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June 29, 2006
The rule of law in America
A friend of ours just sent a note, "At least there is some hope for the rule of law in this country," after we saw the reports about the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling: "US Guantanamo tribunals 'illegal'". Perhaps people outside the United States don't realize just how downheartened millions of Americans have been, since 2000, about the political and judicial system that we were told, growing up, was the best in the world, a model for other countries.
I know that the current U.S. administration hasn't caught up with the fact that we aren't a model any more in areas we used to pride ourselves on. Apparently the Supreme Court also ruled that Common Article 3 of the Geneva Convention applies to the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. Hard as it is for this American to write the words, the ruling says that we can't (legally) torture people. Who us? Torture people? There's a terrible sense of unreality about all this, to someone who grew up feeling quite idealistic about the core values of the United States.
And this is why I get so annoyed by people who rant about China's human rights record. Sure, China has done some ugly things, but the idea that we can sit in judgment, given our own behavior, strikes me as absurd. Here's something else I learned as a kid in the Midwest: people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.
Posted by Karen Christensen at June 29, 2006 10:57 AM