Category Archives: Morality

Torture A Fig Leaf For Greater Evil

Iraq, Law, Morality, Terrorism, The State

You’ll probably say this is a serious defect, but the CIA torture tempest has never been uppermost in my mind.

The Senate Select Intelligence Committee report on the C.I.A.’s interrogation-and-detention program during the Bush era, just like the torture furor that erupted at the time, is nothing more than a foil and a fig leaf; a cover for complicit journalists, jurists, politicians and pointy heads, who all skirted the real issue:

In invading Iraq and vanquishing an innocent people—Bush, Cheney, Clinton, Kerry and the gonzo journos who backed them absolutely, prosecuted an illegal, immoral and calamitous war. Torture is a subspecies of a larger crime. Fussing about it in this context is like harping on a murderer’s traffic violations.

Stick To The Racial Script, Benjamin Watson

Left-Liberalism And Progressivisim, Morality, Race, Racism

Mention G-d, sin and Ferguson in conjunction, or try to hate honky a little less—and, despite being a black man, you stand to be ostracized by liberals and other blacks. Thus, not all approve of how the admirable Benjamin Watson, New Orleans Saints NFL player, tackled the grand jury’s decision in the shooting death of Michael Brown.

Watson writes:

I’M ENCOURAGED, because ultimately the problem is not a SKIN problem, it is a SIN problem. SIN is the reason we rebel against authority. SIN is the reason we abuse our authority. SIN is the reason we are racist, prejudiced and lie to cover for our own. SIN is the reason we riot, loot and burn. BUT I’M ENCOURAGED because God has provided a solution for sin through … his son Jesus and with it, a transformed heart and mind. One that’s capable of looking past the outward and seeing what’s truly important in every human being. The cure for the Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice and Eric Garner tragedies is not education or exposure. It’s the Gospel. So, finally, I’M ENCOURAGED because the Gospel gives mankind hope.

CNN retorts:

While the religious nature of that final section may turn some readers off, Watson says he thinks it points to a way that people of different races can solve some of the issues they face.

The Good In J-Gruber

Environmentalism & Animal Rights, Morality

What a blow; Jonathan Gruber is not all bad. In one sense, he’s actually very good and quite unusual. As the New York Times reported, he has eight parrots which he obviously adores. “And his wife, Andrea, volunteers at a bird rescue center.”

Just like your host, who is owned by one little green gremlin and recognizes the need to look after others like him.

Gruber takes his kid to Van Halen concerts, which shows he is quite discerning on the musical front too.

Complexity …

The Passion of The Parrots

Environmentalism & Animal Rights, Human Accomplishment, Journalism, Morality

“We love them for being like us. … But then we find ourselves unprepared for the challenges.” So wrote Chuck Bergman on the plight and paradox of parrots. The article quoted is “No-Fly Zone: Denied Their Natural Habits, Millions of Pet Parrots Lead Bleak, Lonely Lives.” It appeared in All Animals magazine, published by the Humane Society of the United States.

An academic, writer, photographer and conservationist, Chuck’s pieces about parrots are, well, achingly beautiful. (Next, read “The World’s Smartest Birds, Set Free,” at Slate.com.)

Here is hoping that Chuck puts that epistolary passion for parrots to work in the cause of Bob and Carol Dawson’s parrot paradise: “Macaw Rescue and Sanctuary.” I’ve written a short blog post about the sanctuary that Bob and Carol Dawson built. A feature about this haven—where it is well and truly about the birds—would be wonderful.