I go to the unemployment office.  Usually once or twice a week. 

I see more and more people applying.  I see longer lines.  I now see men in suits who look uncomfortable being there; figity, obnoxious, panicky.  I suppose this is their first experience.

The wait for the computer job search invests more and more time waiting.  They have more chairs now, but it looks disorderly and cramped.  There are desks that used to be filled with workers, now being used by job seekers doing their "job search."

Most glances reveal multiple windows opn on any given desktop; Google, Myspace or Facebook, and then sometimes eBay.  But there's always a tab just one click away to hide everything the applicant has been doing instead of a job related query, and if anyone passes by, it is clicked.

These are the "Discouraged" workers.  They are a subset of what the government calls "marginally attached to the workforce.  The government counts them, statistically speaking, not as employed nor unemployed.  They are in a sort of purgatory both within and outside the workforce.

These people say, if they open up, "I have looked and looked.  What is the point?"  They point out that looking for a job takes up a huge amount of time and mney, and having only an unemployment check makes their income very little.  To look, and consistently get nowhere is one thing.  But to feel you are also wasting what funds you have on wasted trips in your car is another.  Others call attention to the fact that getting an interview is virtually non-existant.  The days of going in and dressing up, and getting call backs are over.  Once they see your resume, they eliminate you before anyone sees you or hears you.

"To do the same thing over and over again--and achieve the same result is lunacy," said one 40-ish yr old man.  He had been a factory worker for 25 years.  He was let go along with his whole crew.  Then they eliminated his particular trade shop at the factory, so he knows he won't get called back.  He has never done anything else.

People check in every week, report that they've contacted X amount of employers, and then they leave, if they are not going to play on the internet today. 

There are people of every age, every background, every cultural shade of the spectrum.  All hopeless, all discouraged, and all wondering at how many new faces are at the office today, just laid off. 

His nickname is 'The Hook", and we met in our kayaks in an eddy of the Rio Grande, over 10 years ago.  I had been talking to him for about 10 minutes before I realized he was missing his left forearm and had been paddling his kayak using a prosthesis designed over 80 years ago, a medical invention that was mothered by necessity in the aftermath of WWI.  He'll happily tell you the story of how he lost his arm at age nine when he reached into an uncovered electrical transformer.  A playmate of his watched as he was blown out of his sneakers by 7200 volts of electricity, launching him 30 feet through the air.  The treating physicians hypothesized that the impact of landing on his chest most likely restarted his heart.  He has met and corresponded with many victims of electrical shock, but has yet to meet one who has survived one of that magnitude.  He was lucky.  His mom, a RN, rushed him to medical care, where he spent 6 days in a coma, and another week watching his forearm wither and die in the bed beside him prior to its' amputation.  He recounts how even at that young age, he felt like the gods had placed a task before him, and he thought, "Yeah!  I can do this!".   He grokked his handicap as his mantra and mission.  It was a defining moment, and in a sense provided him at least one raison d'être.  If you ask him, he will tell you he has two birthdays: on his first, he well and truly entered this world, and on his second he lost his left forearm and embarked on a new journey separate from the path he previously traveled.  His sense of humor would probably compel him to describe it as a journey he undertook single-handed. 

Read more »

Food For Thought
By Ron Powell

There isn't, and never really was, a "middle class". The "middle class" is the fictional socio-economic "group" created by sociologists for purposes of quantifying certain findings in studies that nobody really cares about or rarely, if ever, uses. The "middle class" is nothing more than poor people living on credit.

Historically the majority of white people in America have voted for Republican candidates in the belief that the economically, politically and socially conservative republicans would see to it that black progress would not encroach upon white lives, white livelihoods, and white life styles. Since the advent of the Civil Rights Movement more than forty years ago, the expectation was that the Republicans would keep black people at bay economically, politically, and socially, to ensure that blacks would not take away all to which whites felt entitled, or all for which whites felt that they had worked and thus earned. Now the country has turned to a black man in the hope that he will do for them precisely what many whites had repeatedly voted for, and elected, Republicans to not do for black people.

Why are the 'Right to Lifers' also in favor of capital punishment?

Anyone who believes that water-boarding isn't torture, should be required to answer the question while they're being water-boarded.

The Eighth Amendment (Amendment VIII) to the United States Constitution is the part of the United States Bill of Rights which prohibits the federal government from imposing excessive bail, excessive fines or cruel and unusual punishments. The phrases employed are taken from the English Bill of Rights of 1689.

Very similar words ('No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment') appear in Article Five of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations General Assembly (A/RES/217, December 10, 1948). The right, under a different formulation ('No one shall be subjected to [...] inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.') is found in Article Three of the European Convention on Human Rights (1950). The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (1982) also contains this fundamental right in section 12 and it is to be found again in Article Four (quoting the European Convention verbatim) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (2000). It is also found in Article 16 of the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

You lost your job but not your skills, experience, and expertise. It's good to have faith and hope but develop and execute a plan. In doing so, be clear, concise, compelling, consistent, and committed. Find your passion and be persistent in the pursuit of getting paid for doing that which you would do for free. Always remember that there is a difference between being broke and being poor.

THE GETTYSBURG ADDRESS

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived, and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met here on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of it as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But in a larger sense we can not dedicate - we can not consecrate - we can not hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled, here, have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but can never forget what they did here.

It is for us, the living, rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they have, thus far, so nobly carried on. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us - that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they here gave the last full measure of devotion - that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation shall have a new birth of freedom; and that this government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. http://americancivilwar.com/north/lincoln.html

The Gettysburg Address is one of my favorite documents, timeless and so reflective of the values I treasure as an American.

Lefty and TheraP, asked me to post an essay concerning this masterpiece of American Literature and since it is one subject that I can never shut up about, I agreed.

Where did this come from? What made Lincoln give this speech and why did he choose the words and references he did?

Lincoln went to Gettysburg to consecrate the ground upon which tens of thousands of our soldiers died (North & South) following the Battle of Gettysburg which took place on July 1 thru July 3, 1863. And keep in mind that at the same time as this battle raged, ultimately won by the North, Grant finally prevailed in the Battle or Siege of Vicksburg on July 4, 1863. THERE HAD DEFINITELY BEEN A TURN TOWARD THE NORTH BY THIS TIME.

My favorite book on this subject is  by Garry Wills. Lincoln at Gettysburg: The Words That Remade America. Touchstone Books, 1993.

There are tomes on this subject, really. Hundreds. I take most of my ideas from Wills.

Take a look at the first few words of the speech. This is 1863. The Constitution of the United States was ratified in 1787, really going into effect in 1788.  Well arithmetically, Lincoln might have started with 'three score and 16 years ago...I mean we became a 'country' under our Constitution at that time.

Or what about Plymouth Rock or Jamestown.....I mean he was speaking of forefathers who brought forth on this continent new nation?

Four score and seven refers to one thing and one thing only (although poetically many things), and that is the Declaration of Independence:

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. -- That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, -- That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.... http://www.ushistory.org/Declaration/document/index.htm. 

"All men are created equal comes from the Declaration of Independence" and not the Constitution. Certainly not a Constitution that called an African-American 3/5 of a human being.

