I gotta tell you a Truth and Reconciliation Commission never had the right sound to it. Not when I thought of the Horrifying crap that is the truth. Now Others have made that much needed name change for us. Senator Whitehouse is going to lead the way and I have faith in his sense of justice.
Spearheading Senate efforts to establish a torture commission is Rhode Island Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse. As a member of both the Judiciary Committee and the Intelligence Committee, Whitehouse is privy to information about interrogations he can't yet share. Still, regarding a potential torture commission, he told Salon,"I am convinced it is going to happen." In fact, his fervor on the issue was palpable. When asked if there is a lot the public still does not know about these issues during the Bush administration, his eyes grew large and he nodded slowly. "Stay on this," he said. "This is going to be big."
Senate will advance torture commission
It's no small deal for me to have faith that a Senator, Dem or Rep. when it comes to really digging up the dirt and truth. So when I read the above I almost, almost mind you, had one of those Chris Matthew leg shivers. Even more exciting is that Congress has finally decided they don't need the Presidents permission to do their job. After many of Pres. Obamas statements I think he would be hard pressed to fight this too hard.
Whitehouse admitted he had not discussed the plan yet with President Obama, who has been notably wishy-washy on the notion since taking office. On the one hand, Obama has consistently said that "my administration is going to operate in a way that leaves no doubt that we do not torture." Yet on the other hand, he has insisted that "nobody is above the law, and if there are clear instances of wrongdoing, that people should be prosecuted just like any ordinary citizen; but that generally speaking, I'm more interested in looking forward than I am in looking backwards."
Pres. Obama's hedging everytime he make that statement has always made me cringe.It's time we held him to those words even if we have to go around him to to it. Afterall he does have his hands full with other details and ideas. Listening to his speech tonight I heard him say we will soar to the best educated, we will cure Cancer, Stop the war in Iraq, Save the Worlds Economy, Fix Social Security, Clean the Enviroment, and a few other things. It's the least we can do to hold this fact finding investigation while he is piddling around with all those other minor details right ?
Senator Whitehouse has been impressive in his zeal for the details of such things as Torture, Warrantless Wiretapping , and all the other scandals. He has always been the one to go where ever he needed to to read those secret documents and files the former admin. never want to leave their hands. He read them and took many mental notes, never failing to notify the public of what details he could. He is the ideal man to Chair this Torture Commission imho.
"We have this American government, which has an architecture and a shape and a system that drives it and constrains it and that keeps it honest," he said. "And what happened is that the Bush administration figured out a lot of ways to tunnel through the walls and sneak over the fences. So now we need to go back and say, 'We have got to plant those walls deeper so you can not tunnel under them.' We've got to spotlight how they did it," Whitehouse explained. "The ultimate goal in this is to protect and enhance American democracy."
Tonight Pres. Obama stood before the World and declared that the United States Does Not Torture. There is only one way to restore the Worlds faith in America and it's not just though the words of a new President, but by the holding to account those that stained the name of you and me and all of America. Now if I can just be patient enough to let the process work.