Details, Details, Details

First, if you are like me, you will have noticed the overly broad way in which the Bush administration has been selling us out this story. The pro-torture legislation is described repeatedly as applying to 'terrorists', 'foreign terror suspects', or 'those being held at Guantanamo like Khalid Shaikh Mohammed.' Some of you may not see that as a problem, how use of language might have colored your views on whether this legislation is a good thing. Use of stereotypes to justify our actions is common. Jesus Christ used stereotypes to get his followers to act a certain way, just as George Bush and the promoters of this legislation do. Who can forget the lesson of the Good Samaritan, where the pious priest and Levite walked right by the beaten and wounded man lying by the side of the road. It was the Good Samaritan, the "unpure" and rivaled foe of the Jews for the claim to being descendants of Israel, who stopped to help. Christ told us to love our neighbors as ourselves. The good Samaritan was our neighbor. Those detained under this legislation are our neighbors.

And the fact that we label those being held as "terrorists' says a great deal about whether individuals being held in this parallel universe are innocent until proven guilty. If we love the notion that we, as citizens, are presumed innocent until proven guilty, should we not advocate for the same rights for those whom we hold prisoner?

Maybe its just sloppy journalism or America's apparent inability to think critically. We see this legislation as applying to an unfavorable group of people. The least among us. True, the vast majority of those impacted by the legislation will be foreigners, but it is not as simple as the press is describing it as. The legislation applies to those deemed "enemy combatants" by the president. With the stroke of a pen, George Bush or the next president can simply declare a US citizen an enemy combatant, or one who provides "support" to some undefined enemy, and whisk you off to Guantanamo. As a lawyer, I have seen the lengths the government will go in stretching "material support" and it is scary. But why speculate on whether or not it might happen in the future, when it is happening now and has happened in the recent past with American citizens Jose Padilla and Yaser Hamdi?

You don't have to be a lawyer to understand what this legislation is about. To make the impact of this legislation more understandable to the average person, it is important not to get mired in the details or get lost in the generic title or acronym. Plain and simple, its the "pro torture bill." "That's OK," we tell ourselves. "The Military Commissions Act is a 'necessary toll in the war on terror' and it only applies to Samaritans, Jews, Gypsies, Gays, terrorists", or whatever other group we do not identify with. It applies to our neighbors, not us. What do we have to worry about?