Even though the President....
has been ridiculed for his apparent lack of language skills. Malapropisms, mush mouth pronunciations and vocabulary stumbling blocks have provided much entertainment to those of us who watch for such things.
The President now wishes, rather, demands that 'clarity' be adopted into the verbiage of the Geneva Convention's rules of interrogation.
Phrases such as: humane treatment, "cruel treatment and torture," and "outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment" are being scrutinized.
To the President this language is hazy, unclear and lacks clarity.
He would like to raise the bar. In the interest of 'clarity' he would like the rules of interrogation to allow everything until the phrase 'shocks the conscience' kicks in.
Apparently, all is well if our behavior does not 'shock the conscience'. Well hell, that sounds reasonable. Now, all we have to do is decide whose conscious will be used as the yardstick.
Will it be Clarence Darrow's or Johnny Cochran's? Will it be Walt Whitman's or Eminems? Martin Luther King's or Osama bin Ladin's?
Personally, I hope they don't use Mike Tyson's, but that's just me.
Again America is being coaxed down roads weary from history's obscenities. We are being asked to parse 'human decency'. What is so unclear about the principal of 'humane treatment'? For centuries America has loomed as the champion of humaneness throughout the world. And now? We are reconsidering our position? Why?
In my opinion the only thing that 'shocks the conscious' is that we are having this discussion in 2006.
QUOTE OF THE DAY:
Military justice is to justice what military music is to music. - anon.
MEXICO (as I see it):
Today (Sept.16) is Mexico's Independence day. 'El Grito' is the symbolic 'cry of independence' which is at the center of the day's celebration.
Actually, most of the celebration happens last night. Parties, fireworks and muchos 'Gritos'.
There was, of course, another gathering of Leti's family. And, of course, I had to show up or be the gringo prick again.
Lots of bunting, balloons, all red, white and green. Tacos, tostadas and tamales. Singing, talking and children screaming. Every year the women of the family break out some old, turn of the century, dresses and everybody dons one. A few of the buttons are left undone to provide oxygen for our buxom ladies but, they look pretty and elegant anyway. Some beer but, tequila is the traditional star at these fêtes.
I don't drink tequila, any more, because my relationship with it over the years has been anything but smooth. I do not allow myself to be left out though. As you all know I carry my own.
They served a drink, using tequila, that I was not familiar with. And, of all things, it was Leti who mixed it up for the whole group. Who knew?
It's called a 'cazuela'. It you look up that word in you Spanish/English dictionaries it will probably describe some sort of cooking utensil. In this case it refers to a clay bowl about the size of a cereal bowl.
The 'cazuela' is filled with ice, tequila, grapefruit juice ( or pop of that flavor), slices of oranges and limes. One may ask for a straw but the most of the locals cup the bowl with two hands and sip its ingredients thusly. Looks really good.
I didn't partake because of lousy relations with the tequila gods. No problem. I figure brandy,over ice, in an old fashioned glass is the same thing except without the tequila, grapefruit,oranges and limes. Viva Mexico!
The President now wishes, rather, demands that 'clarity' be adopted into the verbiage of the Geneva Convention's rules of interrogation.
Phrases such as: humane treatment, "cruel treatment and torture," and "outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment" are being scrutinized.
To the President this language is hazy, unclear and lacks clarity.
He would like to raise the bar. In the interest of 'clarity' he would like the rules of interrogation to allow everything until the phrase 'shocks the conscience' kicks in.
Apparently, all is well if our behavior does not 'shock the conscience'. Well hell, that sounds reasonable. Now, all we have to do is decide whose conscious will be used as the yardstick.
Will it be Clarence Darrow's or Johnny Cochran's? Will it be Walt Whitman's or Eminems? Martin Luther King's or Osama bin Ladin's?
Personally, I hope they don't use Mike Tyson's, but that's just me.
Again America is being coaxed down roads weary from history's obscenities. We are being asked to parse 'human decency'. What is so unclear about the principal of 'humane treatment'? For centuries America has loomed as the champion of humaneness throughout the world. And now? We are reconsidering our position? Why?
In my opinion the only thing that 'shocks the conscious' is that we are having this discussion in 2006.
QUOTE OF THE DAY:
Military justice is to justice what military music is to music. - anon.
MEXICO (as I see it):
Today (Sept.16) is Mexico's Independence day. 'El Grito' is the symbolic 'cry of independence' which is at the center of the day's celebration.
Actually, most of the celebration happens last night. Parties, fireworks and muchos 'Gritos'.
There was, of course, another gathering of Leti's family. And, of course, I had to show up or be the gringo prick again.
Lots of bunting, balloons, all red, white and green. Tacos, tostadas and tamales. Singing, talking and children screaming. Every year the women of the family break out some old, turn of the century, dresses and everybody dons one. A few of the buttons are left undone to provide oxygen for our buxom ladies but, they look pretty and elegant anyway. Some beer but, tequila is the traditional star at these fêtes.
I don't drink tequila, any more, because my relationship with it over the years has been anything but smooth. I do not allow myself to be left out though. As you all know I carry my own.
They served a drink, using tequila, that I was not familiar with. And, of all things, it was Leti who mixed it up for the whole group. Who knew?
It's called a 'cazuela'. It you look up that word in you Spanish/English dictionaries it will probably describe some sort of cooking utensil. In this case it refers to a clay bowl about the size of a cereal bowl.
The 'cazuela' is filled with ice, tequila, grapefruit juice ( or pop of that flavor), slices of oranges and limes. One may ask for a straw but the most of the locals cup the bowl with two hands and sip its ingredients thusly. Looks really good.
I didn't partake because of lousy relations with the tequila gods. No problem. I figure brandy,over ice, in an old fashioned glass is the same thing except without the tequila, grapefruit,oranges and limes. Viva Mexico!
posted by bbuckman | 4:39 PM
4 Comments:
Viva! Muchas fuegos artificiales here in my fraccionamiento, too.
I wore my Mexico flag shirt (from Clasico Mundial de Beisbol) to many approving cheers at the market this morning.
Yes, I am appalled at the Bush situation as well. I used to enjoy lording our moral superiority over the Chinese, Cubans, etc, because we did not torture. Now that I don't have that anymore, I feel an empty, sick place.
Suebob,
Yeah, it's getting damn hard for us to lord anything over anybody nowadays.
It's because clarity is "truthier" for the understanding challenged.
I would have went for the cazuela if I were there.
I am embarassed that the Geneva Convention's rules will be torn apart by our god loving christians of the state. I'm sickened by my relation to my government.
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