I admit it. I don't get it. I don't understand. I grew up in a military family, and I was taught, maybe even indoctrinated, that Americans don't torture. We shouldn't torture. We won't torture. Thou shall not torture. Nearly every male in my extended family spent time in the military. Most made it a career. Out of all of my grandfather's grandchildren, only two of the boys never spent time in the military. Only two others spent less than a decade in the military. Most of the girls married military men. My family is as conservative as conservative gets, and they said Americans never torture. They even said Americans should never torture.
Torture is not a conservative position. Torture is not an anti-liberal position either. Torture is an un-American position.
I admit, I didn't pay enough attention to this issue. I haven't done my civic duty on this issue. In the beginning, I ignored it. I thought, based on my military family's historical position on this issue, that our country would never do this. Ok, I admit, I always thought there were Jack Bauer-like situations where we might use it in a crisis, to prevent some greater harm. Yeah, I admit it, sometimes I fall for the romanticized crap.
As more and more came out about the U.S. using torture against people accused of terrorism, I kept thinking, this is bad (the understatement of the century). First, they showed us pictures of soldiers humiliating prisoners. Then, they said some of the worst terrorists were being waterboarded. Then, the stuff I don't even want to talk about.
In the beginning, I thought, the Democrats will take them down for this. I believed it, too. I thought Nancy Pelosi won't stand for this. Harry Reid (who I dislike intensely) won't stand for this. Our veterans won't stand for this. I thought McCain was tortured, surely he won't stand for this. I really believed, too. I didn't think that "we the people" even needed to lift a finger. Who in their right mind would allow the Bush administration to continue torturing prisoners? Who in their right mind indeed. They all allowed it. We allowed it. I allowed it.
A few of you stood up, alone, against this. Really stood up. Went out on a limb. I commend you. You are better citizens than I. This is the day that I stand up and I say, enough is enough. This is not the America that I grew up in. This is not the America that I want to live in. We can do better. We can be better. And because this is America (still the greatest country on Earth) we can change it.
Economic justice has been my area of interest, and I've strayed little outside of that area. Sure, I feel strongly about other issues, but I've also felt that allowing our country's middle class to die also erodes our ability to fight for those other issues, and so I've tried to focus on economic justice and the preservation and growth of the middle class, and I've tried not to be distracted with other issues. Torture, though, is a worthy distraction. It speaks to the core of who we are as a nation. It defines us.
So, now I ask the obvious question. Where is our leadership? Why haven't they stood up? No less than 29 diaries have mentioned torture just in the last 24 hours. Some have been comprehensive. Some have provided new information. Some have just expressed outrage. Some have called for action. How many of us have spent our morning reading the "bitter PA" diaries, and how many of us have spent our morning reading or acting on real issues like torture? I am ashamed to say that I read more "bitter PA" diaries than torture diaries. Then I read this diary by Troutfishing, and I was no longer angry about the torture issue. I am sad and ashamed.
For the first time in my life, I am really ashamed of my country. I am ashamed of myself. We have to stand up. We have to make our leaders stand up. If we don't, who will? First, they took foreign fighters and tortured them. Then they took domestic terrorists and tortured them. What's to stop them from grabbing citizens off of the street? Really. Don't say the law will stop them because the law has not stopped them yet. This is not going to end unless we end it. This is our country. This is our government. We decide. If our leaders won't stand up, then we make them stand up, or we throw them out.
Nancy Pelosi, are you listening? Are you ready to stand up yet? Impeach Bush and Cheney today, and then indict them. This is beyond simple criminality, torture is a war crime that we should never allow under any circumstances. As one commenter wrote (below), the silence is deafening.
Amnesty International has an action page on the torture issue here. They also have a page where you can contact your local media about impeaching Bush.
For those of you who have been fighting this issue for the rest of us, if you have better action links, post them to the comments, and I'll copy them into the diary here.