Don't Look Back?

On “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” today, John McCain said in regard to Abu Grhaib and other torture issues that he “didn’t want to look back,” rather, look forward to make sure that this doesn’t happen again. What really gets me is how McCain delivered the line. As if anyone who would think otherwise is an idiot who doesn’t know the way of the world. This kind of stupid (or should I say “calculated”?) thinking is exactly what I wrote about in a previous post.

We cannot ignore the past. To make sure that this does not happen again requires us to hold those accountable for such egregious behavior that occurred in the past.

By investigating and bringing to justice those who instigated and allowed others to commit these horrible crimes is a great way to ensure that it doesn’t happen again. Anyone in the future who even thinks about renewing this kind of crime against humanity needs to be fully aware that he or she will be held fully responsible. Prior to their renewing such actions, perhaps the future administrations will “look back” and see what the severe ramifications were for the permission of torture against our fellow human beings. And this looking back is how we “look forward to make sure this doesn’t happen again.” The old saw “those who fail to remember the past are condemned to repeat it” has never been truer than now.

And, to digress, I love that “good ol’ boy, the guy you want to have a beer with” George Bush, who has a home in “good ol’ boy, the kind of town you want to have a beer in” Crawford, Texas during his administration is now dumping that image (no longer needed) and moving to a high end (read “filthy rich”) housing development in Dallas, Texas. I won’t even go into the fact that blacks were not allowed to live there up until 2000. Of course, SERVANTS were OK.

I truly hope that what goes around comes around and Bush (he doesn’t even deserve the respect of being called “Mr.”) and his administration are eventually called to account for what he has done to the thousands of dead and injured American soldiers and possibly over a million dead and injured Iraqis and Afghanis…all for his and his cronies’ benefit (read profits).