How can there be soooo many bad politicians out there?
Think anyone would hire me to congress if I just promise not to accept bribes, and work to make things better?
I think even with a promise to not accept bribe or not to do bad things and actually having the integrity to carry such promises out..., there's still no guarantee that the process would be smoother. People want different things so a congress of the people would still struggle to reach some sort of compromise.
Plus, promising to do no harm doesn't mean you'll be able to do good! With lots of conflicting public opinions, with both the right and left pulling on congress, you still might end up unable to do anything.
Merry Christmas, bomb Iran.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/12/a...hS1woM.twitter
Regarding this torture thing, I don't understand how this is news. We always have, and we always will torture. In fact, most every country is in the same boat, I'd imagine. It's shitty, but that's the price of war.
I think the difference, even for those not caught up in the hypocrisy of it, is that the Bush administration formalized it. Most people probably figured that with exigent/extreme circumstances (hostage situations, very high level terrorists, etc), it was always on the table. However, a lot of the same people probably question making it routine and making manuals trying to rationalize doing so.