 ...that this nation shall have a new birth of freedom; and that this government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

And from whence did Lincoln gather these words? From the Declaration "That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed"

The new birth refers to the time of the Declaration as the time of our birth. And as the Declaration provides, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish that government. So Lincoln is calling for an alteration not an abolition of the United States of America.

It all fits so neatly. Why a hundred books must be dedicated to such a simple concept, is beyond me.

The Declaration of Independence carried no legal applications, then or now.  Yet Lincoln pointed to it as the source from which he and his America could make a new start. A rebirth. A baptism of sorts.

THE DECLARATION IS YOUR DOCUMENT, TAKE TIME AND READ IT, not just translations by experts. http://www.ushistory.org/Declaration/document/index.htm. 

THE GETTYSBURG ADDRESS IS YOUR DOCUMENT, TAKE TIME AND READ IT, not just translations by experts. http://americancivilwar.com/north/lincoln.html

THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION IS YOUR DOCUMENT, TAKE TIME AND READ IT, not just translations from experts. http://www.earlyamerica.com/earlyamerica/freedom/constitution/text.html

As a direct result of the deaths of over 600,000 soldiers and of Lincoln's foresight and brilliant execution by the Radical Republicans following Lincoln's death, the most important Amendments to the US Constitution were enacted:

AMENDMENT XIII

Passed by Congress January 31, 1865. Ratified December 6, 1865.

Note: A portion of Article IV, section 2, of the Constitution was superseded by the 13th amendment.

Section 1.
Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

Section 2.
Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

AMENDMENT XIV

Passed by Congress June 13, 1866. Ratified July 9, 1868.

Note: Article I, section 2, of the Constitution was modified by section 2 of the 14th amendment.

Section 1.
All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

AMENDMENT XV

Passed by Congress February 26, 1869. Ratified February 3, 1870.

Section 1.
The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude--

Section 2.
The Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_amendments_11-27.html

It is only through the 14^th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, that the Bill of Rights, discussed by TheraP apply to all individuals citizens and cannot be contravened by the States or other local governments. It took a hundred years to put these rights into our hands. I suppose nothing happens over night.

And in the 14^th Amendment, the words: ...nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty or property without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

You see now the connection between the Declaration of Independence, The Gettysburg Address and the 13^th, 14^th & 15^th Amendments to the United States Constitution.

THESE ARE YOUR DOCUMENTS, NOT JUST THE DOCUMENTS OF JUDGES, LAWYERS OR POLITICIANS.

THE END.

Democratic strategist Paul Begala has written a brilliant point-by-point rebuttal of GOP consultant Frank Luntz's widely circulated strategy memo on health care.  

Begala urges Democrats to push back hard against "Republican Orwellian rhetoric."  He has written a blueprint for us all to help win one of the most important debates of our lifetime.

Begala's argument is that Luntz's memo "attempts to teach Republicans how to kill health care reform by misleading people." (emphasis all mine)

Because they know they cannot win the argument honestly, Republicans are resorting to mendacity. Democrats must not let them get away with it."

Begala's key point:

...the overwhelming majority of American support health care reform. In fact, Dr. Luntz himself notes that voters trust Democrats over Republicans by a whopping 20 percent on health care . If health care reform were unpopular, Republicans would not resort to misleading rhetoric to mask their opposition.

Begala sums it up thusly:

The Republicans have three goals:
1. Co-opt our messaging
2. Confuse voters
3. Kill health care reform

Begala walks the reader through Luntz's ten suggestions, then proposes mock scripts that offer ways to shed light on the Republican's misleading arguments.

1. Humanize your approach:

When Republicans repeat the Luntz talking point about humanizing the argument, we should say: When I think of health care reform, I think of ____________________. She works hard and plays by the rules. But she could no longer afford health insurance after her hours were cut back and her pay was cut. Now her daughter has asthma and she can't afford an office visit for an inhaler - and the bills from the emergency room visits are piling up.

I also think of __________________. He has health insurance, thank goodness, but he's worried. Worried about rising premiums pricing him out of the market. Worried about rising co-pays and deductibles hollowing out his insurance. Worried that if, God forbid, a real medical emergency strikes, some corporate bureaucrat will say the fine print of his policy doesn't cover him or his family.

2. Acknowledge the "crisis" or suffer the consequences:

When Republicans repeat the Luntz talking point about pretending to acknowledge the health care crisis, we should say: Obviously, if you don't have health insurance or can't afford health care, it's a crisis. But most Americans also lack the peace of mind that comes from knowing they're not one illness or one accident away from bankruptcy. They need the peace of mind that comes from knowing costs won't be jacked up beyond their ability to pay, that even if times are tough, they will still have a guarantee of quality, affordable health care.

3. "Time" is the government health care killer:

When Republicans repeat the Luntz talking point about delayed care, we should say: Everyone has a health insurance nightmare story. It's either happened to you or someone you know. The insurance company won't pay for something you need or makes you jump through hoops to get it. We fix the health care system, and not only will you be able to keep the insurance you have now if you like it, but it will be better. We'll have rules to stop them denying you care. And they'll have to charge you less because they'll be competing with a new public health insurance option. So if you get fed up, you've got somewhere to go.

4. The argument against the Democrats' health care plan must center around "politicians," "bureaucrats," and "Washington"...not the free market, tax incentives or competition:

When Republicans repeat the Luntz talking point about Washington bureaucrats and politicians controlling care, we should say: The Republicans want to put corporations in control; we want to put you in control. Right now, insurance companies boost their profits by saying no to what you need. When we fix the system, they'll be regulated so they have to charge reasonable prices and deliver quality service. You and your doctor will be more in control because you won't be arguing with insurance company bureaucrats all the time.

5 The health care denial horror stories from Canada & Co. do resonate, but you have to humanize them:

When Republicans repeat the Luntz talking point about Canada-care, we should say: We're America. We cured polio and invented the pacemaker. We're not Canada or Britain or anywhere else. Pres. Obama is committed to a uniquely American health care solution that builds on the best of what works now, but reduces cost and increases access. Our plan will also protect that classic American right: the right to choose. You will be able to choose your doctor and choose your plan.

6. Health care "quality" = getting the treatment you need, when you need it:

When Republicans repeat the Luntz talking point that our plan will deny treatment and increase waiting, we should say: Every day, insurance companies deny people care. As health care costs keep rising, it will only get worse. And yet the Republicans are committed to a system that puts profits ahead of people. That's why they oppose Pres. Obama's reforms and why they have no reform plan of their own. Our plan reduces costs, increases access, and protects choice.

7. "One size does not fit all.":

When Republicans repeat the Luntz talking point that our plan is "one size fits all" we should say: President Obama's health care plan gives you MORE choice than you have now. Right now, all most people have is the one or two plans offered through work -- and if you're out on your own in the private market, chances are you've got even less choice because health insurance is so expensive. When we create a new public health insurance option, you'll have one more choice. And you'll know that choice will be guaranteed to have the benefits you need, and you'll be able to afford it. So if you like what you have - great - you can choose to stay with it. But you'll also have an affordable alternative. And that's something most people don't have now.

