Please help me establish some historical perspective re: the torture bill [View All]

[RoseMead]

I'm appalled at the passage of the Military Commissions Act, and like most people here, I find the implications of this piece of legislation frightening. However, I need some help putting it in a historical context.

I'm 38 years old. I have no memories of Vietnam (many memories of Vietnam movies, however) and only the dimmest memories of Watergate (mostly happiness that the bad man who ruined my afternoon cartoons was made to go away, and confusion over what peaches had to do with it.) During the Reagan years, I was in high school. I understood at the time that Reagan was 'bad,' but it was more a gut feeling than anything; although somehow I did grasp that Carter got screwed regarding the hostage release (as far as I know, I was the only kid at my school to request to stay inside at lunch to watch the inauguration and hostage release on TV).

By the time I got to college, it was Gulf War I. I knew enough to feel conflicted about the war, but it seemed (at the time, I know better now) that it was a quick war, not too many casualties, basically a win for us (meaning the U.S), so no harm-no foul. I loathed Bush the First because I considered him just a continuation of the Reagan era, but overall, at the time, his presidency seemed just boring and unremarkable. (To my enduring shame, I didn't even bother to vote in 2000, because I *just couldn't imagine* that anyone would want the Son of Bush in the White House - that's how much I disliked Poppy. I honestly thought a Gore win was guaranteed. I'll never make that mistake again.) And of course, during the Clinton years there was the Lewinsky idiocy, which to me just seemed, at the time, to be a pain in the ass, but not much more.

I guess the point of all this biographical information is to say, compared with those who lived through WWI, or the Great Depression, or WWII, or Vietnam, I haven't witnessed many really big, bad events in my lifetime, prior to 9-11 and the subsequent insanity. So I'm having trouble discerning how bad the Military Commissions Act really is, compared to other bad things I've pseudo-witnessed in my lifetime (and also, compared to events that happened before I was born). I guess what I'm asking is, how worried should I *really* be about this thing?

Is it worse than the internment of Japanese and other citizens during WWII?
Is it worse than the Red Scare and the McCarthy era?
Is it worse than Jim Crow and the abuses of Civil Rights workers in the 60's?
Is it worse than Vietnam?
Is it worse than Watergate?

These were all gigantic issues that damaged or shamed our country, but ultimately the nation recovered and moved on - at least, that's how it seems. Yesterday, however, between following the threads here and watching the actual final vote on C-Span, I felt like I was witnessing some huge good vs. evil battle. When the final vote was cast, I felt crushed and deeply discouraged, even though the outcome was no surprise to me.

I do understand the implications of this legislation, and what it could be used for. But I also understand, I think, that this law is very unconstitutional, and will probably be overturned, either by the SCOTUS or by Democrats if they take back Congress. (I know, this assumes that SCOTUS can be trusted and/or that a win by the Dems in Congress is likely enough to make it worth speculating about.)

Yesterday I wrote in my blog that passage of the Military Commissions Act would constitute a black day for America. Today, I'm wondering, how black is it really? Any perspective on this would be welcome.

Thanks! :)