George W. Bush pulled out of an appearance in Denver scheduled for tomorrow upon learning that WikiLeaks leader Julian Assange had been invited to appear at the same conference via video.
I wonder if this policy would apply to those who ran his torture program. Or those who ran his program of extraconstitutional kidnappings. Or all the politicians that tore constitutional rights apart with the PATRIOT and FISA acts.
Christopher Hitchens of Vanity Fair used to call waterboarding “extreme interrogation,” and not torture. He went so far as to test his convictions, and videotaped his own waterboarding. The resulting article, “Believe Me, It’s Torture,” and the accompanying video, are incredible work. There is no question about the nature of waterboarding, and our own government has prosecuted others for doing it. Yet President Bush vetoed a bill outlawing our use of waterboarding, a move that shoots past mere partisanship and stops near actual evil.
Our country has a terrible blemish on its history. I pray for forgiveness and mercy towards America for this inexcusable transgression.