look forward to, not dissimilar to the aftermath of our incarcerating anyone even remotely asian after Pearl Harbor.  Best we get started now.