My Letter to My Senators This Morning

I sent this letter to both Senator Patty Murry and Senator Maria Cantwell this morning.

Sentaor:

I have just read with horror the AP article which states "Evidence gained by torture can be used by the U.S. military in deciding whether to imprison a foreigner indefinitely at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as an enemy combatant, the government concedes" -- and that "Principal Deputy Associate Attorney General Brian Boyle has ruled that evidence gained by torture is admissable in the case of the detainees at Guantamo Base."

For an administration so keen on prayer and saying the Pledge of Allegiance, they sure seem to have forgotten basic human decency and "liberty and justice for all."

How has our country fallen so low? What the hell is this administration thinking? I'm not sure which appalls me more: the fact that our military is torturing illegally detained prisoners, or that this administration is so blind to decency and world opinion that it evidently doesn't feel any qualms about admitting it in public.

Senator, the war in Iraq is already a travesty. This is barbaric. and a violation of basic principles as a nation. Please do whatever you can to put an end to the abuses at Guantanamo.

Not That it Will Make Any Difference. . .

. . . I sent this to president@whitehouse.gov


Mr. President:

I sincerely hope that the AP article published this morning is in error.

I am sincerely hoping it is not true that: "Evidence gained by torture can be used by the U.S. military in deciding whether to imprison a foreigner indefinitely at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as an enemy combatant, the government concedes. "

If it is true, I expect that you, an avowed Christian and the leader of a nation that should stand for the protection of basic human rights everywhere in the world, as well as "liberty and justice for all" will take strong measures to stop any torture being done by the US military -- at Guantanamo or anywhere else.

Like a lot of people, I've heard rumours over the years that our military has always engaged in torture, quietly, in secret. I don't know what appalls me more: that we do it at all, or that we have evidently fallen so low in our moral sensibilities that now there doesn't seem to be any qualms about admitting it publically, as if we are justified.

Mr. President, this is not justified. This is evil. Torturing people is wrong. You would be the first to object if anyone else were doing it, for any reason.

9-11-2001 does not make us exempt from the basic rules of human decency, much less the treaties and agreements we as a nation have committed to over the years to uphold human rights and justice.

This morning's report is a disgrace to the United States, and yet another black mark against our honor as a nation.

I hope you will use your authority to stop these abuses and uphold the principles of our nation. I don't care what any judge says. Detaining people without charges and without due process, and using torture to gain evidence violates the basic principles of our Constitution. And saying otherwise continues to erode whatever moral high ground we as a nation once possessed.

[Name, Address, Phone Number]

Last Lines of a Conversation

I was fortunate again today to have some free time at work for journaling. Late in the afternoon I fell into a written dialogue with an inner wisdom figure. We were discussing my recent ongoing issue of archetype and my role/vocation. These were his last words:

Choose the Light, Sabrina.

Be aware of all the opportunities to choose every day, and choose again and again and again.

And then help others to see, and to choose.

Always Remember. . . .

It's only a multiple personality disorder if they don't get along.