Winter Blahs?

I found this little quip from the movie WarGames to be a good allegory to my state of mind today...



"A strange game, the only way to win is not to play."

...it fits on so many levels.

On one side, it means "Be concerned, yet detached."
on the other hand, it means "fuck it. I'm going home."

...and right now I'm somewhere in between.

Machiavelli Would be Proud...

Recently, all the news is how Bush is going to relent to McCain and allow his amendment banning torture to pass into law. After all, as Bush has said "We do not torture"

See, McCain's amendment uses the Army Field Manual's definition of torture., which, as per the Washington Post...

"By contrast, the Army's Field Manual 34-52, titled "Intelligence Interrogations," sets more restrictive rules. For example, the Army prohibits pain induced by chemicals or bondage; forcing an individual to stand, sit or kneel in abnormal positions for prolonged periods of time; and food deprivation. Under mental torture, the Army prohibits mock executions, sleep deprivation and chemically induced psychosis."

So, when you want to still torture, but you don't want to say it out loud, what to do?... what to do?

Change the definition of torture.

Recently, the Bush Administration has made classified changes to the Army Field Manual's section on torture and interrogation. Just the thing: rewrite the definition of "torture" so you have all the loopholes you need and none of the loss of "moral character".

So now, when bush confidently says, "We do not torture"

we know that depends on your definition of the word "torture"
(that's ok for Bush to do), but if you parse the definition of the word "is", look out! That's grounds for impeachment!!!

With that said, I leave you with this bumpersticker...