Why The Election Mattered, Part I

It looks as if the newly-elected Democratic majority in Congress is already showing signs of flexing some muscle and paying some benefits to those of us who have been desperate for some semblance of oversight for this most criminal of all White Houses. The Guardian UK reports that Senator Carl Levin (D-Michigan), set to be the new chairman of the Senate armed services committee, is gearing up to investigate the CIA and the Bush policy of disappearing people extraordinary rendition. Levin is "not comfortable" with the policy, saying that it has made this country less secure, cost us allies around the world and has not produced any useful information. No shit, Senator.

It's about damn time that someone in Congress (and funny that the American media has yet to bring this story to the fore) decided to step up and say that rendition and torture and secret prisons are not -- or should not be -- American policy. Thank you Senator Levin, and may this investigation lead to a change in the current practice; and, with any luck, criminal charges and/or impeachment proceedings for those most deserving. And let this just be the beginning.