As for the doctor-patient relationship: The doctor-patient relationship is under assault under the current system. Every time someone loses his/her health insurance, the doctor-patient relationship is interrupted. Every time someone can't afford to keep up with rising costs, rising premiums, rising co-pays, rising deductibles, the doctor-patient relationship is severed. By reducing costs, expanding access and ensuring quality we put the doctor-patient relationship at the heart of our health care reform.

8. Waste, fraud and abuse are your best targets for how to bring down costs:

When the Republicans repeat the Luntz talking point about waste, fraud and abuse, we should say: Obviously there is waste, fraud and abuse. But where's your plan to tackle them? Who do you think is going to crack down on waste, fraud and abuse: The entrenched interests making millions off of waste, fraud and abuse? Premiums have skyrocketed, CEO pay is through the roof, and insurance company profits are up, and we get less and less actual health care, while spending more and more money. It's time we had real reform and insurance companies had real rules to protect consumers.

9. Americans will expect the government to look out of those who truly can't afford health care:

When Republicans repeat the Luntz talking point about how government really should help those who can't afford health care, we should say: Pres. Obama is committed to health care reform. So am I. But the Republicans oppose reform. They have opposed every effort to reduce costs, every effort to make health care more affordable, every effort to expand coverage and to protect patients and their right to choose their doctor and their plan. They are the last defenders of the old, failed status quo. We are the reformers.

The Republican "plan" is really just the status quo on steroids. They want to keep pumping more money - your money - into the same broken system. If we fix the system, preserve the free market while we sensibly regulate insurance companies, and create a new public health insurance option, people will be able to afford good health care.

10. It's not enough to just say what you're against. You have to tell them what you're for:

When Republicans repeat the Luntz talking point that they're really for reform, we should say: Their plan is the status quo. Their plan is rising costs. Their plan is corporate bureaucrats and HMOs getting between you and your doctor. Their plan is cherry-picking the healthy and the wealthy and dumping you if you commit the sin of getting sick or injured. Their plan is Washington entrenched interests and lobbyists getting rich while working Americans get soaked. That's why they oppose our plan for real reform.

If you have a chance to read Begala's full memo which he titles; COUNTERING REPUBLICAN ORWELLIAN RHETORIC ON HEALTH CARE it is really quite amazing.  It's filled with some terrific Begalaism's like, "Amen, Brother Luntz," and, "As we say in Texas, what chutzpah," and it it is very well written, logical, and understandable.  A definite A+.

What I am so very happy to see is that someone is taking on the Republican's at their own game and eating them for breakfast. I hope you will make sure your elected politicians have read it. If you stand up to the bullies they will cry.  I promise you.  It's time to take the Republican, head on.  The issues of the day are too important. 

In writing this I'm reminded of one of the most misunderstood philosophers of the last century, Twisted Sister, "We're Not Gonna Take It"

Oh, you're so condescending
Your gall is never ending
We don't want nothin', not a thing from you

Your life is trite and jaded
Boring and confiscated
If that's your best, your best won't do

Oh, we're not gonna take it
No, we ain't gonna take it
Oh, we're not gonna take it anymore

Who are we as a people?  Are we driven by fear?  Some of us, fearing external enemies, seem willing to give up guaranteed rights in a quest for national "safety".  Others, myself included, fear assaults on the Constitution - betrayal of the Constitutional Rule of Law and its Bill of Rights - the deprivation of rights, such as habeas corpus, innocent till proven guilty, no detention without charge or conviction.

But fear need not drive us to betray our democratic ideals.  We can master our fears.  And thereby strengthen ourselves and our democratic institutions.  This is a blog toward that end.

The issue of "indefinite detention" - something not permitted by other modern democracies - cuts at the heart of our Constitutional form of government and our very system of justice.  It cuts at the role of the executive, in particular the President's Oath of Office

As I see it there are a number of issues at play here:

•    The President's Oath of Office:  To the Constitution
•    The Constitution:  Three co-equal Branches of Government
•    The Bill of Rights:  Specific judicial guarantees
•    Enemies:  Within and Without
•    Fear:  An emotion? Or a driving force?

It seems to me that we need first to deal with the President's OATH of Office.  For that oath points us to the president's first and greatest responsibility.  A duty the previous administration misrepresented over and over and over as "a solemn duty to protect the American people".  

Of the many lies perpetrated by the bush Badministration, one of the greatest, to my mind, was the effort to convince the citizens that its president's primary responsibility was to protect us.  Over and over bush, and others have told us a lie.  I read it again this morning in my NY Times:

"This is a guy who has sworn an oath to protect the country."

Is that so?  Let's look at the oath:

Each president recites the following oath, in accordance with Article II, Section I of the U.S. Constitution:

    "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

The only specific duty addressed in the Oath is the duty to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution.

Please engrave these words in your mind.  Bookmark them.  Teach them to your children.   Write them on your doors or your walls.  For this is the oath and duty of the President.  And this is our duty as well.  No matter how great or how many our fears!   

Ok, having settled on the president's primary duty, we can now consider what the Constitution tells us about the Three Branches of Government the president is sworn to preserve, protect and defend. We'll begin with the Executive Branch, even though the Constitution starts with the Legislative Branch in Section I.

Please, bear with me.  This is long.  But so may our Constitution long endure.

Read more »

A recently released 9/11 Commission memo highlights the role of government "minders" who accompanied witnesses interviewed by the commission. It was added to the National Archives' files at the start of the year and discovered there by History Commons contributor paxvector.
The memo, entitled "Executive Branch Minders' Intimidation of Witnesses," complains that:

Happy Saturday, everybody.  Bwakfat and I just made the 2 1/2 hour drive to Mum's house in PA and we're having a party!!

Please feel free to join us -- and please sign in with your TPM username.  If you do, you'll get a free beer.

(clink!)

 

 

(h/t to Quinn for the line from Cummings in the title.)


A little change of subject after a ... lively... week around here.

Just looking for suggestions.

The Secret of Life? Bugger me if I know. I'm waiting for all you smart people to tell me. But here's a shot: If you're worried about this question, you're probably doing things wrong.

Okay, not helpful. Here's another shot: You're looking at things wrong. You could think of Water as H20. But stop pretending that's what it is.

Water is what water does.

This is what water does
 

 

Water is what you wish you could do with it  

 

water is what others do with it.

 

So the secret? Try not to adopt the View from Nowhere. You won't find Anything Nowhere. We're all natural Mind-Hoppers. We naturally see things from all kinds of angles - from the viewpoint of all kinds of beings, without knowing it, if we just take things as they come. So hop away grasshoppers.

If science is all that is natural, then I believe in the supernatural. 

That's all I got. Hope someone 'gets' it. Otherwise, enjoy the pictures.
 
Anyone got any other secrets?



