inaugural thoughts
On the eve of the inauguration, I remember Bush's last inaugural speech. It was one of the best speeches in recent Democratic Party history; certainly, it was reassuring. But of course, a speech is only that. And, to borrow a notion from Michael Chabon's great novel Summerland, in the eldritch worlds a promise is, sadly, nonbinding.
Nonetheless, I do think about the prospect of four more years. For one, Alberto Gonzales. Here's a man who, when he was Bush's fella here in Texas, summarized the cases of death-row inmates for review by the governor. In one case, he failed to note that the defendant was retarded and the defense lawyer slept through the trial, and that the appeals process was in keeping with that sorry record; Bush, the poor man's last chance, read Gonzales's report, devoid of any such mitigating info, and said, "pass."
Then there's Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib. I remember my parents and grandparents bragging about how well we treated the Nazi prisoners of war. It was in keeping with their idea of who America was: no matter what they did to us, we'd treat them right. Today, though, we have the likes of Gonzales giving a definition of "torture" that makes Clinton's definition of "sexual relations" look like broad constructionism. All those people who were so outraged at Clinton's dissembling about ... a blow job? Where is their outrage now? Does anyone doubt that if a Clinton operative had redefined "torture" in such a torturous way the radio waves would be dripping with red blood? And what price does Gonzales pay for the guilt that leads, paper by paper, right back to his desk? Why, he gets promoted: he's now your Attorney General.
Where were the Democrats who could have held this man accountable, and who could hold the Administration accountable to nominate decent men and women? Where, in God's name, were the Republicans who want to preserve a shred of honor in the party of Lincoln?
My prayer is that, God forbid, if, someday, terrorists get hold of Gonzales, and if they sic dogs on him, or force him to simulate oral sex with his compeers, or to balance on a box with electrodes attached to his hands and genitals lest he fall — my prayer is that after they're done with all that, they'll refrain from torturing him.
Damn us all.
Nonetheless, I do think about the prospect of four more years. For one, Alberto Gonzales. Here's a man who, when he was Bush's fella here in Texas, summarized the cases of death-row inmates for review by the governor. In one case, he failed to note that the defendant was retarded and the defense lawyer slept through the trial, and that the appeals process was in keeping with that sorry record; Bush, the poor man's last chance, read Gonzales's report, devoid of any such mitigating info, and said, "pass."
Then there's Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib. I remember my parents and grandparents bragging about how well we treated the Nazi prisoners of war. It was in keeping with their idea of who America was: no matter what they did to us, we'd treat them right. Today, though, we have the likes of Gonzales giving a definition of "torture" that makes Clinton's definition of "sexual relations" look like broad constructionism. All those people who were so outraged at Clinton's dissembling about ... a blow job? Where is their outrage now? Does anyone doubt that if a Clinton operative had redefined "torture" in such a torturous way the radio waves would be dripping with red blood? And what price does Gonzales pay for the guilt that leads, paper by paper, right back to his desk? Why, he gets promoted: he's now your Attorney General.
Where were the Democrats who could have held this man accountable, and who could hold the Administration accountable to nominate decent men and women? Where, in God's name, were the Republicans who want to preserve a shred of honor in the party of Lincoln?
My prayer is that, God forbid, if, someday, terrorists get hold of Gonzales, and if they sic dogs on him, or force him to simulate oral sex with his compeers, or to balance on a box with electrodes attached to his hands and genitals lest he fall — my prayer is that after they're done with all that, they'll refrain from torturing him.
Damn us all.
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