Standing Against Insanity

Amid all the news of the disastrous oil leak in the Gulf, and the incompetent response and cover-up by BP and the U.S. government, new reports of likely war crimes and crimes against humanity by the U.S. have surfaced. Medical practitioners, working for the CIA, experimented on detainees at Guantanamo Bay in order to find newer, "better" interrogation methods. These are the same prisoners that are largely innocent, held for purely political reasons, tortured and held for years without hearing or trial. Some, as I'm sure you know, were not only innocent, they were kids, pre-pubescent when captured.

I cannot find the words to express the depth of my incredulity, disappointment and anger over this. It wasn't enough for America to imprison innocent people for years, or to needlessly torture, or to imprison (and probably torture) children. Under Bush and Cheney, they had to conduct medical experiments to test the limits of human endurance, so that they could improve their torture methods. Unconscionable? Horrific? I don't know where to begin.

Obama has said that his administration will not prosecute crimes committed under the Bush Administration, stating that he prefers to "look forward." This is pure hypocrisy, though, as the DOJ has made it clear that this "look forward" policy only applies to the crimes committed in the name of the U.S. government, and not to those Americans who have tried to expose the inhumane practices of the previous Administration.

I believed that I grew up in an America that didn't do these things; an America that stood, and died fighting, against such horrific acts. In Germany, where far worse acts were committed a generation ago, neo-Nazis exist openly because it is a democracy, but their rallies routinely draw more protesters than supporters, and good people place their politics before business to avoid supporting the neo-Nazi apologists and revisionists. I see little of this outrage and intolerance of evil in the U.S.

I believe that action is needed. The crimes of the past cannot be buried with the past, but must be prosecuted. Unfortunately, there are no electoral votes in changing course. Healthcare benefits people directly and can influence votes; a single successful (or even unsuccessful) act of terrorism will shift votes. Ensuring justice for those we have been told to fear has no such direct political benefit. Despite the political calculus, America must stand against such crimes, not just in the strong words of a vocal minority, but through the rule of law that makes American democracy possible. Today I sat down and wrote an open letter to President Obama, submitting it to the White House and publishing it on this blog. More than just letters is needed, but it's a start. Maybe together we can end this complacent spiral into insanity.

An open letter to President Obama.

Dear Mr. President,

I voted for you in 2008. Your victory night celebration in Chicago was one of the great moments in American history, and it marked a personal milestone: the first time in my life that I wanted to be a part of American politics; when I believed Washington had a chance of living up to American values of justice and liberty.

Your policies on the worst abuses of the Bush Administration—continuing torture, indefinite detention without evidence or hearing, NSA spying on Americans and refusing to hold war criminals accountable—have been steadily eroding the optimism that you and your election created. Instead of turning around these abuses, you have endorsed them and, in some cases, expanded upon them.

You have said that you want to look forward; not back. Fine. Look forward. What kind of country will we have when future Administrations are firmly above the law? What kind of country will we have when "medical experimentation" on detainees is excusable? What kind of future will Americans face when everyone, everywhere, knows that Americans kidnap, torture and murder innocent people with impunity?

This is not the country that I grew up believing in. It is not the future that I hoped for when you stood in Grant Park and stated, by both your words and your presence "yes, we can!" It's not the America that I want for my daughters.

As President, you stand tall. Will you stand for oppression, or for humanity and justice? Don't let "looking forward" continue to be an excuse for allowing horrors to be committed in your name, and in mine.

Thank you.

Bush Incompetent on Security

This is interesting:

the U.S. government under the Bush administration has been uniquely vulnerable to the intelligence schemes and foreign policy freelancing of discredited individuals and deemed fabricators such as Manoucher Ghorbanifar, and potentially even counterintelligence threats of an Iranian or other nature. It details how top officials in the Bush administration endeavored to permit such an ill-advised channel, took affirmative measures to conceal it in order to bypass the professional intelligence service, and then took steps to protect their role in the matter by shutting down the counterintelligence investigation launched by the Pentagon and to stall the Senate probe.

