RIP Nick Berg

Roger Ailes (ya know, the good one) has this one right.

Nick Berg, the American contractor beheaded by Islamists in Iraq, should not be used as a political football. What happened to him is an atrocity, commited by awful, awful people who have used the torture in Abu Ghraib as an excuse and justification for their brutality. This sick act should not, and must not, be used as it was intended by the Islamists: as a further excuse to ratchet up hostilities, to "exterminate the brutes."

It should not be used to absolve Americans of having been responsible for atrocities either. When, as Atrios notes, the White House uses this crime to insist that the torture in Abu Ghraib is not all that bad, they trivialize both.

Berg should be mourned, and his killers brought to justice. Anything else would be wrong.

RIP Nick Berg

Roger Ailes (ya know, the good one) has this one right.

Nick Berg, the American contractor beheaded by Islamists in Iraq, should not be used as a political football. What happened to him is an atrocity, commited by awful, awful people who have used the torture in Abu Ghraib as an excuse and justification for their brutality. This sick act should not, and must not, be used as it was intended by the Islamists: as a further excuse to ratchet up hostilities, to "exterminate the brutes."

It should not be used to absolve Americans of having been responsible for atrocities either. When, as Atrios notes, the White House uses this crime to insist that the torture in Abu Ghraib is not all that bad, they trivialize both.

Berg should be mourned, and his killers brought to justice. Anything else would be wrong.

Sen. Inhofe (R- jackass)

I'm not surprised that John McCain left the room during Inhofe's pro-torture ramblings.

Senator Inhofe, people were tortured. Like Jesse Berney says, it shouldn't matter what sort of people these were. Torture is a crime against humanity, a crime that cannot be tolerated. Even if the acts of brutality in Abu Ghraib prison weren't abominations, they have become propaganda for our enemies.

When you go after the media, or Democrats, saying that it's not as bad as all that, remember that the photos produced are just the tip of the iceberg. There is more, and it is probably more damaging.

Your outrage at the outrage at others, is, itself a little outrageous. If systematic humiliation, the siccing of dogs on naked prisoners, and the killing of prisoners in custody don't trouble you, I really wonder what your values are.

Rumsfailed

I just have to add that Bush's effusive praise of Rumsfeld is somewhat shocking to me. The cheezy performance the two put on, with Bush "privately" "chiding" Rumsfeld because, oh gosh, some Iraqi detainees were tortured, killed, and raped, and then turning around and saying he was doing a superb job, and that we all owe him a debt of gratitude (for what? for screwing up two wars?) follows a pattern of behavior for Republican politicians. Why, it wasn't so long ago that the mutant son of Bob's Big Boy, Mississippi senator Trent Lott, was in hot water for making what amounted to pro-segregationist remarks at Strom Thurmond's birthday party. The Republican establishment came down pretty hard on the helmet-haired bigot. But in the end, he was given basically a slap on the wrist, moved down a slot, and replaced by someone who makes Southern Conservatism seem a little bit less barbaric, the cat-torturing megalomaniac Bill Frist.

This was all a bit like an old Mickey Mouse cartoon. Mickey lets Pluto babysit his nephews, Ferdy and Morty. Pluto mauls both of them, leaving Ferdy comotose and Morty paralyzed from the neck down. Mickey admonishes Pluto. Pluto gives Mickey sad eyes and whimpers. Mickey feels sorry for the poor dog and forgives him, saying, "Gosh, Pluto, I can't stay mad at you." Pluto licks Mickey's face and they all live happily ever after except for the two mauled anthropomorphic mice.

So, in that way, it's not that shocking. But in another, it just seems really, really stupid. This is probably the biggest scandal to hit this White House, and it's not going away. Bush, by telling the world he thinks Rummy is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being he's ever known in his life, has poured gasoline on a fire that may have made the war in Iraq unwinnable and the War on Terrorism much, much harder.

If I were a tin-foil hat type, I might say Bush has decided that he can't win re-election, and has decided to ruin Kerry's presidency.

Sincerity and Bush

One occasionally hears the comment that Bush came into office as an isolationist of sorts, who was forced by circumstances (read September 11) to become an interventionist, a neoconservative. It is a common mistake to see a politician's rhetoric as somehow representative of his or her intentions. If, as such insiders as O'Neill and Clarke have suggested, it was Bush's intention to invade Iraq far before September 11 came along, I don't think that really identifies him as an isolationist.

Bush is a politician first and foremost. One of the problems I have with his supporters is they impute motives to him that bear no resemblance to his actions. It was clear to me, in the summer of 2001, when he engaged in that drawn-out kabuki over stem-cell research, that it was foolish to imply sincerity to this man. Every action was carefully choreographed and planned to play a certain way to certain constituencies. The sincerity that Bush allegedly radiates is a mask.

We find this insincerity almost everywhere in Bush's public pronouncements. Is there any reason, given Bush's subsequent unqualified praise, to believe that Bush actually chewed Rumsfeld out over the situation at Abu Ghraib? Do Bush's endless sermons about spreading democracy, or "freedom", to the Middle East mean he is committed, actually committed, to doing so? Gerson and Frum might be dedicated to this task, but Bush isn't.

It's always confusing to me when people tell me that they find Bush convincing, sincere and genuine... when they echo the President's words, "when I say something, I mean it." Or when people, like Will Saletan, say that Bush stick to his guns come hell or high water, that his deficiency is his stubbornness. The first is just another demonstration of people's willingness to be lied to, to believe propaganda without the filter of common sense; Bush may not be able to finish a sentence without uttering a neologism or tripping over his tongue, but he is, at heart, a performer. The second is wrong in a more interesting way. Bush, and by extension, his administration, is incapable of admitting wrong, but it is perfectly happy to weasel out of sticky situations by reversing course- what the Kerry-haters call "flip-flopping"- and has been aided and abetted in these flip-flops by a political media that is at turns deferential and and incompetent, gossipy and partisan. So Bush may hold onto policies (and Defense Secretaries) until long after they've gone sour, but he's not above ditching political liabilities so long as he's aware of them and get away with it.

Nader Misses Texas Ballot Requirement, Sues

How very poetic.