Out of the loop whilst in Africa

I returned from a 16 day trip to Senegal in time to learn that the Red Sox had fallen 7 games behind the Yankees, the GOP continues to bash the President's health reform proposal, and the Justice Department may finally take on the many abuses perpetrated by the last Administration. Without internet access while accompanying students on a service learning experience in west Africa, I needed a few days at home to get a handle on what I had missed.

If the baseball standings were reversed, I might have used this posting to gloat, but alas, reality runs counter to the title of my blog. I suppose I can take pleasure in the movement to boycott Whole Foods, in the aftermath of its CEO's controversial op-ed piece in Murdoch's Wall Street Journal. In short, there was not a lot of good news, until I learned that there might finally be a chance to see Cheney do the "perp walk".

I hope that the investigation, an opportunity to celebrate the long-standing tradition of respect for the rule of law, will focus on the policy-makers, and not just the CIA agents who carried out the orders to torture terror suspects. The nation requires the services of a non-politicized intelligence arm. For proof, witness the damage to the CIA created by Cheney's Valerie Plame outing. While the President may wish to look forward, it is right to uncover abuses of the past that damaged America in the eyes of the world.