In simpler terms: President Bush and Vice President Cheney and their trusted lieutenants allowed themselves to be conned, ignoring the warnings of more experienced intelligence professionals in the CIA and elsewhere.

Bush and Cheney are bad for U.S. security.

Bush Laughs at Congress

You may recall that the Senate, rather than going into recess over the holidays, has been holding pro forma sessions in order to prevent Bush from engaging in any of his usual recess appointments and other shenanigans. This is not just Democratic maneuvering; Bush has been on track to tie President Reagan's record-setting two hundred forty-three recess appointments over two terms.

Except for one minor snag.

President Bush has decided that pro forma sessions by the Senate doesn't mean that Congress is “in session.” He has stated his intent to pocket-veto the new defense policy bill. Without having raised any previous objections.

As the Daily Kos points out, there's no case law and no statutory law to give guidance in this case. Only two cases have been heard by the Supreme Court on the matter. The Supreme Court has established that if one House is in session, then Congress is not considered ”adjourned,” and that if Congress is adjourned for less than three days, a pocket veto was not allowed, while adjournments of five months or more were long enough to allow for a pocket veto. Between three days and five months? The Court is silent. What about pro forma sessions? Also silent.

So what this boils down to is that the lawyers in the White House know their case law, and the President has decided to have a little fun with the Democrats in the Senate. If the White House is sued over this, it will establish a clearer definition of “adjournment,” but not for years; long after Bush has left the White House.

The Democrats could decide that this constitutes a high crime or a misdemeanor, deserving of impeachment.

No, wait. They took impeachment off the table.

So the Senate cannot do anything about this in the next few years.

However, if they don't, then they'll have legitimized the White House's stance, opening the way for recess appointments. The Senate is in a pretty pickle, and I can hear Bush laughing at them from way over here.

Bush is such an asshole.

Two Years

It's been two years since my last post.

I'm shocked; I wouldn't have thought it more than a year.

It's been a busy time, yada yada yada.

The truth is, I haven't had the heart. Bush & Co., the neo-cons, have been very successfully destroying all that was good about this nation. Their corruption makes the Nixon Administration look like a bunch of amateurs. Almost no one has stood up to them. No one has made a dent. My previous missive on the fate of the Great Experiment still stands two years on. I hate to keep saying “we're doomed,” so I haven't said anything.

However, we're moving in to a new election. The policies won't change, much, but the actors will. It's an opportunity to think about the system that is American politics, and why it is so destructive. A chance to compare and contrast, and see the similarities imprinted on candidates by the system. While I'm working on this, posting may pick up. Maybe there'll be a post a month, instead of a post every two years.

Echoing Edward R. Murrow, I can only wish you good luck.

Bush & Co., Decent Men All

For some reason, this reminded me of Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Rice. Not in a good way.

Weapons are the tools of violence;
all decent men detest them.

Weapons are the tools of fear;
a decent man will avoid them
except in the direst necessity
and, if compelled, will use them
only with the utmost restraint.
Peace is his highest value.
If the peace has been shattered,
how can he be content?
His enemies are not demons,
but human beings like himself.
He doesn't wish them personal harm.
Nor does he rejoice in victory.
How could he rejoice in victory
and delight in the slaughter of men?

He enters a battle gravely,
with sorrow and with great compassion,
as if he were attending a funeral.

Translation by Stephen Mitchel. DailyTao.org Widget by Glen Sanford.

Further Evidence

Further evidence that Bush and his cohorts are taking their lead from the Nazis of 1930s Germany. Perhaps most tellingly is this quote, from the end of the post:

"Naturally, the common people don't want war, but after all, it is the leaders of a country who determine policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag people along whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. This is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in every country."

Hermann Goering, Hitler's Reich-Marshall at the Nuremberg Trials

How ridiculous…

How ridiculous to make evolution the enemy of God. What could be more elegant, more simple, more brilliant, more economical, more creative, indeed more divine than a planet with millions of life forms, distinct and yet interactive, all ultimately derived from accumulated variations in a single double-stranded molecule, pliable and fecund enough to give us mollusks and mice, Newton and Einstein? Even if it did give us the Kansas State Board of Education, too.

