When right and wrong become blurry

[judy]

After 8 years where atrocities became part of our every day life, it looks like people, the press in particular have lost sight of simple elementary ideas of right or wrong. This confusion encourages fanatics like Roeder or Von Brunn to act.

Everyone should agree that it is wrong to:
Start a war on false pretenses
Take over a country to steal their resources at the expense of the people, and to the profit of giant corporations
Torture detainees in ways that had caused us to hang Japanese military in the past
Talk about "good and evil" when you are in power (that was the basis of Hitler's propaganda)
etc. the list is long...

After 8 years of fascism, there has been no condemnation of these attitudes (the wars even continue or escalate), no public outcry and investigations of these crimes against humanity.
Thus, even though I think highly of Obama and believe he has integrity, the moral fiber of this country is not restored.

The Roeders, the Von Brunns, the Cheneys, the Bushes and Rumsfelds are in the same boat. If some are considered normal and worthy of TV appearances and respect, why wouldn't the others think they are entitled to the same???

This is the price we pay for not prosecuting the Bush era, and continuing their policies of useless violence. Why doesn't Obama practice what he preached in his brilliant Cairo speech???

[zipplewrath]

1. hyperbole

I'm as guilty as anyone of using/abusing hyperbole. I think especially in the body politic, one has to be careful about using extreme imagery to communicate political/social ideas. It is why I object to using the euphamism "war" for almost anything except actual war. War implies a "do anything to succeed" concept, including the suspension of ethics (the last administration being an excellent example). But we also must be careful about words like murder, kill, or other violence connected expressions. WE know what we mean, but it sets up an ethical environment where we move closer and closer to the literal. If I could "change the tone" of one thing in the body politic, it would be to keep all arguments and discussions as "literal" as possible. Because for one thing, then when something was literally true, it would carry more weight. I really think the last administration was able to get away with much of what they did because people lost track of the difference between a real war criminal, and just someone who was careless with their foreign policy. We through those expressions around so much, we lose sight of their true implications.

[Bicoastal]

2. Not sure I agree...

People like Roeder or Von Brunn would exist even if Obama left Gitmo open, stepped up torture techniques, and committed troops to Iraq for another 15 years.

Likewise, they'd exist if Obama evacuated Iraq this morning, declared Gitmo a place of National Mourning, and shipped Cheney and Rumsfeld to The Hague as War Criminals.

These people don't care about current events or political moralism. They're scared and angry because a Democrat is in the White House, and because the voices on the TV and in the radio say they SHOULD be scared and angry.

[Xipe Totec]

3. The slippery slope of Orwellian newspeak

REPRESENTATIONS OF THE UNREAL: BUSH'S ORWELLIAN NEWSPEAK

In times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act. -George Orwell (1903-50)

http://www.allbusiness.com/professional-scientific/specialized-design/1043637-1.html