It's a sad commentary on the state of American democracy, on the instincts of the American citizenry, and on the standards and judgment of the American newsmedia that the unsavory advances of a pathetic Forida congressman can have the nation in high dudgeon, while the ramming through of a patently illegal piece of legislation undermining a crucial 13th century civil liberty (habeas corpus), and the Fourth and Eighth Amendments of the constitution, and the secret planning for an illegal and catastrophic attack on Iran, both merit almost no complaint or mention.
Far be it from me to complain if Rep. Mark Foley's sexual obsession with teenage boys ends up sinking Republican hopes for hanging onto the House and Senate. But how sad that it would be if it is this, and the coverup of his crimes by the Republican leadership, that undoes the Bush administration, when its real crimes are of such grandeur and seriousness?
I just got back from clergy conference and once more was sick at heart about how everyone was going on about their business as usual. Nobody said a word about what Congress did last week. Surely the legalization of torture merited some notice by the leaders of the Church. Maybe it just hasn't dawned on most people that something major happened last Thursday. Or maybe everyone feels so powerless that the only way to deal with it is to tune it out.
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