I’m very happy that Obama has ordered the closure of Guantanamo and denounced torture. Nevertheless, we now have a cadre of government employees who have crossed a line and are accustomed to torturing other human beings. That makes me uneasy. I have no doubt that there are politicians both in and out of government who are angry with Obama for discontinuing the practice. Any practice a government will use on its “foreign” enemies, it will eventually use on its domestic critics. Remember. Bush’s line was, “You’re either with us or against us.” If you didn’t support him, you were with the enemy. I never believed that the goal of their domestic spying was to stop terrorist attacks. It was always aimed at controlling the domestic scene. The neo-cons have shown themselves to be ruthless. I often felt over the last six years that we were just one terrorist attack away from martial law. As they mull over the election, they’re bound to see their loss as the result of not being ruthless enough.
It’s tempting to relax now. (I’m so tired of politics.) But we really need to stay involved with what happens in the coming years. A lot could happen that would make possible the return to power of these monsters. And their methods will be much harsher if they ever do.
