Giorgio: Dick Cheney Needs to Stop Torturing Us

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Paul Giorgio, GoLocalWorcester MINDSETTER™

Paul Giorgio

Just when you thought it was safe and that the Senate report on the CIA was ready to go away, former Vice President Dick Cheney had to reemerge and jump with both feet into the controversy. The Senate Intelligence Committee headed by California Senator Diane Feinstein released a report last week that was highly critical of the CIA in the days, months and years following 911.

The report provided graphic details of the torture conducted by CIA contractors. Unfortunately, for us, torture never stands the test of time. The defense by the Intelligence community has been, “That it was a different time right after 911." This appears to be the same excuse and rationalization for interring thousands of Japanese-Americans after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Something happens to the psyche of a country after they are attacked. While not defending what happened, I do understand how it happened. That doesn’t make it right. There is something in our DNA that urges us to seek revenge.

Cheney defends torture

Cheney gave an unbridled defense of torture, saying he would do it again. He thus stands alone among his countrymen. Some may think like Cheney, but few are as dumb as he is, to actually defend the use of torture.

Senator John McCain, who was tortured himself, as a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War, said torture doesn’t work. He said the practices "fly in the face of everything that America values and stands for." And he is right. I admire John McCain, not for his politics, but for his humanity.

I cannot say that about Dick Cheney. I believe that he personifies everything that is bad in our country. He is evil and I don’t use that term lightly. What does it say about the soul of a man who is an unabashed supporter of the torture of human beings? It tells me he has no soul.

How can a leader of our country, albeit, a former one advocate the torture of human beings.

America and Americans pride themselves as being better than others when it comes to things like this.

Cheney, on the other hand is not better than most Americans. I can clearly see him in another time and place in history, using his power and his same twisted logic.

I believe that President George W. Bush was a good and decent man, who was influenced by Cheney.

We need to learn from the excesses of 911

We need to learn from the excesses of 911 and vow not to repeat them. That is truly the test of a great nation. Every country makes mistakes. The truly good ones admit the errors and take corrective action. Let us learn from the Senate Intelligence Committee’s report.

Writer Timothy Stanley may have put it best when he said,” The challenge for the United States is how to best strike the balance between freedom and security.” We can’t justify immoral acts because they are carried out against our enemies. Our Declaration of Independence from Great Britain says it simply: “All men are created equal and endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights." In the future let’s not forget that. This is what makes us unique among nations.

Cheney needs to stop torturing us.

The best thing we can do right now is to insure that crazy Dick Cheney does not appear on any more Sunday morning talk shows. We don’t want the world to think that we believe what he believes.

Then again it was torture just to watch Cheney justify toture.

To his credit, President Barak Obama said that no one will be prosecuted based on the excesses of 911 and this report. Maybe he should make e an exception for Dick Cheney.

Paul Giorgio is a longtime Democratic Party Activist who has worked on numerous campaigns. He was a Lead Advance Person for President Clinton & Vice President Gore. He was Deputy Director of Special Events for President Clinton’s first Inauguration. He has been elected a delegate to numerous Democratic National Conventions and recently served as one of President Obama’s representatives on the Platform Committee. In 2013 he was chosen as a Presidential Elector. He is the President of Pagio, Inc., publishers of Pulse Magazine, Vitality Magazine and Worcester Medicine.

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