Cheney: The New Grand Inquisitor

The Werewolf of Wyoming, Dick Cheney, is howling again. After hiding in an undisclosed location for eight years, cloaked in secrecy to the degree that his house was blurred on Google Earth and even the attendees of his energy policy meetings are still classified, he has emerged from the shadows. The man who was not seen and who did not talk is suddenly everywhere. Classified memos must be released, he now claims, for the good of the country.

Appearing on Face the Nation, Cheney not only advocated torture, he went further in contending that any other course would "sacrifice" American lives. Bush, and all the others from his (mis)administration, must be cringing as Cheney admits to crimes against humanity. Cheney's argument, that these acts are not criminal because a lawyer told them so, is patently ridiculous. Clearly, the only reason to even seek such legal memos is to provide cover down the road when the actions are revealed.

There is a method to his seeming madness. What Cheney is attempting to do is reframe the prosecution of torture into a seeming policy debate. He would prefer that this be viewed simply as a disagreement rather than a sanctioning of crimes against humanity.

Cheney uses two lines of reasoning to justify torture. First he argues that it provides information and second that those being tortured are evil. The first argument, that of information, is not only debatable, it is also historically ignorant. Torture has been used historically as a means to make people lie, not to tell the truth. The victims of the Inquisition, the accused in the witch trials, U.S. soldiers in Vietnam who were used for propaganda purpose, all were tortured to make them confess to something they did not do and/or believe. Even thinking that torture provides reliable information is to deny its purpose and its genuine intent, which is to inflict harm.

The idea that those being tortured are bad people and somehow deserve it, is philosophically void. Rationalization to the nth degree, this is the justification of every torturer throughout history, that the tortured somehow deserve it.

I have mockingly referred to Cheney as the Werewolf of Wyoming in a number of past columns. I now see that I was being too kind to Cheney and insulting to werewolves. Cheney is a cold blooded torturer who has no moral compass. He is attempting the "Big Lie." Just keep saying over and over that you're right and that there was no other choice. Classic brainwashing, say it over and over and eventually they'll all believe it.

Like the Grand Inquisitor before him, it is clear that Cheney does not believe in the very ideals he claims to support and defend. He is now willing to undermine the nation in order to thwart efforts that could hold him accountable.