On the advice of The Moderate Man, I went over to a new blog to read a Marine Joke™ I like Marines. I like the sense of dedication and brotherhood, and freely admit that you don’t usually find that same sense of esprit de corps in the Army, outside Airborne units. Although why anyone would want to be in a leg unit is beyond me, but that’s another story.

Having gotten through Buffalo’s marine joke (and it’s a good one) I read further, because sensible blogs are like salted peanuts for me. One peanut just ain’t enough. The post immediately below the joke was an entirely different matter.

Police in a large city apprehend a bomber in a department store, disarm the bomb, and take him back to the cop shop, where he freely reveals that he has planted other bombs in other stores within the city.

“Now I want my lawyer,” he says, refusing to discuss any details about the other bombs. The police of course, are trapped in a moral (or ethical, if you like,) and legal quandry. Here we are, folks: the perfect Jack-Bauer-24-cut off his balls fantasy scenario that makes the fascists in our country get nightly woodies.

Do we waterboard the guy to find out where the other bombs are? Do we bring in his wife and torture her in front of him? How about his children? (If he has kids, why not just cut the throat of the oldest one first and then ask him?) The dilemma is simple, and serious, and in fact could one day occur.

You might want to consider that the United States is no longer a Democracy. The Constitution has been torn into shreds by a pack of criminals, with the overt endorsement and co-operation of what is laughingly referred to as the “opposition party.” We have reached the point where key foundations of our Bill of Rights are only a fond and beloved memory for Americans old enough to have lived in the days of personal freedom.

The rule of law no longer exists on the Federal level, at least, and soon – perhaps in one year, maybe in three or four, we will find some folks advocating torture at the state and local level in basic criminal investigations.

But, that aside, how do we police handle the matter of this imaginary bomber? Do we work on him to get what we think will be the locations of the other bombs? Do we believe we’ll get true answers? Do we believe working on his family is a better key to unlocking his mind?

There are deeper implications in this question because as torture becomes more accepted by the general populace it will become more prevalent. And as our society coarsens, it will become more brutal.

Is there time, and the willpower, to reverse the trend?