The Crocodile Tears of the Congressionally Outraged

Assuming the Washington Post's top story yesterday -- "Hill Briefed on Waterboarding in 2002" -- wasn't merely the fruit of self-defensive and counterattacking superspook hyperbole, it went far in reaffirming Lily Tomlin's famous political philosophy of, "no matter how cynical you become, it's never enough to keep up." (I know that line has become a bit cliche-ish, but sometimes when writing at 4 A.M. my brain hasn't yet stirred to the profundities of a Hegel or Nietzsche.)

I speculate on the story's possible hyperbole -- it's chocked full of "U.S. officials said," rather than named sources -- but unfortunately it seems all too believable, given Congress' record of miserably eager collaboration with this White House's totalitarian tendencies. In short, I wasn't surprised, and I doubt any other reader was, either. Hence our national cynicism's reaffirmation.

Blared the wretched lede: "In September 2002, four members of Congress met in secret for a first look at a unique CIA program designed to wring vital information from reticent terrorism suspects in U.S. custody. For more than an hour, the bipartisan group [the Republican chairs and Democratic ranking members of the two intelligence committees] ... was given a virtual tour of the CIA's overseas detention sites and the harsh techniques interrogators had devised to try to make their prisoners talk."

Among the "harsh techniques" surveyed for Congressional members was, of course, waterboarding -- a brutal practice whose depth of brutality is defined, if nothing else, by its historical practitioners of Nazis, North Koreans, Spanish Inquisitors and WWII Japanese interrogators, whom we went so far as to label and prosecute as war criminals for employing it. That wasn't a close judgment call: the virtual drowning of prisoners and suspects isn't known as a hallmark of a civilized society, however many reminders of that are required these days.

One would think that members of an intelligence committee -- schooled as they are, or should be, in the ins and outs of intelligence-gathering legalities -- would have put their emotional proclivities aside following the horror of 2001 and reminded the superspooks that we nevertheless happen to be a nation of laws, as well as a nation of official behavioral standards well above the day-to-day operational standards of Himmler's Gestapo.

"But on that day, no objections were raised," reported the Post. "Instead, at least two lawmakers in the room asked the CIA to push harder, two U.S. officials said."

That's bad enough. Sickening enough. But the story gets even worse. Congressional "overseers" were treated to more than just the Sept 2002 briefing. In fact, over a two-year period "the CIA gave key legislative overseers about 30 private briefings ... according to interviews with multiple U.S. officials with firsthand knowledge."

Then the worst, the most sickening, part: "Only after information about the practice began to leak in news accounts in 2005 -- by which time the CIA had already abandoned waterboarding -- did doubts about its legality among individual lawmakers evolve into more widespread dissent."

Doubts? No, what informed lawmakers expressed was feigned and sniveling outrage. One can almost forgive the Republican participants; their creed for some time has been there are no standards of decency or legal traditions that a proper terrorist-fighting führer cannot or should not violate. Hell, they're proud of it, they advertise it, they advance themselves by it and are positively giddy about it.

Yet while there was "no objecting, no hand-wringing" at the time of their CIA-delivered educations, the loyal and purportedly upright Democratic opposition laid both on thick, once the press popped the cork on the Bush administration's unprecedented descent into the official hell of Gestapoism. They were, they told us, shocked to learn of such deplorable doings -- and in no way, and at no time, ever would have condoned them.

Following the Second World War, Western Europeans who had suffered under the Nazi regime held an especially pointed hostility not toward their former brutalizers, but for the collaborators within. They shot the men and shaved the women. With respect to today's Congressional collaborators, I'd settle for something a tad less physical.

In exchange for the CIA coughing up other interrogation tapes that likely exist, perhaps it could produce one of Democratic lawmakers sitting in on one of those early briefings, nodding and smiling in approval of America's unconscionable debasement. Juxtaposed with shots of their subsequent outrage, it would make for terrific, 30-second TV viewing during their re-election campaigns.

Comments

[RicardoT]

I heard Nancy Pelosi was one of the Democrats briefed on waterboarding in 2002. Perhaps this helps explain her "impeachment is off the table" mandate. Upon investigation, the Democrats compliance and acquiescence with The Bush crimes would be revealed.

[Lj]

Thanks for the commentary. Unfortunately, no one commentary cn capture the depths of depravity to which the craven Pelosi Democrat's have sunk, starting with the unP.A.T.R.I.O.T. act, the MCA act, and now, the unbelievably gross "thought crimes bill" HR-1959, which passed PELOSI's House with only 4 or 6 dissenting votes. What planet are these #@!* "democrat" legislators on? They are now to the right of Joe McCarthy, who (heck!) even WANTED to parade all suspected communists before the cameras and judges. Under laws written for the current administration and passed without meaningful dissent by Pelosi or the Dem senators, Habeas Corpus is now dead in America.
I'll leave the Pelosi-Democrats subserivence to the PNAC, AIPAC, Lieberman neo-cons out of this sad comment except to post these two URLS, AIPAC cheering Cheney on at this years's conference in DC in March,
http://www.aipac.org/about_AIPAC/Learn_About_AIPAC/2841_5081.asp
and this one written by Pat Buchanan,
"The AIPAC Girl, Nancy Pelosi Leaves Iran War In Bush/Cheney Hands"
http://www.postchronicle.com/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi?archive=11&num=70952

[Clemsy]

In 2002 I abandoned my independent status and became a Democrat in the hope that if enough of us did this we could breathe some new life into the party.

All the party did was take my votes. Nothing changed.

This latest revelation should serve as the inspiration for true progressives to abandon the party in droves, as it has abandoned us.

After the primary, when I will vote for Kucinich, I will change my party affiliation to Green. If enough of us do this, maybe, just maybe, the Democratic Party may rethink its positions.

[Rafael Espericueta]

The Democrats have proven complicit with the neo-cons in goose-stepping the US from freedom towards totalitarianism. Dennis Kucinich and Ron Paul seem to be the only viable candidates. Unless you want to live in a fascist police state!

[beamer]

the question burning a hole in my soul-how did we allow these miserable lowlife scumfuks into office? the lack of honor,humanity and integrity is beyond credibility..we are governed by the lowest of absolute,degraded incompetence..did we get the gov't we deserve?

[Allan]

If americans don't band together behind the most HONEST candidate, we're all screwed. You don't have to guess twice to know who I'm talking about, and he's not a democrat.

[JBush]

I, too, have had it with the Democratic "leadership." Color me independent until funding stops for the illegal war and impeachment is on the table where it belongs. Note to Nancy P: That table belongs to "we the people."
It seems obvious that the only way to get the attention of these pseudo-Democrats is to cut off the money. Toward that end, I have just signed the Democratic Donor Strike Against the DSCC and DCCC petition:

http://www.democrats.com/donor-strike-2007

I think we should all sign it.

[DOGISMYTH]

People....please STOP IT! You first need to accept that a group of elitist and internationalist are calling each and every "shot" for what is to happen. Please watch zeitgeistmovie.com

We have no choice but to construct a third party of concerned citizens. You WILL NOT receive any help from a Republican or Democrat, and quite possibly the Independents. They all are aware of "the plan" for globalization, and WANT A PART OF IT. So, you will see that they go along, partly out of fear and mostly for a secure and safe position in the coming years.

We need a union just like the auto workers. I put forward the idea that we begin the American Union of which any citizen would have the right to join, and join to resist the destruction of our constitution, and our way of life.

We must begin now. Stop wasting you time, watch the movie, and inform others.