The water rising picture taken from laszlo-photo
The waterwalker picture taken from OneExposure
The caterpillar picture is taken from deviantart.com
These thoughts are a reaction to this wrong-headed article in Scientific American.


update: just added a link to the Cummings poem from which the title of this post was taken (see up top).

http://www.petitiononline.com/mental18/petition.html

Interrogators sought only facts

They played by the rules

And then the facts don't match the plan

That was hatched by fools

Who had pled for the mighty war

Which had been planned for years before

For purposes unknown

Behind locked and secret doors

And though they hoped for something to find
They could see no place through the mind

Interrogators your suspect lies

Upon your torture bench

You have been given orders to

Ask questions while you drench

Him with holy waters of war

And baptize this stubborn race

Into ideal submission

As it is washed across his face

 

And though they hoped for something to find
They could see no place through the mind
And though they hoped for something to find
They could see no place through the mind

Interrogators the truth will out

You will lose all respect

Although I came to jeer at you

I leave now with regrets

You claim you wished to protect

This nation to the end

And though with aims and goals held high

Your moral values did decend

 

And though they hoped for something to find
They could see no place through the mind
And though they hoped for something to find
They could see no place through the mind

 

 

And though they hoped for something to find
They could see no place through the mind

 

Hats off to Procul Harum

                                DEPARTURE

June 3, 1983 There was a knock at the door,and when I opened it there stood a young man, a teenager. He was dark skinned made darker by the white straw cowboy hat that he wore perfectly straight on his head, nothing cocky projected. Faded skin tight wrangler jeans, big cowboy belt and plain cowboy boots, an everyday horse riding cowboy. I was thinking "who is this", when he said "Mr Curtis my name is Mike, I have a date with your daughter Kim, is that alright?"

 Come in I said, and looking past him I saw an old faded blue pickup truck, but it was clean and well cared for. That is a pattern that over time I learned that he lives by, he takes care of whats given to him.

Thats how I met Mike the cowboy stranger, and one year later we were kin folks,he became my son in law. Mike and my daughter now have three children, one is to graduate this year, one next year, and one is only six. Zach ,Amanda and Jonah.

Mike is a real hero man, not for glory, its just something in his heart. He never passes an accident, but gets right there in the middle of it, helping the injured. Ive seen it time and again.When my son was sick and lying unconscious in the hospital, Mike stayed right there with him, talking gently to him and unashamedly kissing him on the forehead to let him know he wasn't alone.

Mike joined the Army for two years and then got out and joined the reserves for two years, then opened his own motorcycle shop. One day he came in the door of our house sweaty and breathing hard, he had ran the two miles from their home to ours. When I asked what was wrong he said "just getting back in shape." "That's good " I said, and then he told me, "I'm going back in the Army to be a Medic and so I have to pass the physical, running is this hardest part".

 I couldn't believe that at this stage of his life he would do this, all the training, the moving of his family, the hardship involved,and danger. I wondered how his family would take the news? They supported him all the way, they know him well, he takes care of whats been given him ,including his talents and his heart to care of the hurt, once he decides to do something, he will pay the price to accomplish it.

Our greatest concern was that he might have to go to Iraq, but we should have known that he would make sure of it, he requested deployment to Iraq.

Before he shipped out he had a going away party at his house. He was so well liked and respected by his fellow medics that several of them drove all night to be there at the party. As I looked at these young men I was taken back by their youth, they were just kids, barely out of high school, Mike was the old man among them. But they loved him and respected him, and I'm sure that they learned what a compassionate hero is from him. I was glad that he was there for them.

Now Mike is in Iraq , I miss him, we all do, but Im thankful that he made himself available to a lot of mothers sons that are there in that desert, and he will never pass an opportunity to help one who is hurt, whether American or Iraqi. He is a fine example of what Americans ought to be, he represents us well, he is the face of a real American hero. Pray for him when you can


.

It sits in the back of my head and, as has become common these days, the internet comes to the rescue. Once, I remembered, I read a very compelling article in Time magazine about how what came to be known as the imperial presidency had subverted the republic our founders established. I was young when I read this: I knew that. I remembered the cover of that edition of Time had photographs of the nobodies in Congress who pretended to be still be significant despite the President--I was sure it was Nixon--having decided they were no longer of any use and, given the politics of the time, could be safely ignored.

Every so often I would think of this article. Now, of course, I could find it.

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In every sense of the word.

According to the Associated Press, the university has told the campus Young Democrats' Club that it can no longer meet on campus because "the national Democratic party violates the school's principles by supporting abortion, socialism and the agenda of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people."

I realize it's a private university, and I realize its based on religion. But to me, the main point is the university's leaders (Jerry Fallwell Jr., mainly) are letting their religious beliefs trump the time-honored idea that universities should be open to the free exchange of ideas.

And, honestly, the Democrats support socialism? Please.

I'd have more respect for their decision if it was solely based on their religiously grounded objections to abortion and homosexuality. But then they throw in that bogus socialism thing, and you know this is purely political.

Just another example of how Christian Nationalists have co-opted the religion from true believers. Isn't it sad how the radicals in every religion are allowed to set the standard for everyone?

Keep the faith.

While Bush/Obama were shoveling their $2.93 trillion bailout-give-away into the bank accounts of billionaire bankers, Geithner/Paulson confused the rubes by promising to help the “little people,” too.

You don’t need no stinking cramdown, America!

Instead you get “Hope for Homeowners!”

That was back in October, 2008, and you still don’t need no stinking cramdown, America, because Barack Obama just signed a new and improved version of “Hope for Homeowners,” and the new and improved version is… so much better for the banks!

And the reason that Geithner/Obama want “Hope for Homeowners” to be so much better for the banks is that while Geithner/Obama/Bush/Paulson were giving away $2.93 trillion to criminal bankers…

“Hope for Homeowners” refinanced exactly one (1) mortgage!

And that’s why Barack Obama has modified “Hope for Homeowners” to make it so much better for the banks!

Note: Monthly payments for a grand total of 20,000 of the least troubled mortgages nationwide have been readjusted in 8 months of bailouts, without refinancing or renegotiating the total amount of the mortgage, and meanwhile mortgages are being foreclosed at a rate of 342,000 per month.

And still…

Exactly one (1) of those mortgages has been refinanced in the last 8 months.

Update at 7 PM: Lack of hope for Obama’s latest “help the little people” boondoggle is more or less universal, except inside the spin-machine…

“Hope for Homeowners has been a failure by virtually every metric,” Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-AL), ranking member on the House Financial Services Committee, said in a February press release. “And rather than cut taxpayer losses, this legislation aims to fix a fundamentally unfixable program.” (Congress allotted the program $300 billion, but none of it has been spent since FHA hasn’t paid out any insurance claims.)

None of it has been spent! Unlike the $700 billion bailout that bankers have totally cashed in! But for homeowners, for the “little people”… Not a dime!

Jacob Freeze

Comments on MJR

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I agree on freezing settlements but am unsure you are consistent on the two-state solution. Isn't calling on Israel to accept the 2-state solution comparable to calling on the PA to recognize Israel as a Jewish state in so far as that is the basis for having two independent states? Shouldn't we either call on both sides to agree before starting negotiations that the deal will leave a Jewish state Israel and a Palestinian state Palestine or demand it of neither and just proceed to negotiations? The other question is what to do regarding Hamas's more explicit rejection of a permanent two-state solution - maxing out on a 10-year Hudna which Israel would never accept. Interestingly, though he's in the employ of the state department, George Mitchell has discussed minimizing preconditions as part of his success in mediating peace in Ireland. 

