The Real Question Is?

Would you buy a used car from anyone in this administration?

The Trust Gap - New York Times: "According to Mr. Gonzales, the administration can be relied upon to police itself and hold the line between national security and civil liberties on its own. Set aside the rather huge problem that our democracy doesn't work that way. It's not clear that this administration knows where the line is, much less that it is capable of defending it. Mr. Gonzales's own dedication to the truth is in considerable doubt. In sworn testimony at his confirmation hearing last year, he dismissed as 'hypothetical' a question about whether he believed the president had the authority to conduct warrantless surveillance. In fact, Mr. Gonzales knew Mr. Bush was doing just that, and had signed off on it as White House counsel."

As we used to say when we were kids "liar, liar, pants on fire".

Mr. Bush also made it clear that he intends to follow the new law on the treatment of prisoners when his internal moral compass tells him it is the right thing to do.

On Thursday, Tim Golden of The Times reported that United States military authorities had taken to tying up and force-feeding the prisoners who had gone on hunger strikes by the dozens at Guantánamo Bay to protest being held without any semblance of justice.

Shame, shame, shame. On us. This is unconscionable. We have no right to tell China, Iraq, Iran or Korea how to run their prisons and we certainly don't have the moral high ground when it comes to human rights abuses.

According to numerous news reports, the majority of the Gitmo detainees are neither members of Al Qaeda nor fighters captured on the battlefield in Afghanistan. The National Journal reported last week that many were handed over to the American forces for bounties by Pakistani and Afghan warlords. Others were just swept up. The military has charged only 10 prisoners with terrorism. Hearings for the rest were not held for three years and then were mostly sham proceedings.

Well, that will definitely win friends and influence people.

Just not on America's side.

Isn't it nice how the well-written editorials are finally making an appearance?

Tags: Gonzales, broken moral compass, trust gap, al Qaeda, Gitmo