I’ve been spending quite a while following certain events, news, and writers on the issue of torture. I’ve written some essays, poems and comments as well, but looking back there’s a real beginning for me on this and that was getting involved in the Special Prosecutor Project and the view I got from that, way more than anything I’ve written.
Seeing Bob Fertik post a question at Obama’s .gov website and then seeing George Stephanopolous ask Obama the question on teevee. That was quite an amazing experience.
This effort was driven by so many different groups of people, from all areas of the political spectrum. From my corner of the liberal world, I paid particular attention to the ACLU and the Center for Constitutional Rights, and, of course various bloggers who educated me on not only the facts but the politics and political strategies of confronting the issue of torture.
This week there’s been an explosion of traditional media attention on this issue. From Nancy Pelosi’s involvement, dragged into the fray by the Republicans and the CIA, to the Whitehouse Judiciary subcommittee hearings earlier this week where I had the interesting experience of seeing Lindsay Graham literally speaking out of both sides of his mouth, to the controversy over Obama deciding to fight the release of the DOD torture pictures, everyone’s chattering now.
I’ve also seen this issue covered very differently in the diversosphere, where torture is not the top story for those who have had to face this kind of behavior by the USA for generations. That view is stunningly different.
In some ways the moral high ground on this issue is clear — torture is wrong.
In other ways, the moral high ground is bitterly contested.
In that arena, I have no great insights into what the moral high ground is. Right now I think that is playing out all across the country. Morals are, of course, simply the rules any society decide are good and that society’s powerful class are able to enforce. And morals are for human beings, so I don’t think mice and deer ascribe to them, nor the big forces of existence, call them Tao or God or Flying Spaghetti Monster.
It’s kind of liberating at this moment to let go and know bigger forces are playing out regardless of my own personal beliefs. I’m sure my view will change, as it always does, but right now it’s a moment in history to me, where our culture and citizenry, with all the flaws and limitations of same, through a media that is quite insane in many ways, is being exposed to some hard truths that can no longer be repressed.
I wonder what moral high ground will emerge from this.
*****
Happy Friday. Beautiful day today. Hope everyone’s week was fine.
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… I’m sort of in the valley right now.
Very restful.
I would settle for an actual moral Center, right now. Right now our morals are in the gutter, thankfully, there ARE a few people looking up at the starts.
(h/t to the Pretenders)
Author
… I see Kagro X is on CNN.
Bizarro world!
…if some…probably too many…think the moral high ground is seriously to be avoided.
It makes me wonder about humanity when morality becomes a luxury.
where is this moral high ground, anyway?
finding the moral high ground is about hearing as many different points of view as possible and trying my best, knowing I never truly get there, to put something together as my view of what’s moral. Basing it just on my vision of the world is a danger. That’s why I love the blogosphere and in it, the diversosphere so much…it allows for expansion of that view.