Posted by sirclown 
May 22, 2009 4:19 PM | Reply | Permalink

MJ, I'm betting Cheney is whispering in Bibi's ear, telling him to ignore the White House and egging him on to attack Iran.

Posted by FDRdog 
May 22, 2009 5:29 PM | Reply | Permalink

This is a fine, clear, and outspoken bit of overdue common sense. Thank you for it.

Two further observations:

1. There are two fundamental issues here that overlap yet are distinct: (a) the denial of the fundamental right of self-determination to Palestinians and (b) the lack of a stable peaceful coexistence between Palestinians and Israelis. A Palestinian state without peace is undesirable, but the world can tolerate it, as it has tolerated an Israeli state without peace for many decades. The Palestinians cannot be expected to accept peace without a state any more than Jewish terrorists in 1947 did.

2. There can be no legitimate equation between the cessation of Palestinian terrorism and of Israeli settlements as preconditions for peace negotiations until the Palestinians actually have a sovereign state with the full authority to act against terrorism (as the Israeli state has the full authority to stop -or in the case of Gaza, remove- settlements). Allowing such an equation amounts to a recipe by which terrorists can torpedo peace negotiations.

Posted by PTroub 
May 22, 2009 6:52 PM | Reply | Permalink

>MJR

Sound, common sense. I have a feeling that this President will be the catalyst for change. He cut his political teeth in Chicago. He knows the score. IMHO he's not subject to corruption or threat from the Israel lobby. During the first term of this presidency we will see a dramatic new political paradigm whereby Israel will cease to be on the front page every day and there will be substantive improvements in Middle East stability. He is as aware as the rest of us that the status quo is leading us into a third world war, this time with WMD that will decimate the world. He wants as we want a world where his children can grow and prosper and to achieve that aim he must alter the balance in Washington and root out those who are intent on damaging our democratic principles for personal gain. I believe Obama is the man to do just that.

Posted by COLINDALE London 
May 23, 2009 12:23 AM | Reply | Permalink

All fine and well, but how on earth can Obama stop the settlements? What do you suggest he do? What makes Netanyahu (and the rest of the Israeli government) change course on settlements--something they haven't done for forty years?

MJ talks a lot about what should or shouldn't be done, but I see absolutely no plan for action. Wishful thinking and pleading won't change a thing. That's all I see from MJ.

How about lobbying for sanctions against Israel until settlements stop, MJ? Until you're ready to take some action with similar force, no one will--or should--take you or your Israel Policy Forum very seriously. There's no bite and very little bark--just a whole lot of pathetic whimpering.

(Meanwhile AIPAC--an organization that really knows how to snarl and tear flesh--will continue to rip to bits any American politician who tries to put any pressure at all on Israel to do anything to stop settlements or end occupation.)

Posted by Purple State 
May 23, 2009 7:51 AM | Reply | Permalink

You're not wrong, PS, but dont assume there cannot be a paradigm shift just because the status quo on settlements has lasted for 40 years. Nothing lasts for ever. Not Sharon, not Arafat and certainly not Likud.

This president is no patsy. He knows right-wing Jewish politicians intimately from his Chicago days - and is more than a match for them. Never forget he is the President and he has the ability to knock heads together and change mindsets - and he will, I have little doubt!

They may dismiss him as just another politician to be bought - but they make a grave error. This one is different. This one has balls. And this one believes in democracy for America not Zionist stratagems that enable House members to relax on the beach at Herzalia twice a year.

These are the years that the great American public from NY to LA and all states in between will finally use their voice and their voting power to elect representatives who will really look after their interests and eject those who do not. The time is past in America, as in the UK, where elected politicians are merely self-serving, puffed-up caricatures holding office merely to enrich themselves and to vote tax dollars to foreign states on the pretext of US security.

Have faith. Things DO change. Think apartheid South Africa just 20 years ago.

Posted by COLINDALE London 
May 23, 2009 8:20 AM | Reply | Permalink

Maybe things will change, Colindale. I do think Obama is more thoughtful, more original--and possibly (though not yet certainly) more effective--than recent past Presidents. But he's also proving to be a staunch pragmatist--both in policy and politics. So I suspect our policies toward Israel and Palestine will change only if there's a pragmatic reason and way to do so. This means several things, I think:

Changing our policies must be truly necessary and important to the United States

There must be a workable solution to the problem that makes the investment in trying to solve it worthwhile

The political cost must be outweighed by the gains

I have concerns that none of these conditions can be met.

First, while the Israeli-Palestinian conflict gets a vast amount of press, it really isn't that significant an issue for US security. Yes, the tension between Israel and the Arabs makes our relationships with the Arab world more complex, but we still get all the oil we need and the most powerful ME countries (other than Iran) remain reliable allies.

Second, as I've said elsewhere, I don't think the two-state solution is possible anymore and so finding a workable solution will require a vast amount of effort. Is the effort worth it given the low importance of the conflict relative to other, for more significant, issues with which Obama is concerned?

Third, the political cost of putting pressure on Israel is very high and likely incommensurate with the potential gains to be realized by any solution. Furthermore, if I am right that the two-state solution is impossible, true progress will require a one-state or federated solution and Israel will need to be forced kicking and screaming to that conclusion. Applying such force to Israel will arouse such political fury that no pragmatist will attempt it unless the gains are huge. But the gains aren't that huge.

So . . . I guess I remain skeptical, but you are right about Obama's potential and maybe he will surprise me even on this most perplexing issue.

Posted by Purple State in reply to a comment from COLINDALE London 
May 23, 2009 10:25 AM | Reply | Permalink

All of the points you raise have a validity. But you ignore the fact that I have already made: unless there is dramatic change, there is every possibility of a nuclear war that will start in the ME and then spread to Europe.

The event that can trigger that scenario is an unprovoked attack on the sovereign state of Iran. The consequences of which are at present unknown not only to me but also to President Obama - but they would be severe and globally extensive.

We are not dealing here with a few thousand unarmed civilians in Gaza or the Lebanon. Iran has a real army with real missiles and other armaments and she will not just lay down and die for an aggressor. Her defence could endanger not only the attacker, but many other states, in reprisal.

We are living in an exceedingly fraught and dangerous time and a war with WMD that would not only be nuclear but chemical and biological, would contaminate huge areas of our planet. To ignore this threat would be foolish. And this US administration knows that very well.

Posted by COLINDALE London in reply to a comment from Purple State 
May 23, 2009 10:58 AM | Reply | Permalink

Obama has indeed stated that he thinks a solution to the Israel-Palestinian feud will help defuse the Iranian nuclear problem, and that the "linkage" goes in that direction, not the opposite direction as asserted by Netanyahu. I am not sure, however, how greatly the already unsettling risk of nuclear war will be increased by Iran going nuclear. China, India, Pakistan, North Korea, all have nukes now. And so has Israel, for years. The key issue is not the highly desirable goal of reversing nuclear proliferation, or of Obama's intelligent commitment to addressing it. The central question, hinted at by Purple State above, is whether Obama will hedge, fudge, waffle, and ultimate back way off from this goal in response to domestic political pressure. In order for that NOT to happen, it may take something like an anti-AIPAC with the tenacity and funding of an AIPAC itself. The organizations of Rosenberg and other columnists on TPM are very worthy and welcome steps towards that, but a long way from comparable in scale, focus, and effectiveness.

