The "It Could Be Worse" Defense
posted by Rick at 3:12 PM

An AP report in the Washington Post has Donald Rumsfeld still justifying torture of prisoners by saying worse things have been done by others:

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, responding to allegations that he fostered a climate that led to the prisoner-abuse scandal, said yesterday that the military's mistreatment of detainees was not as bad as what terrorists have done.

"Does it rank up there with chopping someone's head off on television?" he asked. "It doesn't."

I'm waiting for somebody to try that ploy in court. "Yes, your honor, I did kill my wife, but does that rank up there with what Jack the Ripper did to all those women in London? It doesn't."

Would that defense hold up? It wouldn't.

Celebrating Kerry's service
posted by Rick at 8:29 PM

That George W. Bush effectively skipped out on his National Guard duty thirty years ago might be irrelevant today but for three things: the fact that he continues to lie about it; the fact that he keeps sending American troops into harm's way for all the wrong reasons; and the fact that his henchmen keep going after John Kerry, who served honorably--even heroically, by all credible accounts--in the war Bush avoided.

I am of the opinion that Kerry should not run away from his military record. He should flaunt it at every opportunity, especially now that the AP has (finally) picked up the story of Bush's lost year, and the mysteriously recurring absence of National Guard records that could prove definitively whether he actually served or not.

Kerry is showing signs of rising to the occasion. Referring to Dick Cheney's calling him unfit to lead, he said he'd let America judge how five deferments compare to two tours of duty. I don't know whether he'll continue to press the battle or not, but his supporters can. Here's a desktop picture (Wallpaper to you Windows users) celebrating Kerry's military record. It is intended as a reminder of which candidate actually lived up to a familiar slogan often heard from the right. You can click on the image below to download a full 1024x768 version.