What Are We Becoming?

I've keep most of my political views off of this blog. But the debate around whether or not we should grab people and torture them has seriously conflicted. The policies and ideals of the administration I voted in flies in the face of the training I received as a US Marine regarding the treatment of prisoners. The following quote sums up how I feel about the laws just voted on by our government:

The provisions of Bush's new torture law mean that Americans have lost the key, constitutional right on which Anglo-American criminal law (and criminal-law procedures in true democracies in general) is founded; that's the basic right of an individual to know why he or she is being apprehended and detained. Now, technically, as in Stalin's Soviet Union, Hitler's Germany, Mao's China or Pol Pot's Cambodia, anyone labeled an "enemy combatant" - again, by whom; by Bush? - can be whisked away and never heard from again. That kind of authority, in the hands of corrupt or untruthful politicians, may or may not be an effective tool in some kind of "war on terror," but it certainly can be a useful tool when it comes to silencing their opponents. (source)

I wonder if this would have been voted in this week if North Korea wasn't feeling a little squirrely. Our government loves to exploit our fears so they can gain power through chipping away at human rights.

I always hear people say that our country is founded on Christian ideals. It sure would be nice to if our government would actually practice those ideals.

Sorry, I'm just a little grumpy from being herded through the cattle lines set up at airport security (as I sit here, I'm being told over a loud speaker that this airport is operating at a heightened level of security so my toothpaste or deoderant may be the cause of the line backing up).

I'll feel better when I get home to my wife.