Posted by PTroub in reply to a comment from COLINDALE London 
May 23, 2009 12:04 PM | Reply | Permalink

I agree. What is required is a public enquiry into the activities of AIPAC and other lobby groups and whether these organizations work to the benefit of the US or to its detriment. There is a contention that their activities are unAmerican and undemocratic that charge needs to be investigated and resolved.

The previous House Committee on Un-American Activities was concerned, or overly concerned, with a threat to the Federation that turned out to be imaginary. Today there is a threat which is very real indeed to our democratic institutions.

Democracy is concerned with the will of the people and the welfare of the people. Unelected minority groups with enormous power in the legislature are a threat not only to America but by extension, to the world.

Let us have a strong spotlight into the workings of these groups and an investigation into whose benefit they exist.

Posted by COLINDALE London in reply to a comment from PTroub 
May 23, 2009 12:35 PM | Reply | Permalink

 on  

I'm not joking, he really did.

It happened during the first hour of his May 22 program. Savage was talking (again) about his being banned from the UK by British Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, mainly for her concern that he could incite violence. He said the British have erected a cross, have gathered the spikes and the barbarians and want to see him hang from that cross.

Now, mind you, he said this not a half-second after he said he would not make any Biblical references, because his listeners would think he was crazy.

Yeah Mike, you're crazy. Crazy like a fox.

You can read more here ...

A Memorial Day weekend doubleheader.  First up this post, in response to an interesting segment of the Rachel Maddow Show about what the president calls "prolonged detention"

Read more »

In his "remarks" at the National Archives on May 21, President Obama spoke of "so-called enhanced interrogation techniques" and said the he "ended them once and for all."

But did he?

Obama ended the use of "enhanced interrogation" through an executive order, but anything that can be ended with an executive order can be restarted with an executive order, so there is no assurance that a later President (or even Obama himself) could not reinstitute the same program that brought us Guatanamo Bay, Abu Ghraib, and waterboarding.  Nothing could make this clearer than to point out that, on the same day that President Obama declared that the program was ended "once and for all," former Vice President Cheney declared in a speech to the American Enterprise Institute that he "was and remain[s] a strong proponent of our enhanced interrogation program" and that "every method used was in full compliance with the Constitution, statutes, and treaty obligations."

In order to be sure that these methods have really ended "once and for all," we need a clear adjudication by a court, commission, tribunal, or other public process to establish that what the Bush administration did violated federal law, the Constitution, and international law.  I don't know whether it needs to be a criminal prosecution, a civil judgment, or a bipartison commission.  But we need something that is public and authoritative.  Then, and only then, will those methods be ended "once and for all."

President Obama would prefer not to have to go through that kind of process, and it is clear that his reasons are political and not ethical or moral or legal.  He simply wants to avoid the political divisiveness that such a process could provoke.

I therefore hope that Cheney continues to give speeches and continues to make his views known.  The longer and more often he talks, the more we will see that torture has not ended "once and for all" and that there is still work to do.

Why oh why does TPM continue to accept a level of technical competence lower than what so many other sites do?

Why does my login page continually ask me WHICH sTiVo I want to log in as, when only one works?  And then hijack me to the edit profile page from which I then have to click "back to original page" and then find the article I wanted to comment about?

And why does this "Create Entry" page have a nice WYSIWIG editor (such as USED TO be seen here for comments) but comments has an inferior "roll your own html" text editor - which I find out today doesn't even work?  I tried to surround a two-paragraph quote in blockquote tags and found that only the first was blockquoted.  I had to enter another pair of tags for the second paragraph.  At least I THINK I had to do that.  Maybe just your preview page is broken.  But geez, when are you guys going to fix the basics?

And why did my session "time-out" after ten minutes on, just as I pressed save?

Josh Marshall's --

Deep Thought

Why is Dick Cheney's daughter the only person he can find to go on TV to defend him?

Here's My Deep Thought!

Shouldn't the question really be ---- Exactly what does Dick Cheney's daughter know?  WHAT does she know about what actually happened during the past 8 years and HOW does she know it?

Exactly what makes Liz Cheney an expert on what the CIA and her dad -- did or didn't do? 

She was a Bush State Department aide, so what?  Her husband was General Counsel of the United States Department of Homeland Security.  Did these positions give her access to top secret and classified information?  Some how I doubt it.

Perhaps Dick Cheney, former Vice President of United States LEAKED classified information to his daughter.  After all, the man is well known for LEAKING classified information to the media (CIA agent's name for example).

After what he did to a fellow CIA officer, I would think the CIA would be investigating exactly what Lis Cheney knows and why she knows it.  Payback Time!

The recently released report by the Pew Center for People and the Press http://people-press.org on Politcal Values and Attitudes 1987-2009 is especially interesting and worth taking the time to read the 165 page analysis.  (Get a six pack or two and read it this holiday.) One of the items I found fascinaitng is the collapse of people willing to admit they are Republicans.

 

The survey asks the party identification question whether the respondent considers him/herself a Democrat, Republican or Independent (and rotates the order).  In other words, the respondent is asked to tell a complete stranger what they consider their politcal affiliation to be.  It is human nature not to give an answer to a complete stranger that the respondent considers "socially unacceptable" to those outside his/her social group.  (I will let others supply the academic description of this behavior.) The survey shows that in the South only 25% will self-identify themselves as Republicans without being pushed to show their true leanings.

 

From election results in this region from the past several years, I think that there is a strong case that the Republican regional base vote is about 46-48%--some may out it a bit higher.  This is a massive differential.  Pew's methodology is "gold standard."  The only explanation I have is that in the South almost half of the regular Republican voters today see it to be socially unacceptable to admit they are Republicans to a total stranger. 

Once upon a time, in a fantasy land far away, I took a girl I loved to see a movie I loved, a fabulously hilarious film by Terry Gilliam called "Brazil", which as you might know if you've heard about it is loosely based on the story 1984 except that it's *funny*. (I grabbed a Munich newspaper the other day to find the front page emblazoned with Nazi babes in short-shorts singing "Springtime for Hitler" from The Producers, so yes, anything is possible).

So waiting in the dark for a bang-up good time, to share one of my favorite movies, holding back my laughter so I could look over and see my girl laughing too, except something went horribly wrong - she was crying. I asked her what the matter was, and she looked at me and said, "That's how it was. My whole time growing up." See, I'd forgotten that she was from behind the Iron Curtain, that for her these nudge-nudge-wink-winks weren't nudge-nudge-wink-winks, they were her boyfriend getting fingers broken by the secret police, they were her parent pulled from a job and forced to work on a farm commune, they were people tossed out of school for the wrong comments, there were pressures every day to wave the flag at the right time, to wear the right scarf, to show the right support for the party, to not say anything that could and would be used against you, in a court of law or otherwise.

