Jon Stewart and Harry Truman
So let’s see if I get this straight: it is not okay to torture a member of al-Qaeda, who no doubt has information we need in order to stop terrorist attacks. Instead, we have to treat him as a prisoner of war according to the rules laid down by the Geneva Conventions. On the other hand, it is okay to murder hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians in cold blood, to incinerate entire cities and poison the land for generations to come, as long as your name is Harry Truman.
Am I getting this right so far?
To conclude: yes, Stewart is a wimp, a wuss, and a moral coward – but he’s very far from alone. </em>
Harry Truman has long been my pick for our worst President, for three reasons. First and foremost of course is the bomb. It was as morally wrong and unnecessary as our illegal wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and likely done for many of the same reasons, mainly, to show the rest of the world how big our military Johnson was. Too bad in all these cases thousands of people had to be exterminated, but hey, thems the breaks.
Secondly, Truman was the first president to simply ignore the War Powers Act by sending troops in a “police action” into Korea on his own accord, bypassing Congress. And Congress has played no meaningful role in the process since.
Finally, Truman had no time for the concept of private property, when his pet war was at stake. Thankfully the Supreme Court smacked him around a bit on that one, but not before planting the notion of absolute Presidential power into peoples heads. Bad peoples heads.
I was sadden to hear Jon Stewart backpedal on his statement, but considering all the good he does by simply being the court jester in these mad times, I’ll give him somewhat a pass.
But Harry Truman was our worst President, and a war criminal to boot. What a loathsome little man.
