The Torture Moment by Arianna Huffington

[Joanne98]

This is a defining moment for America.

The way we respond -- or fail to respond -- to the revelations about the Bush administration's use of torture will delineate -- for ourselves and for the world -- the kind of country we are.

It is a test of our courage and our convictions. A test of whether we are indeed a nation of laws -- or a nation that pays lip service to the notion of being a nation of laws.

And everyone engaged in our public conversation has a role to play.

So far, the media are not getting high marks. They can't seem to shake their addiction to looking at every issue -- even one that pivots on questions of morality, not politics -- through the archaic prism of right vs. left.

So we got CNN's Ed Henry mainlining a right-left 8-ball at Tuesday's press briefing, asking Robert Gibbs, "Is this an example of this White House giving in to pressure from the left?"

And we got the Washington Post's Dan Balz saying -- in two different pieces -- that Obama's release of the torture memos "has stirred a major controversy on the right and left." According to Balz, "the anger on the right was expected. But Obama faces equally strong reaction from the left, where there is a desire to punish Bush administration officials for their actions... Obama owes his presidency in part to this constituency, who rallied to him during the battle for the Democratic nomination because he presented himself as a staunch and early opponent of the war in Iraq. Now they are demanding that he acknowledge their point of view."

Since when is the need to adhere to the laws that govern us a left-wing "point of view"? Is Thou Shalt Not Kill a "point of view"? When the police arrest a rapist, is it because rape is inherently, inarguably wrong -- or because that's the cops' "point of view"?

Isn't torture one of those things where there really is no legitimate other side?

And if this really is a question of right vs. left, how do Henry, Balz, and all the others framing the discussion that way account for Shepard Smith's table-slamming outburst on FoxNews.com's The Strategy Room? Was his "We are AMERICA! We do not fucking torture!" a left-wing point of view confusingly expressed by a right-wing commentator?

Memo to the media: Time to check in for a serious round of "right vs left" rehab. When it comes to torture, the only appropriate framing is "right vs wrong."

Obama and his team have had their own problems with the issue. Despite a commitment to looking forward, they failed to see the massive wall of public indignation directly in front of them.

After all the internal back-and-forth they apparently had about how to handle the issue, it was interesting to see how fast they reversed course -- the president quickly walking back from Rahm Emanuel's unequivocal "no prosecution" position.

Once the spotlight was turned on, it was impossible to sustain the let's-just-move-on stance. What is at stake is just too huge to sweep under the presidential rug. It leaves too big a lump in the middle of the Oval Office -- and too big a stumbling block in the path of Obama's presidency.

I understand the president's preference for "reflection" over "anger and retribution." But this is not about personal pique or a desire for vengeance. It's about the nation's fundamental morality.

Continued>>>
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/the-torture-moment_b_190687.html

[jazzjunkysue]

1. A. We don't live up to our ideals, and B. We don't have a free press.

Two of the american myths we cherish and won't admit are myths.

This is not the home of the free and the brave, if we're not free enough or brave enough to own up to our own past behavior in the public media.

[L. Coyote]

2. Torture now redefines the USA for the whole world. We must act.

Unless, you want "Made in America" to be the most boycotted emblem on the planet.

[MasonJar]

3. The key is what is right or wrong, not what is left or right.

[leftstreet]

4. +1

[Individualist]

5. K&R

[genna]

6. Huffington doesn't do it for me

She can hold smack down CNN's Henry in line or take WP Balz's characterization to task, but the underlying problem is the media tries not to do its job in the first place. Why should the Republicans or the Democrats tilt their view of the underlying documents?

We report, you decide.

The problem is they put spin in front of the detailed reports. It makes their jobs easier and makes us, the public, much stupider.


The continued problem in the media is a lack of thoughtful reflection over the original source material. Does it matter how it is going to play if you know the exact content and context of the source material?

[DCKit]

8. "Isn't torture one of those things where there really is no legitimate other side?"

Sure works for me.

You've got to remember Genna, not everyone hears it the same way. Arianna's POV and her style of writing may be reaching a few wingers that just haven't been able to understand the argument from any other source.

It's just like puppies and infants - repeat, repeat, repeat and try to give positive reinforcement as much as possible. If we can peel of enough of the basically decent Republics, the remaining core will consist of the dregs of humanity and complete freaks. They will never recover from that.

[Vinnie From Indy]

7. The plain truth that Arianna does not mention is that Balz & Henry are not journalists

They are "operatives". Balz is especially obvious as a right wing operative.