Monsters, monsters, monsters

Unconscionable. Jose Padilla -- American citizen, and probably innocent by the standards of western justice (which, pre-9/11, would've just meant "innocent") -- has been tortured and abused to such an extent that he's lost his mind. Literally driven to insanity by the cruelty of the Bush regime.

And now:

...there are even some within the government who think it might be best if Padilla were declared incompetent and sent to a psychiatric prison facility. As one high-ranking official put it, "the objective of the government always has been to incapacitate this person."

Step 1: Torture the victim until insanity sets in.

Step 2: Declare the person insane.

Step 3: Keep them locked up, medicated, and silenced for the rest of their lives.

As Digby notes, we've seen this before.

There's something horrible about watching a friend and ally adopting all the worst aspects of paranoid power. January 2009 can't come soon enough.

The good news yesterday was the beginning of real change in Congress. Even better news is that the Dems are apparently coming out against Bush's escalation in Iraq.