Do I embrace the logical patriotism of good Democrats like Barack Obama and Leon Panetta

Patriotism is the virtue of the vicious – Wilde.

Children see things so plainly. They know the difference between fantasy and reality. And they are clear on rules. They would know that you never treat humans worse than you’d treat an animal. Kids would see that with a clarity that would amaze some adults!

@104: I hope somebody spills the beans! But more than that, I hope people begin to listen. And to care!

And intent puts things into a policy hole, where you need a policy maker level shmuck signing off. Plus they are making the kind of state secrets type arguments on some of this that will come back to needing an agency head at some point in the down the road follow ups.

one has to wonder just how dreadful the truth must be for so many otherwise upstanding folks to risk so much to cover up.

which brings me to a small point, but an interesting one. EW calls panetta out for lying here, and likely he has. but the wording of his declaration in this respect is pretty interesting to me. he says his actions are NOT driven by a desire to suppress evidence of unlawful conduct. take note here; this is not an assertion that said unlawful conduct, or evidence for it, do not exist. he is merely asserting that his actions are not determined by such a desire to suppress.

don’t get me wrong here, i’m not on the side of suppressing all this evidence. but remember, panetta was brought in to the agency to increase morale and comraderie, not to reform it from the inside out. so it would run fully orthogonal to his mission to turn on them, i suppose.

still, there is something quite odd about this full press protection of the cia who got us into the whole torture mess to begin with. i smell deeper truths at risk for revelation if the photos are out, that contractors actually contracted for protection against such eventualities and they’re threatening to not only sue for breach for to spill all the beans.

who knows? unlikely we ever will.

You know what really gnaws at me? Probably the same thing that gnaws at you about this mess: where are those children?

And what polite, sweet words will ever make it easier for me to explain this to my own kids? I teared up in front of them a week ago talking about the photos we haven’t seen which likely show rape of women and children in front of detainees. This is the obscenity beyond human words.

I say again. Kudos to EW and all who stand up for the Rule of Law. And if it takes profanity to do that, well I’m willing to sign on to that petition.

Profanity in the service of outrage, where extreme outrage is merited, is not a descent. It is an ascent! Shout it from the mountaintops! Let’s hear for the Rule of Law! If profanity gets us us a hearing, please use it with abandon!