The America I believe in

As loyal readers (all four of you) may have noticed, I don't blog about politics. In fact I don't talk about politics much anymore, not because I don't care but because I find the subject too depressing. But given what happened last week, I can't bring myself to blog about the fact that I'm going to have to start wearing glasses in public again for the first time since eighth grade.

As I understand it, Congress responded to persistent and reliable reports of American abuse of prisoners in Afghanistan, Abu Ghraib, Eastern Europe, and Guantanamo not by putting a stop to it, but by officially sanctioning George Bush's ability to define what torture is. Here's an excerpt from an email Amnesty International sent me on Friday:

It's a sad day for America and a very disappointing outcome for those of us who devote ourselves to advancing the global cause of human rights.

Yesterday, the Senate joined the House in approving an ill-considered and sweeping piece of legislation, the Military Commissions Act of 2006, that discards key human rights protections -- and our best American traditions.

This could have been a proud moment for America. Congress had the opportunity to correct the Bush administration's profoundly disturbing human rights policies.

This was an opportunity for Congress to advance the America you and I believe in. They failed to do so. In effect, they gave their stamp of approval to human rights violations. In the face of this set back, you and I must commit ourselves to working as long as it takes until we reverse the damage done yesterday to the cause of human rights.

Unlike AI, I'm not optimistic about reversing this damage, at least not in the near future. I'm pretty much just depressed and cynical. So I'm looking for suggestions on what I, or anyone else might do to constructively funnel our outrage. How do we get America to stop torturing people?