This complicated world in which we live

Warning: Political and legal discussion to commence in T-minus 3, 2, 1...

I'm currently involved in a multi-faceted debate about national security, constitutional law, executive prerogative, torture, and the like. It's been raging for weeks, and today's edition was particularly thought-inducing and troubling. Today, I face the unanswerable question that has robbed me of sleep many a night.

Is it better to set up guidelines to deal with the "lesser evils" currently carried out by the administration, the military, et al or... is it better to stick to your guns, apply Utopian principles to our legislative processes, and hope that the damage can be reversed?

If these questions plague you as they do me, I'd love to suggest some arguments for you to read. However, "most" Americans (and likely most citizens of the greater world community) shy away from these topics at first mention. Isn't that precisely why we elect representatives to our state and federal governments? So we, the people, do not have to dirty our hands with such matters? Yes, I believe that's exactly the response many would submit. Regardless of that claim, I still have to contend that it should be different.

People (ahem, Americans) are far too eager to shift responsibility to someone else - whether that party is correct or not, regardless of their relative lawfulness, and often irrespective of whether the resulting action or policy reflects anything that resembles what the electorate, the people, wanted in the first place. Too much power is given away, and too often the structure of our representative democracy is falsely blamed.

The presidential election campaigns are upon us, and this is no time to forget our responsibilities as citizens of this liberal democracy. It's not our job to pass the buck to our elected officials, at any level, and turn a blind eye to the impact on the rest of the world. Quite the opposite, our responsibility is to keep those officials in check at every step, inasmuch as we can, and to limit their abilities to act outside of the boundaries of U.S. law, human rights, and common decency.

Moving forward, I hope that we can all observe what happens closely and carefully. A keen eye to the past is essential as well. There's no excuse for inaction at this point in the game, and no mercy left for those who opt not to play.