Robert Menendez Does the Right Thing.
When Senator Bob Menendez, one of the eleven democrats to support torture and the repeal of of habeas corpus by voting for the Military Commissions Act of 2006, cast his vote, many Democrats (including me) gave him the barest sliver of passes by arguing that he was locked in a tight election race, and we couldn’t afford to throw a sitting Democrat under the bus: as the link makes clear, my family made no such exemption for Frank Lautenberg, who is a disgrace to the party, to New Jersey, to America, and to humanity.
For me, that meant nothing because I live in Pennsylvania: for my parents, who were outraged and disgusted by Lautenberg’s cowardice, it meant holding their noses and voting for Menendez, someone they both thought was a real stinker.
On Tuesday, Menendez introduces legislation to restore habeas corpus and ban torture. That’s more than a step in the right direction.
On a related note, I was taken to task at Decline and Fall for my strong words to civilian contract torturer Eric Fair:
Note that Skwire wants to have his cake and eat it too: Fair should “name names,” but only in his suicide note; the suicide being what Skwire focuses his hopes and dreams on. Personally, I’d be horrified if Fair killed himself, but I’d love to see more names come out, particularly the names of those who ordered this abuse. But that’s just me. I guess I’m a softy.
D&F (which by the way is an interesting blog I’m just now discovering) I think misinterprets my point regarding Fair: it isn’t so much that I actually want the man to commit sepuku (have you never heard of hyperbole?), so much as I’m trying to convey the concept that words without action mean nothing. Did Fair name his employer? No. Did Fair name those who ordered him to torture? No. Those contractors make good money: how much did Fair make, and how much has he given to anti-torture efforts? Fair never says what he’s done to make up for what he did. What I’m seeing is a guy who expects absolution on the basis of his public apology. Is that the standard we want to set for participation in criminal acts?
On the occasions when I really screwed up as a kid, my father would tell me, “Sometimes, ’sorry’ isn’t good enough. You have to make amends to the person you hurt with your actions. How will you show you’re sorry and that it won’t happen again?” Say what you will about Menendez, and there is PLENTY to say about the corrupt old coot, he is doing something Fair is not: Menendez the torture advocate is introducing legislation to undo those atrocities he voted for. He is making an effort to to fix what he broke. Until Fair starts naming names, testifying under oath and using his ill-gotten gains to expose his fellow torturers-for-hire, I’m not interested in his words.
Click here to support Democrat Bob Menendez, and click here to tell torture loving Democrat Frank Lautenberg he should be ashamed of himself.
February 18th, 2007 at 6:47 pm
I happen to agree with you regarding Eric Fair. I think he’s looking for an awesome book deal, not to mention he doesn’t name names or places or anything that would draw the attention of congress.
Its bs until he says his “piece” in front of a congressional hearing.