Matthew Yglesias - The Torture Party

Why was the Bush administration initially so eager to cover up its torture, and conduct its abuses in secret? Once the truth about the Bush administration’s policy of institutionalized torture came out, it turned out to be something that the right thinks works for it politically and they like to brag. But back in the high tide of the torturing, they clearly understood that they were doing something shameful and wanted to keep it secret.

Watsuji argues in his writings about “the Japanese spirit” that a nation’s spirit isn’t necessarily revealed by particular incidents that its nationals happen to get caught up in, but by how those incidents are received by the public when caught under the gaze of publicity. Similarly, Annette Baier in “Trust and Antitrust” argues that a trustworthy relationship is one in which the relationship could survive even if the actions and motivations of both parties were made known to both.

The frightening thing about the Right’s infatuation with torture (well, besides that their religious base has completely forgotten that Jesus was a torture victim) is that at a certain point the Bush administration dead enders realized that the American spirit is such that not only could they survive publicity, by appealing to our worst natures, they could exploit it for political gain. It’s pretty sick, but then again, Pontius Pilate got a boost in his poll numbers by releasing Barabbas, too.