What Abu Gharaib Hath Wrought

You may have seen the video. You may have heard the story.

If you haven't, the brief story is that sheriff's officers at a Florida county jail wanted to search a man confined to a wheelchair and didn't believe he could stand on his own. Not believing the man was actually confined to his chair, the deputy unceremoniously dumped the man onto the floor.

Setting aside for a moment that the victim is described as a "quadriplegic" even though he can use his arms and is seen in the video moving his legs -- there are other conditions that can confine someone to a wheelchair that don't involve complete paralysis, it seems to me this is a further symptom of the poisonous effects of torture being approved at the highest levels of our government. If it's OK to torture a terrorist, why isn't it OK to torture a rapist? And if a rapist, why not a thief?

This is how you get to a sheriff's deputy abusing a man accused of a traffic violation.