The differences between Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton on economic policy, foreign policy and basic morality are many. But, in the wake of confirmation about the most revolting, despicable, debasing of whatever moral principles this country claims to adhere to, the differences are stark.
Torture.
Torture.
“A great nation must be prepared to acknowledge its errors. This report details an ugly chapter in American history during which our leaders and the intelligence community dishonored our nation’s proud traditions,” said Sen. Bernie Sanders. “Of course we must aggressively pursue international terrorists who would do us harm, but we must do so in a way that is consistent with the basic respect for human rights which makes us proud to be Americans.“The United States must not engage in torture. If we do, in an increasingly brutal world, we lose our moral standing to condemn other nations or groups that engage in uncivilized behavior,” the senator added.
Senator Bernard Sanders, the Vermont independent who calls himself a Democratic socialist, denounced the tactics described in the report and said in an interview that he was especially disturbed by the Senate panel’s conclusion that the C.I.A. misled the White House and Congress about them. “If anyone is lying to elected officials, they should be fired immediately,” he said.
Clinton…uh, I can’t quote anything because apparently she has said virtually nothing, other than apparently to take the giant step of saying, well, the public should get read the report, not the other day but way back in her memoir:
Her memoir from serving as Mr. Obama’s first-term secretary of state included only a single sentence on torture, and the words “torture” and “interrogation” are not in the index. In remarks at the Council on Foreign Relations over the summer, however, she called for the release of the report, saying, “The American people deserve to see it,” but she also noted that she opposed prosecuting “people who were doing what they were told to do.”
Ah, leadership. Morality.It’s possible her pollsters are running focus groups to come up with five sentences that say absolutely nothing.
This isn’t hard. Even the megaphone of the elite, The New York Times has called the Senate report, “a portrait of depravity that is hard to comprehend and even harder to stomach.”
This is what large segments of the Democratic elites in the party are rallying behind and standing for: an individual who voted for an illegal, immoral war, a war that was the backdrop for the torture, and a person who cannot bring herself to decry, as Sanders says, an act that destroys the country’s moral standing.
