Did we learn nothing from Mel Brooks' movie, Blazing Saddles? Like Governor Le Petomane, our congressional leaders seem ready, eager even, to do despicable things to save their "phony, baloney jobs." National debate, to the extent there is any, seems driven by "authentic frontier gibberish."
On Tuesday the American president signed a bill that OKs torture as an interrogation technique, permits the executive branch of the government to skirt habeas corpus at will and interpret the Geneva Conventions however it best suits its purposes. Welcome to Rock Ridge.
The worst of these cardboard characters we call leaders are prevalent in both parties. Republican senators Lindsey Graham, John Warner and John McCain provided cover for the Torture Bill with their bogus pose as concerned moderates. Slice it anyway you want, they provided the lipstick for the despotism pig that was George Bush's military tribunal bill.
Then you have the cowardly Democrats who voted for the bill to avoid being accused of being weak on terrorism. Speaker Dennis Hastert proved their fears were well founded Wednesday with his condemnation of the 159 House members who voted against the bill. Predictably, Hastert accused them of wanting to coddle terrorists.
Sadly, too many Americans don't have a clue as to what happened to their country on Tuesday. Sadder still, even if they knew about it, too many of them probably wouldn't have understood its significance.
The steady march toward a police state -- "strong" and "tough" on everthing and wise and thoughtful about very little -- continues.
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