The Desensitization Slippery Slope

I've been reading through Eugene Volokh's paper on slippery slope mechanisms since I found his talk to be the most insightful one I attended during my frist term at Boalt. One of the mechanisms involves society's preferences shifting in the wake of A, making B easier to attain. Reading about the Alberto Gonzales confirmation hearings, I realize just how desensitized I have become to the torture issue.

When Abu Ghraib first made news, incensed only partially described my anger. And now? I only skim the article on the hearings, and I have a hunch that the senators only are too. He will be easily approved and we will have seen that someone with a less than 100% disapproval of torture can keep moving up the power structure. The opposition is demoralized and less vigorous in its protests.

The cost of torture and supporting it (previously, your career, pension, esteem, everything) is now lower; this is also a cost-lowering slippery slope.

And this slope does appear to be quite downward and real. Is anyone even bothering to read about this anymore, let alone feel outraged? I doubt it. It's cute looking back at what I expected of 2000 (one of my little mind games on New Year's), and not retching at the reality of 2005.

Damn.

It's shaping up to be an ugly century friends.

(the Volokh article is nonetheless quite good and worth reading to cement everything said in the seminar, despite all my cynical gloom)