Might Makes Right (5/7/09)

Might makes right. That is the lesson we are teaching our kids. The President of the United States of America has acknowledged that we tortured the prisoners we captured. Of course he had to admit that we tortured, because he still has a functioning brain and the evidence is so overwhelming that to deny that we tortured would be pure foolishness.

One would think that the next logical step after admitting that we tortured would be to say that the torturers must be punished. But we are The United States of America, the good old U. S. of A, leaders of the free world, and nobody, nobody tells us what to do!

It's just more honest really that we've given up the façade of claiming we are a nation of laws. When you think about it, our nation has a checkered history of embracing the principle that might makes right. Native people who claim a right to the land our European ancestors "discovered"? No problem. We had guns; they had bows and arrows. Might makes right. Mexico had land we wanted and they didn't want to sell? No problem. Our military power was superior and we knew it. Might makes right. Iraq says they did not have WMD, and that they had nothing to do with September 11th. No problem. We had "intelligence" that contradicted those claims, and we had dominant military power. Might makes right.

In the past we claimed other reasons to justify our violation of what any civilized people would recognize as human rights. Now we don't really need to bother with the rationalizations (although Condi did point out to the 4th graders the other day that we were very afraid), we simply acknowledge that we tortured, or started a war we shouldn't have, and we move on without penalty, because we are the U. S. of A., we are the most powerful, and we believe that might makes right.

So remember kids, follow the rules until they get in the way of what you want. If you're strong enough, you can have whatever your little hearts' desire.

Is that really the lesson we want to pass on to our children?

PAUL

shoots his mouth off on the radio every day and doesn't have much time for this.