I am filled with outrage today over disclosure that the Bush administration through his Attorney General Gonzalez - forced out for political misbehavior - secretly approved the harshest torture techniques that could be conceived despite constitutional prohibitions and Supreme Court and Congressional disapproval.
I implore every conscientious person in the US (and the world) who disapproves of torture and believes in the Democratic rule of law to go outside in a public place at noon EST on Monday - Columbus Day - and make loud noises of protest. I personally favor a large kitchen pan and a metal spoon - or banging a powerful drum - but a car horn or an air horn would also do. Shouting "Bush should resign" is another option.
I believe Bush should have been impeached some time ago for so damaging the US stature in the world and flagrantly disrespecting the spirit and letter of the Constitution. I have not been surprised by his behavior, having known him personally in a Phillips Academy dormitory we shared when he was 17. He was then a contemptuous, arrogant, mean-spirited and insecure teenager of limited gifts who took pleasure in the discomfort of others. And the man does not grow so far from the boy. That he grew
up to be US president was a source of astonishment to me but that he has become the worst president in US history is no surprise at all.
A widespread public demonstration calling for his resignation - and that of his officers and cabinet - would signal to the world that the US has neither lost its heart nor its mind. Bang the drum, not slowly, but loudly.
Enough is more than enough.
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