The Dark Side, Again

President Bush and Vice President Cheney are conducting legacy tour of interviews and speeches with the hope, albeit slim, of resurrecting public opinion on their administration and its often dubious record on treatment of detainees in its so called "war on terror."

It pains me as an American to think that agents of my country have engaged in acts to detainees that the U.S. military considered illegal during World War II, indeed charging the Japanese soldiers who carried out these acts of barbarism, including water boarding.

Now we have Cheney, second in command of the Bush Regime, claiming water boarding is an acceptable form of interrogation for peaceful democracies to engage in. Amazing.

When thinking of these egregious breaches of all that is good and decent, it reminds me of another President straining the bounds of Presidential authority, Richard Nixon and his Watergate. And when thinking of decisions made at the top, at the ground zero of American power, these words from Judiciary Committee member Rep. Lawrence Hogan, (R) Maryland during Watergate hearings:

"The thing that's so appalling to me is that the President, when this whole idea was suggested to him, didn't, in righteous indignation, rise up and say, "Get out of here, you're in the office of the President of the United States. How can you talk about blackmail and bribery and keeping witnesses silent? This is the presidency of the United States." But my President didn't do that. He sat there and he worked and worked to try to cover this thing up so it wouldn't come to light."

These words ring true today as loud and clear as they did way back in 1974.