Tortured Logic

Sen John McCain (R-HasBeen) was on Face The Nation this morning, making the case that not only those who actually tortured people should not be held accountable (they were only following orders), but that neither should those who authorized it. His three main points seemed to be

1. We've got to move on, put this behind us
2. Authorization to torture was just "bad advice"
3. If people are prosecuted, how will you get other people to serve?

These are three very silly arguments. Why do we need to move on? Where are we moving on to? If we just leave this behind us, it will bite us in the collective ass. I wonder if McCain would give the same advice to rape victims - move on, prosecution of the rapist will be hard and painful; better to forget about it and let the healing begin. And if one of the victim's family members insisted, would McCain brush that off by accusing him of having a personal score to settle?

So was it simply "bad advice" or was it criminal? It seems to me that the courtroom is the best place to determine this. That's what prosecution is for. McCain wants to dispense with that part, and find everyone innocent. Which is odd, considering the way he went on and on about how the torture violated the Geneva Convention and U.S. Law - he himself helped pass the Detainee Treatment Act.

Personally, I'm not so worried about how we get people into public service - I worry more about how to keep the kind of people who would authorize torture OUT of public service. If there is no accountability, what is stopping them? McCain says that he believes that no other administration will ever do this again. I wonder if he would have believed in 2000 that the last administration would do so in the first place? I wonder what he thinks is going to keep them from doing it again? Was he opposed to prosecuting Madoff on the grounds that it would keep other people from offering financial advice?

The people who did the torture were just following orders. The people who gave the orders were following the advice they were given. And the people who gave the advice - well, they were just lawyers giving bad opinions. So no one was at fault.

McCain says and apparently believes that the Geneva Convention is very important to follow. That our enemies will follow the convention rules if they "know there will be retribution." And yet, there should be no retribution to our own people for breaking those rules. Did Saddam ask his advisers if torture was OK? Did they give him advice? Did he them order his evil Republican Guard to carry out that advice?

I wonder under what scenario McCain would ever approve of punishment of the punishers? Perhaps if they had a big black "D" after their names.

As much as I despise Dick Cheney, at least he is sticking to his horribly flawed view of the world. In his mind, the torture was a fun way to ensure a needed result, and therefore justified. But McCain is just a weak-kneed weasel. I can only hope that the good people of Arizona watched his pitiful performance and will do the right thing next time they have the chance.