As I sit here listening to the Donald Rumsfeld testify, it seems to me that 'ol Rummy is making some pretty salient points regarding the difficulties of handling criminal allegations in such a bizarre and hostile set of circumstances. What really strikes me, however, is the constant assertion – by all parties – that "a majority of our military men and women serve with distinction, honor…" etc. While it makes us all feel warm and gooey and proud to hear such things, nothing could be more irrelevant. Protocols established for the proper behavior of those in authority (civilian and/or military), should reflect the reality that people are not altruistic saints. Trust, while essential, is secondary to codified regulation. Consider the Patriot Act: the problem people like me have with it is not so much that we don't trust John Ashcroft (which we don't), but rather we should not be put in a position wherein trust is our only option. Like Rummy said, there are at any given time thousands of court-martials pending – so why are we so surprised by nasty criminal behavior? An over-reliance on benighted trust.

UPDATE: Reader mail -

Now we can look forward to even more disturbing revelations to come - on video, too! This is so much more fun than the first gulf war. The people that I really feel bad for are the graphics folks at CNN who have to come up with a flying "Prison Sex Torture" logo and a theme song. Poor bastards.