::::::::
The America I've known for 72 years was killed last week. We called ourselves America the beautiful; but we'll be remembered, if at all, as America the bestialAt President Bush's adamant insistence the feckless Republican Congress passed legislation that, among other outrages to liberty, allows him, or those acting under his direction, to torture any person that he (the self-styled "decider") decides is an enemy.
Bush asserts that he's a Christian, but my understanding is that Jesus preached a doctrine of love, not vengeance. I invite him or any of his evangelical supporters to cite any Christian justification for torture.
He regularly claims that he's doing God's will; indeed the following remarks by him illustrate his perception of his rapport with the Almighty:
1) June, 2003, "God told me to strike at al Qaeda and I struck them, and then he instructed me to strike at Saddam, which I did, and now I am determined to solve the problem in the Middle East."
2) July, 2004, "I trust God speaks through me. Without that, I couldn't do my job."
Presumably, like the Spanish Inquisitor, Torquemada, God told him to torture people, or at least he asked God about it and God gave him a thumbs up. Now I don't mean to question the sincerity of the President's faith (well ... OK ... I do), but I note that the knack of receiving such detailed instructions from God is a gift that has usually been attributed only to saints and psychotics.