I've met some interesting people along the way - went to school with children of German rocket scientists, met the guy who interviewed Pol Pot last, hung out a bit with a Vietnamese guy who spent a year walking across Cambodia as a kid to escape to freedom, meaning Thai refugee camps for a year before release to America. I know a Southerner whose life ambition was to spit on Sherman's grave, but who couldn't do it because there were women and children buried there. An Italian friend still tells me about his Uncle Looie, a soldier who was placed in a POW camp in Mississippi, who to his dying day remembered and was grateful for how well he was treated, how much he came to love America. Those German kids, I don't recall thinking how maybe they were a Fifth Column, still wanting to sabotage like Germany's Operation Werewolf after the war, even though we jokingly played world domination before Risk became popular. That Vietnamese kid, maybe he was expecting years of work ahead, but I somehow can't imagine his father setting him on an escape route that led to the values we now think are values. How many water boardings would Uncle Looie or Student Pham have needed to end their love affair with America permanently? One? Two? A dozen? Those hundreds of thousands of Southern soldiers after the war, especially ones kept in the horrible camps at Andersonville [okay, Rock Island for the Southerners]  - how were they rehabilitated to not pose a threat to the Union?

Nelson Mandela fought his country's occupiers, oppressors, with every bone in his body, and after 21 years of incarceration still refused easy release unless unconditional, delaying his eventual freedom by 9 years. Kenyatta had a similar story in Kenya, writing his opus, "Suffering without Bitterness" after his release, while Gusmao from East Timor has disavowed his Marxism as an understandable mistake, and the actions of America against him unfortunate but still understandable. We are in talks with Cuban leaders who we have fought in words and proxy wars for 40 years, partners in incarceration now with a Libyan who bombed our troops and brought down an airliner, partners in government with Iraqis who can easily shift over to anti-American insurgency at any moment and who carry decidedly un-American values, partners with China and Russia in helping them keep a lockdown on Xinjiang (home of the Uyghurs) and Chechnya, while running military exercises with those who threatened to obliterate us for 40 years.

Yet here we are, scared of a few Arabs and Pashtuns from the field - many of them Uncle Looies, caught up in what seemed like a good cause (and defending your religion and homeland have been "good cause" for all of our history), and while certain that while murderers can eventually be paroled if they tame enough pigeons and read the Bible and say Hail Maries often enough, these Muslims are simply unrepentant, superhuman killing machines who pose a danger in anything less than Krypton-sealed enclosures. Despite all the sworn enemies who now sit down with us at State Dinners and UN Conferences at Davos, we seem to have identified a class of people who are too dangerous for American values, requiring an asterysk in the Constitution just as Roger Maris needed one in the baseball rulebook so long ago.

In some ways it's too bad we fought World War II, because it indeed was the most selfless military act we've ever done, followed by the Marshall Plan, the most selfless humanitarian act we've ever done. It's a long climb down from that mountain, but we seem to have rappelled it rather rapidly, so that now we're back to a rather glibly defined model of civilization where indefinite detention, disappearing, and drowning are simply collaterals of never-ending warfare, not just something they do "over there". Seems like we could just annex Venezuela under our newfound "morality". Exactly what problem would Mr. Obama have with the Argentinian Junta's actions during the Dirty War - secreting protesters off to football stadiums, the beatings and other torture, the indefinite detentions in solitary or small groups, eyes gauzed shut, or only the drop from helicopters? Or even that?

Certainly our soldiers have committed atrocities in the field during all of our wars - those in the Mexican-American War perhaps being the worst, and while only a few are revealed to condemn now, we can still say that they're part of the field of battle, that there is a certain amount of condemnation whatever the expediency. The Toledo reports, Mai Lai, the ones from Korea, along with ones committed against US troops. That we hide the WWII atrocities and don't parade them gives an idea of their unacceptability, even in the face of Hitler and his madmen.

But now? Never before have we had such luxuries that we used as excuses. Here we have the civilians behind the Washington generals fighting a non-critical police/occupation action with relatively little loss of life compared to the millions of civilians killed in Vietnam, Korea, Cambodia and WWII, and yet we've upped the ante for these soft puffy-handed "strategists" so they can dumb down the definition of torture just to make their lack of ability and creative intellectual resources acceptable.

Once upon a time, we had soldiers in Korea when a million Chinese came across the border, and they had the horrible luck of survival and fight back at whatever cost, that "oh shit" moment I can only barely imagine. We had troops who for months fought their way across Northern Africa and up the Italian peninsula and got dropped suicidally on a beach underneath cliffs, fighting for any toehold under horrendous fire power. We had troops who island hopped across the Pacific, fighting brutal battles, suffering torture and death marches and horrible prison camp conditions. We had troops stuck in Vietnam, fighting a confused mission to preserve colonialism and fight off communism at the same time, with no obvious moral certainty but the order to persevere with no end goal. We've had troops on a myriad of missions, from bringing order to Bosnia and Haiti, to rescuing hostages in Iran, to small missions in Somalia and Grenada and Panama, to background actions in Angola and 1979's Afghanistan, the Berlin rescue, the Soviet overflights, the background operations in others' turf wars, and now we have the military carrying out the politically-bastardized US goals in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan. We know the difference between when the stakes were critical, when the pressures were overwhelming, the potential repercussions enormous and the time for decisions non-existent, as well as when the operations were simply routine or difficult, with breathing room to spare. We shouldn't confuse the two, especially now that we know to train our soldiers not just in split-second reaction, but more and more in split-second judgment, tied into information systems and webs of shared insight. We can't grow up and remain as children at the same time. Our modern warfare creates abilities and potentials that didn't exist before, more and more college-educated soldiers, tech-savvy enlisted, battle field simulations and psychological evaluations, of the enemy and ourselves. You can't scrunch down morals and human conscience within this framework and call it a day. They all go together - more responsibility and authority and capability means across the board. There's been some railing against "humanitarian missions" as if soldiers didn't always have non-soldierly tasks to help with - from the far outposts of Rome building aqueducts for civilians to guaranteeing resources for catastrophe-endangered areas, to prevent revolt if nothing else. Killing in the battle field is only one of the soldier requirements throughout all of history.

Being a professional force, our military doesn't have the luxury of rationalizing the mission. Any thinking person knows that sometimes we'll get it wrong, sometimes right, but the men or women in the field will need to kill, destroy, rebuild, help, whether they would personally loathe or love the designated enemy or ally. Patton wanted to overrun Russia, MacArthur wanted to take it to China - both were removed. The generals that opposed our folly in Iraq were removed. It's civilian rule, and it's up to civilians to elect wise leaders, remove unwise ones, and keep up wise pressure in any case. It's a peculiar instinct to enjoy your job under these kind of perverse pressures, and I applaud those who keep it up. I'm saddened by the increased politicization and polarization of the military, including where military leaders have let themselves be dragged into these partisan lines. The choice between engaging and abstaining and in what way is seldom clear cut, and our romance with blood on the movie screen doesn't translate very well to real life. I'm horrified by the tens of thousands of maimed and psychologically scarred veterans that have come home in the last 8 years that have been relegated to anonymity. We have a quasi-war with no parades, no homecomings, no recognition, no battles, no markers, just an endless movement of troops, small newspaper articles of minor engagements, with theories and strategies and rationales and justifications, and a faceless enemy that we haven't quite defined. I don't know how the troops do it, though it seems the number of suicides shows one way out. I went through an airport the other day and was amazed by the thousands of soldiers moving through - been a while for me in an airport, but I've never seen a 10th as many soldiers on travel. "Nothing special, just weekend leave, moving around", they told me. I guess. With $12 billion or so a month on war spending, troop movement is just one of the signs. But where does it end? Our leaders just declare, "prolonged detention" and a country-hopping strategy that makes the Domino Theory look super sane by comparison.

