The Occasional Dissident

“If even a stopped clock is right twice a day, this could be Cheney’s time.” - Richard Cohen (“What if Cheney’s Right?” Washington Post, May 12, 2009) Dear citizens, let us engage in a thought experiment.  And, I beg you to allow it only to be a thought experiment, for the consequences of engaging in this in real life, with real people, can only be bad.  We prefer bad things do not happen.  All we wish to do is to determine whether torture is ... Read More

“By deciding to torture, we freely chose to embrace the caricature they [militant Islamists] had made of us.  The consequences of this choice, legal, political and moral, now confront us.  Time and elections are not enough to make them go away.” - Mark Danner, “Tales from torture’s dark world” (IHT.com, March 15, 2009) Dear citizens, we are torturers.  I know.  I know.  You feel uncomfortable hearing that.  So do I.  We are torturers, nonetheless.  In our names, Our President and Our Government have ... Read More