1: to put down by authority or force : subdue
source: Mirriam-Webster Online (emphasis mine)
Dear President Obama,
I am writing to you today to express my disappointment at your stated intention to suppress the release of photos showing prisoner abuse by the military. Is this the greater transparency in government you promised?
Sincerely,
Brian Cournoyer
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So what's the deal here? I won't go as far as the ACLU and say this makes a mockery of Obama's promises about greater transparency in government, but I'm really not happy about it. He cites military leaders who say that releasing these photos will put the lives of American soldiers at risk. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the lives of American soldiers are already at risk as long as we're at war aren't they? That just doesn't wash with me. And the other reason given, that this will damage the image of the U.S. in the eyes of the world, well, it's already in the toilet, isn't it? The rest of the world already knows these photos exist. Suppressing them just makes it look as though we're trying to cover up our dirty deeds again. Which is exactly what this amounts to.
You can hide your shit by kicking dirt on it, but it still stinks.
Seems as though this administration is back-pedaling on a lot of issues pertaining to this sort of thing- the release of evidence relevant to the treatment of detainees, the investigation of the torture, yes torture - "enhanced interrogation" my fucking ass - conducted by Dick Cheney and his band of merry inquisitors. Our fearless leader has come out and said himself that waterboarding is torture, and therefore in violation of both U.S. law and the Geneva Convention, but we're not going to prosecute anyone (or even try to discover the truth about what happened, who knew what and when?) because it's traditionally taboo to criticize previous administrations? Seriously? Wow.
But back to the photos. OK, maybe he spoke to his advisers and thought better of releasing them. Fine. Maybe, Mr. President, next time you should consult your advisers BEFORE you make these bold sweeping and lofty statements. Case in point- Guantanamo Bay. The senate is now going to withhold funding for it's closure because you still have no clear plan of what to do with the prisoners still held there. And rightfully so. I'm not keen to see $80 million of taxpayer money allotted to a project that has no plan to move forward on. So yes, it was great to see you issue an executive order to close the facility by next year, something the overwhelming majority of voters wanted from you, but what good is it if it never happens? And now we're going to start up the military trials dog-and-pony show again too? Yay! Another mockery of the American justice system and brain(?)child of the Bush administration finds new life.
I still think you're doing a good job on lots of things, Mr. President, and I still support you, but covering up the truth has never done anyone any good, and it doesn't seem likely to start now. If you suppress the truth you've lost the moral high ground, and it's the moral high ground that supported the platform on which you were elected. It's called the Freedom of Information Act for a reason.
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