From Charles Krauthammer at the Washington Post. Nicely written.

American Students Embrace Jack-Booted Fascism

Now here's one I missed. Nearly a year ago, the BBC reported that a study of U.S. high-schoolers found that the students largely reject basic freedoms. About half think that newspapers should not be able to publish news that is not officially approved by the government. Over a third think that the First amendment goes "too far." Seventeen percent think that people should not be allowed to express unpopular views.

In the "just plain false" category, half think that the U.S. government has the right to censor the internet, and two-thirds think that it is illegal to burn the American flag.

Sound familiar? Sound like things Bush has said? If not, then you haven't been paying attention. There is, of course, the famous "there ought to be limits to freedom" quote, but there is also the Patriot Act and innumerable other decisions and actions that have eroded basic freedom.

Mind you, in totalitarian countries, the things America's high school students believe about America really are true. In fascist countries, theses things are true. In China, they're mostly true. In a land of freedom and democracy, they cannot be true. They are incompatible with the very foundations of democracy. And yet American students believe them. Accept them. Support them.

So, where does that leave us?

The U.S. is finished as a democracy. Oh, I hear you arguing "but they're young and impressionable; we can show them the light; there's lots of good about this country; it's still the best country..." Right. Let's think about this.

First, there's about seventeen million high school students in the U.S. Apparently, they're not well-educated, or they don't care about democracy. Apparently, whatever medium is currently conditioning them is working against the basic tenants of American democracy. How are you going to counter this? One child at a time? With seventeen million high schoolers, you'll never make the least dent. Not unless you can gain control of the same medium that is currently turning them against America.

Second, recognize that children are a reflection of the times. If today's children are against basic freedoms, all they're really doing is picking up on the trends of America as a whole. It's not just the high schoolers that are the problem. They've grow up in an environment—a system—that has taught them that "the First amendment goes too far." We're talking about a country where half of the people support torture! So focusing on the students is, at best, only going to partially alleviate the problem. The real problem is the country as a whole. America is against the basic freedoms of American Democracy.

Sure, it's not the whole country. There's a range. A broad range. If you haven't noticed, I'm way over on the Left, and I have friends who are even more liberal. But the average—the center—is clearly on the side of limiting freedom. Of "de-scoping" democracy. Of creating a safe, strong, (fascist) State.

Just like Bush, Cheney and the other rich elites want. With them in charge (because, after all only they know how best to protect you), and you and me as little wind-up toys.

How do you fix that? How do you change the system that is American democracy to be, well, more American?

I don't know. I've hardly even heard anyone thinking along these lines (with the possible exception of economist and columnist Paul Krugman).

Maybe Bush and Cheney are self-destructing. Maybe they'll drag the Republican Party down with them, like Nixon did. But if you think that'll be the end of it, you're mistaken.

Their legacy lives in today's students. The damage is done, and unless we fix the system, it will only grow. The next generation, having been acclimatized to the anti-American ideals of the neo-conservatives in Congress, the White House and the media, will be more willing to limit freedom than the last. For the most part, they won't even see it as harming democracy.

America is finished. It's dying of a disease that most Americans are utterly blind to, because the only way to see it is to give up pride and patriotism and look critically at that which you have always been taught was best: your country. The only way to fix the system is to break it, and no one is willing to give up the safety of the current system for the uncertainties of improvement. That safety may be an illusion, but at least it's a known factor.

The neo-Cons know this, and they've spent more than two decades telling Americans what to be afraid of. Most, if not all, of it has been bullshit, but Americans have bought it. The next generation has clearly bought it. And as long as Americans are afraid, the anti-American neo-Cons win; American democracy and values lose.

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Update: It seems that Bob Harris is thinking along similar lines. Which is somewhat reassuring. Of course, he says it with so much more style.

I am: -4% Republican.

"You're a damn Commie! Where's Tailgunner Joe when we need him?"

Are You A Republican?