A kidnapping by any other name...

I understand that journalists, like the rest of us, are often saddled with the bullshit terminology invented by the Government, particularly the Bush administration. It’s why this disaster in Iraq, titanic federal incompetence and human rights violations are called "Operation Enduring Freedom." But we’ve got to draw the line somewhere, and I think it’s got to be at "rendition."

"Rendition" is the word those heroes at the CIA have employed to describe their policy of pulling people off the street in Baghdad, Kabul (and probably Chicago) and flying them to secret bases around the world to interrogate them. That’s kidnapping, plain and simple. There’s just no other way to call it.

Not to get all high school graduation, but Webster’s dictionary defines "rendition" as … well, a lot of things – and none of them have to do with kidnapping. The closest definition seems to be "a surrender." Is that really what’s happening here? I suppose when you put a black bag over some guy’s head and throw them into the back of an unmarked van, the victim does "surrender." But to label that entire chain of events "rendition" is missing the forest for the giant pile of steaming bullshit.

Why not just rename assassination "happy love hugs." Is that any less ridiculous?

Fearless Leader has responded to questions about kidnapping by re-iterating that the United States does not torture, as if by the force of his declaration all photographic evidence to the contrary will disappear into the ether. But even if we give Dubya the benefit of the doubt, does that make things any better? Kidnapping people without even formal charges and flying them to secret prisons seems pretty damn reprehensible to me whether their nuts are hooked up to car batteries or not.

But as reprehensible as government officials have been in this whole affair, we don’t exactly come out smelling like a rose, either. We aren’t bound by royal decree to adopt the doublespeak of the Bush administration. Just because their corporate masters don’t like additional taxation of multi-millionaires doesn’t mean we all have to call it the "death tax."

And no matter what their internal memos and slippery press officers say, we sure as hell shouldn’t start calling kidnapping "rendition."