Who is still imprisoned in Guantanamo?

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Is there anyone out there that still doubts that America is the true Villain on the world stage?

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Weā€™re #1?

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Now now, there are a lot of horrible people doing horrible things out there. Isnā€™t it enough to be one of the true villains on the world stage?

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Weā€™re one?

edit: should have been ā€œWeā€™re one of a number?ā€

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Yes, it is enough. It just baffles me how people like my Dad still feel as if this government/nation is the best on earth. Wake up people.

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Is it not enough that Iā€™m disgusted and disillusioned and heartsick with my own nation? Is it really necessary that America be not just fucked up and teetering over the abyss but in fact the One True Villain Of The World, worse even than African warlords and Chinese oppression and North Korean tyranny and fucking Putin?

Is it really necessary to reduce a nation of hundreds of millions of the kind and the cruel, freedom fighters and oppressors and oppressed, to a single mustache-twirling cartoon stereotype?

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It is not the people of America who are the villain. The citizens of this country are oppressed and exploited by the rich and powerful. It is the insane (possibly reptilian) leaders of this nation that fit the bill of the twirling mustache villain.

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We have the death penalty.

We have pre-penalty anal medical rape ā€¦ although they are an almost prohibitively expensive procedure. Thanks, Obamacare.

We have gulags both in and out of country. If McCain was born in the USA because military base ā€¦ Gitmo is in the USA, as well. And our international shadow prison sites abroad are not some bogeymen.

We have the largest prison system in the world, and consequently we have the largest prison population in solitary confinement.

We are not a villain. We are a menagerie empire.

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Christ, what an asshole America is

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Yes. I doubt that America is the true Villain on the world stage. The various governments and public agencies of the United States absolutely have their share of villany to answer for, but so do the governments of every populous nation in the world, along with the governments if many smaller countries.

Our government is made of people. Elected officials, appointed officials, career bureaucrats, soldiers, law enforcement all people. And it isnā€™t anything new at all. Look at the institutional racism of the South. Look at the violence and riots of the '68 Democratic Convention. Look at the Kent State shootings. Every generation has had its objections, and every generation thinks that itā€™s new in its fear or hatred or revulsion of the government, and itā€™s all just people.

I am not (too) prone to concocting conspiracy theories, but let us imagine that there were some sort of secret organization orchestrating international politics and trade. Letā€™s assume that it is in their interest to occasionally have a bad guy, a scapegoat if you will, who the rest of polite society can hate and band together against.

America, then, in this context, could have been used as hit-man and enforcer for the Powers That Be, setting the scene for itā€™s final role as the Villain.

Those elected officials are from a small group of wealthy Americans (for the most part) and do not represent the interests of the people. Furthermore, the elections are rigged and all the candidates are pretty much slick corporate puppets. The government may be human, but they are not even close to being a government by the people for the people.

I think it is important and just that they be forever known as the Pro-Torture American Psychology Association.

Sorry if that was off-topic. Back to bashing.

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I find this photograph to be particularly offensive and I feel I must leave a NSFW comment.

Soā€¦I was looking at some hardcore bondage porn yesterday (not my usual kinkā€¦but yesterday, it was.) with the ropes and the handcuffs and the histrionicsā€¦and I got to thinking: That looks uncomfortable and unappealing (to me)ā€¦but these performers are, must be, for the most part, doing these acts of their own volitionā€¦with (hopefully) fair compensation. After the shoot, put some salve on the rope burns, take a few showersā€¦and go about your business. Go home at nightā€¦

These poor saps stuck in Gitmo? Never ending solitude and various levels of sufferingā€¦without benefit of trial. Without benefitā€¦of any of our so called freedoms. Held in a military prison on an ā€˜enemy islandā€™ that American citizens (and laws) are prohibited from entering. Who is Guilty? Who Knows?! Cast a big enough netā€¦youā€™re gonna catch something. Possibly some of those prisoners are ā€˜Bad Menā€™ā€¦but Iā€™ll bet one of my fingers that not all those guys were Big Time Terrorist Threats: Too late now: look at that photo againā€¦how long, how many minutes, hours, months years of unjust solitude and deprivation would it take to turn your focus to hatred and destruction? Not long for meā€¦but past that, I could perhaps imagine a soul so seared with hate that perhaps, eventually, some kind of resignation, solaceā€¦forgiveness could be achieved? Orā€¦not.

But no one person is responsibleā€¦so No One is responsible for Guantanamo Bay.

Now I see, doing some small due diligence: this photo is over 10 years old. 779 people detained since 2002ā€¦155 remain. 8 died in prison, 6 suicides. 80% captured by Pakistanis and Afghans in exchange for bounty paymentsā€¦thatā€™s telling.

And, verily, back to the porn: generally at the end of a pornographic vignetteā€¦someone gets wet: either you come or someone comes on you orā€¦you get the idea. So the very thought that the same people who participated in the creation of this human rights violating extrajudicial shitshow might somehow congratulate themselves on ā€˜Saving The Nationā€™ while In My Humble Fucking Opinion took the last copy of the Constitution (and the Bill of Rights)ā€¦the other copies being consumed by dragonfire or thrown down a calderaā€¦have taken that frail but inestimable parchment and spewed a giant gob of cocksnot ALL OVER ITā€¦wiped it down with a bloody clump of used toilet paper and framed it on the wall of the Smithsonian whilst proudly proclaiming: ā€˜Look What I Did!ā€™

The whole idea was a mistake from the start. Farcical cowardice, self interested buck passing, incompetent methodology: SHAME on anyone who could have done anything to stop this gross violation of our hallowed precepts, and didnā€™t. A National Embarrassment.

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A brand new global War Crimes Tribunal. Nothing ad hoc about itā€¦interactive, viewership comparable to Dancing With The Stars or something. Perhaps the proceeding can take place on the planet Mars? All living world leaders, past and present, on trial.

The picture makes me sick. The APA makes me sick.

United States of America, why do you make me sick?

Its the oldest story in race relations. I did harm to X, so now I am afraid X will do harm to me.

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The American government and elite is quite despicable really, but their North Korean counterparts might just the cake when it comes to pure evil and madness. Then again, theyĀ“re not that influencial on a global scale. Tough call.

You do? Donā€™t you watch TV?

The article touches on, but sort of skirts the issue of ā€œwhat do we do?ā€

Just concentrating on the nearly half that have been ā€œcleared to transferā€ - apparently no one wants them. Not even the Saudis? What is the solution?

As for the others there indefinitely - again I assume you would have a similar problem with no one wanting them. But who wants to be the president who releases them back into the wild only to have them come back in 5 years and blow something up?

So the whole situation is now a cluster fuck. Has anyone read any good ideas on the remedy?