Trials of Democracy

We all say that we live in a Democracy in this great America of ours. The United States, we who live hear are happy to live here. We also know the least about the world around us. But over the course of the past eight years, this country took a step down an unlit path that has left we the people lying somewhere in the dust as the government went to war with Iraq using false information, carried out illegal wiretapping, and gave authorization for the CIA to perform 'harsh' interrogations.

In the midst of all of this, we have the Abu Ghraib debacle, we have numerous protests, people speaking out about the injustices served, and a President who spouts nothing but 'stay the course'. This has got to end. We cannot continue to lie down and let the government do what they please.

A bill was recently passed in the House of Representatives that would ban waterboarding as an interrogation method used by the CIA. Senate Republicans have challenged the Bill and stopped it progress, due to a mere technicality that is not always observed. There is a rule in the Senate that prevents last minute additions to bills, which is a provision so that all have the proper time and ability to look over all parts of a bill. But again, this is not always observed at all in the Senate.

Waterboarding is a technique in which a person is blindfolded and gagged, hung upside down, and then either dunked into a bucket of cold water, or have it dumped over their heads, which causes them to snort water suddenly, creating a drowning sensation. This technique has been used by the CIA in the past.

The international community agrees that this is a form of torture, and is banned by international law.

So why would Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina have a different idea? In a interview, she said the following. "I think quite frankly applying the Army field manual to the CIA would be ill-advised and would destroy a program that I think is lawful and helps the country," (CBS)

Why would a member of the United States Congress condone an act of torture?