Government Nazis

What the fuck?
Sometimes I really think I must be hallucinating. The shit I read and hear makes so little sense that I can't believe somebody didn't make it up. The government, our government, is unhappy because the Supreme Court is telling them they can't torture their prisoners. They are busy looking for ways around this decision and claiming they can't keep us safe without waterboarding et al.
Um, what? Have these people lost their fucking minds?
M'kay, before I go postal on this let's have a little civics lesson. The hydra that is the US government is three headed on purpose, and the heads are more or less all the same size. The Legislative branch makes the laws. The Judicial branch interprets the laws. The Executive branch enforces the laws.
Hey Executive branch! Stop trying to do the Judiciary's job!!!
Is that plain enough for you jack-booted mouth-breathers?
We are supposed to be the good guys! I believe that! It may sound a bit silly, but I grew up watching Hogan's Heroes, and the underlying morality rubbed off on me. The Americans fought for freedom from an ethos of threats and violence, argued loudly for adherence to the humanitarian code of the Geneva Convention when the Nazi regime wanted to ignore or stretch it. That is our legacy. The rule of law for everyone. We are the good guys and good guys do not torture. Ever! Some will sneer and say "Look, dreamer, we live in a dirty world and ideals are fine but they won't keep us safe and you need to deal with reality." Well, I answer, this country was founded on ideals in a dirty world. The Founding Fathers wanted something different, something that was not business as usual for the time. Why are we making a dirty world dirtier? Why are we not lighting a candle against the darkness? If we cannot be safe without sacrificing our values then safety is a luxury we cannot afford.
Let me repeat the point. The good guys do not torture. It should never enter our minds. Find alternatives. Be brave enough to live lives that reflect our ideals. Don't become the enemy. This kind of thing is exactly the reason that the reputation of the United States is slipping in the eyes of the world. Our moral currency is spent. We have gone from being a power out to right wrongs to one that merely wants to enforce its will.
This whole issue has largely been presented as a political one, and both sides have been trying to make hay out of it.This pisses me off because like all other hot issues it becomes clouded with more bullshit than fifty state fairs. The one voice that carries weight, the one voice that the administration should listen to, should be ashamed not to listen to, is that of a Republican. John McCain has been there, has been a POW held by a brutal regime, and has endured torture. He says no, we shouldn't behave this way. If ever one man should be able to stand in front of the careening tank of policy and stop it by his mere presence it should be Mr. McCain. How anyone can take the side of that jackass and his sneering crony over someone who is a surviving victim is appalling.

Good. Guys. Don't. Torture.