Oct. 13, 2005 - 22:03 MDT

AW WIZ

Seems like there are billions of minions with mixed opinions about things important, nowadays.

The stated philosophy on things is often diluted beyond all recognition by the powers that be, it appears to me. As much as they wish to be pure as the driven snow, a tinge of food coloring (blood red)seems to show through.

There is a rather large column by Clarence Page (a well known columnist) in the Rocky Mountain News today that is apropos I think. In part:

"In August 1971, college students and other young men responded to a newspaper ad that offered $15 a day for an experiment on prison life. The study was funded by the Navy and conducted by psychology Prof. Zimbardo to help explain conflict in military prison systems."

"The famous and controversial Stanford prison experiment, which now has its own Web site (www.prisonexp.org), is worth remembering these days as the Bush administration publically condems torture, yet balks at making its use illegal."

"Before it was over, the Stanford experiment showed how even a group of guards and prisoners handpicked as "most stable (physically and mentally), most mature, and least involved in anti-social behavior" can revert like George Orwell's Animal Farm" or William Golding's Lord of the Flies into guards-gone-wild in the fashion of Abu Ghraib."

"The experiment, planned for two weeks, was shut down after only six days. By then, the civilized, well-educated guards had degenerated, despite frequent warnings to refrain from violence or humiliating tactics."

"The Stanford experiment came to many expert's minds after photos revealed similar abuses in Abu Ghraib prison under the authority of American armed forces. Whether the guards at Abu Ghraib behaved out of individual character flaws or by direct orders from the Pentagon, as reporter Seymour Hersh allleged in The New Yorker, the Bush administration officially deplores such behavior."

"Yet, curiously the president has threatened to veto a measure backed by Sen. John McCain, R. Ariz., and passed last week by the overwhelming vote of 90-9 in the Senate that would prohibit the "cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment" of prisoners in the custody of the U.S. military."

"Current Bush administration policy puts the U.S. in that awkward situation. The Binding Convention Against Torture, negotiatied by the Regan administration and ratified by the Senate prohibits cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. But the Bush administration argues that the law against cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment does not legally apply to foreigners that America holds outside of the United States.""While the Senate debated McCain's bill, by coincidence Prof. Zimbardo's scientific work received an award in Prague from the Dagmar and Vaclav Havel Foundation for its contributions to cultural enrichment. The House and President Bush could further enrich humanity by passing and signing McCain's bill."

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Then also today is a short article by Ross Sneyd of the Associated Press (In part:

Arrest video misleading, police say

NEW ORLEANS -- "A police union official and a lawyer for officers accused in the beating of a retired teacher on Wednesday sharply disputed the man's contention he was brutalized during his arrest, which was captured on video."

"Attorney Frank DeSalvo said video by Associated Press Television News shows a truncated version of the Saturday night arrest."

Seems to me to show the mind set of authorities nowadays. They seem to exist in a version of the Emperor's New Clothes and denial of anything that could be construed as being adverse to them.

A replay, one might say, of "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain." Ignore the facts, bull ahead and use undue force in most any circumstances. Sure getting old, same old yellow brick road and all, AW WIZ . . . . . . . . . . . .

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