Setting an Example

Via Hesiod, I saw this CNN article noting that Thomas Hamil says his treatment was definitely affected by the release of the Abu Ghraib photographs. He doesn't go into details, but notes that he was asked about the pictures by his captors, and that he feared things would get much worse as a result. Additionally, Hamil brings up the chilling reminder that there are more hostages being held by Iraqi resistance groups.

Damn.

Otherwise, I woke up pretty early this morning, and saw that Atrios has several items of note. I can't imagine anyone reading my minor league blog doesn't stop by Eschaton, so let's just say I took a look at the links, which include a major story about the prison abuse from The Baltimore Sun, and an opinion piece by Fareed Zakaria, the essence of which is that Bush's call for "personal responsibility" should be viewed in light of his actions, which have dramatically increased the negative views of the rest of the world towards the United States. While the wrongwingers and Joe Lieberman seem to have discovered a new found love of moral relativism, the fact is that the rest of the world is growing awfully tired of the position of "we'll beat the freedom into them if we have to kill them all before it's done."

The United States, it seems, is suffering from the political equivalent of multiple personality disorder. On the one hand, we're looking ever more inwards, ignoring world opinion for the most part, while at the same time naiively attempting to impose a peculiar brand of order in the Middle East, if not the rest of the world--an order that is neither democratic nor attuned to regional traditions. Given that we're pretty much tied up in Iraq, though, our ability to project any real power is severely limited, and any claim to moral superiority is pretty much shot, even as hacks like Lieberman can't repeat "9/11" enough times to satisfy themselves. I'm afraid the rest of the world is getting a little tired of the 9/11 justification for everything, least of all the abuses at Abu Ghraib.

Confronting the worst elements of oneself is never easy, and I speak from experience. That said, the prison scandal could be a moment to consider the entire agenda of the Bush team, which combines a hyperaggressive foreign policy with an assault on civil liberties at home. Something tells me that an engaged public would rightly view these policies as anathema to the real interests of the country, and would react accordingly. However, the public seems to be out of the loop. I've noted before that this is the result of many things, often manifest in the person of George W. Bush, although the rest of the country hasn't had the benefit of privilege bestowed upon the Dubya. I worry that the alarm clock has been ringing for some time, but as a nation we've been hitting the snooze button over and over again. Time will tell what happens. One things for sure: four more years of Bush won't make for a pretty picture.