in good company

I had a letter to the editor printed in today's Oregonian about the absurdity of the president calling Amnesty International's report on Guantanamo "absurd."

A double standard on human rights
Letter to the Editor, 6/2/05 Oregonian

President Bush claims that Amnesty International's report on [human rights abuse at] Guantanamo Bay is "absurd." He dismisses all allegations of abuse because they are made by detainees who "hate America"

Who else is supposed to report the abuse? The abusers?

What I find absurd is our double standard. Are only Americans entitled to human rights or a trial? How long are we going to keep them locked up? Why are we afraid to bring them to trial?

If we have nothing to hide, why are we hiding it? If we do have something to hide, why are we doing it? These are my questions. And Amnesty International is among the few looking for answers

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I then checked to see what Sr. Joan Chittister writes about in NCR this week, only to find her column is on the very same topic.

I'm feeling very much in good company. Now if we could just do something about the horrible things being done in our name!