I had a conversation with a Dutch Jew the other day, with him telling me about his time in the Israeli military facing down the Hezbollah. "You can't understand until you've been there", he told me. A dangerous conceit. Of course I don't understand water boarding quite until I try it, as a few surprised conservative commentators have done lately. I don't quite understand space travel because I haven't been there. I don't quite understand issues particular to women because I'm not a woman. I don't understand a shell fired toward my position exactly, but I understand a bit about fear, a bit about danger, a bit about right and wrong. I can come close through various mental and physical exercises, if I choose to try to understand. One of the great attributes of humans is their ability to empathize, make analogies, generalize and synthesize rather than just rationalize and divide, to understand what doesn't quite exist for them.

222 years ago, we came up with a Constitution that surprised - from its conciseness and clarity, from its concern about citizen rights (partly pasted on 2 years later with the Bill of Rights), from its civilian government and disavowal of monarchies and relegating of the military to a subservient, supporting role, of its balanced nature that rests on 3 competing and cooperating branches of government, as well as a public that stays engaged, that has relatively equal claim to redress of grievances on all levels. While I don't believe the Constitution explicitly addresses a free press [okay, it does guarantee it, my bad], the support for free speech certainly supports it, and citizen pamphlets and newsletters were certainly important in the run up to and aftermath of American Independence. It is this Constitution that the President is sworn to uphold, as are all members of the military. Take a moment to peruse this oath if you've never seen it:

The wordings of the current oath of enlistment and oath for commissioned officers are as follows:

"I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God." (Title 10, US Code; Act of 5 May 1960 replacing the wording first adopted in 1789, with amendment effective 5 October 1962).

"I, _____ (SSAN), having been appointed an officer in the Army of the United States, as indicated above in the grade of _____ do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign or domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservations or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which I am about to enter; So help me God." (DA Form 71, 1 August 1959, for officers.)

While the Constitution may be flawed, in many ways it's possibly the best we've done so far on a large practical and long-lasting scale to express our balance of compassion and independence, of freedom and security, of encoding lofty human values into a practical living document. And I commend those who support this ideal even and especially if they choose to help improve it through the glorious art of non-combative argumentation, presuming they actually hope to improve it, whatever their opinions.
 
So in honor of Monday's holiday, to remember those who have died or been wounded for the American cause and those who have fought and continue to fight for it, this is my long and convoluted way of saying thanks, that I think we're supporting the same values, the same causes, the same primacy of human conscience, that with my many degrees I don't look down at your work as lesser, just as I don't look at my bosses with only a high school degree as unworthy - that we all come to our tasks with different perspectives and preparation, and the main issue is performance where it counts. And while I value the military work, I understand it as one piece of the American mosaic that expresses similar issues of God, duty, country, honor, mission, on all levels. That unless we do our jobs as civilians, even as a loyal opposition where necessary, you can't do your job as the military, and in the reverse.  We reflect on each other. The last time an empire successfully represented itself through its military was Rome, and we're 2000 years past those values by now. So to our brave and hard-working civilian military, hats off.

Portia:
The quality of mercy is not strain'd,
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest:
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.

The Merchant Of Venice Act 4, scene 1, 180-187

PS - re-reading this I don't mean to make anything less of the dangers in Iraq - extremely dangerous roadside and barricade car checks, scouting expeditions in Anbar designed to draw fire (i.e. at some poor soldier's head) as much as anything, and a variety of other hazards from Iraq to Afghanistan to Pakistan. For many, every day means risking life or a lifetime of painful injury, and while the manslaughter in our larger engagements may have been much greater, that doesn't make dangers in individual actions less perilous, whatever the war.

The radio host's drowning torture video shows us graphically what we really got ourselves into.  Holy smokes!

 

And just one day after Cheeney's swaggering moment defending, dismissing, and giving courage to some Republicans while momentarily puffing himself up!  Is he finally going to get his old boss's job?  At approximately the same time as the drowning torture was being broadcast in Chicago, Cheeney's daughter was on morning TV lecturing Lawrence O'Donnell that it was no biggie and how her glowering Dad was a right peach.   That radio stunt ("Absolutely torture!") was bad timing for the resurgent Republican juggernaut all around; talk about point-counterpoint!

 

Janis Karpinski says don't listen to the malevolent curmudgeon - Abu Ghraib was no series of stray incidents but linked right to the Cheney torture memos.  That can probably be proven easily, by looking at who trained the Abu Ghraib soldiers and where did the trainers get their perspective (Karpinski says they were right there in the camp with her, BTW).  Cheeney's heroes, the CIA contractors who inflicted his "good" drowning torture will do a lot of finger-pointing if they are put in legal jeopardy, Karpinski adds.  No wonder he wants them protected!

 

By poking a sharp stick in the Dems' eyes, is Cheeney alienating people who'd normally be reluctant see a Veep investigated/prosecuted?  Could this start unraveling for him?   It sure was a cocky move demoting Karpinski, with those damning DoD memos floating around in addition to the disgraced DoJ handiwork.  Bush had to personally approve the demotion, and he obviously wouldn't have without Cheeney's okay.  They must have been feeling lucky.

What do you call 17 credit card banks at the bottom of the ocean? Beyond the obvious title, I would hope it would be a partly cloudy day above their place in the sun and surf (shielding them from the harsh rays above).

On May 21, Anderson Cooper interviewed Liz Cheney (YouTube link (10:00)) regarding her father's outspoken support for torture and ongoing attacks on President Obama's policies. While Cooper tried several times to challenge the assertions Ms. Cheney was making, she consistently hewed to the propagandistic duplicity her father has been spouting.

Read more »

I wanted to comment to Josh directly about his Geniuses post but I don't know how to email him. Advice as to this would be appreciated.

 

Anyway, levels of ingenuity of plots of murder and mayhem should not be relevant to any discussion of national security.  Desire of murder and mayhem is with us always, past, present, and future. That is why police functions of society developed to begin with. That is also why the 9/11 event, albeit horrific beyond belief, was still a large event that should have been dealt with in a law enforcement police type response.

Heck, a couple of years ago, over a few beers and vivid imaginations, it took us about 15 minutes to figure out how to shut down the gas flow from Texas to NYC.  Geniuses are everywhere, We can't always be skeert.

Not that we would ever do something like that.        

I have blogged before about the silly argument that US prisons cannot handle terrorists (hint: they already do). But there is another issue here. Even if Congress can refuse to pay for closing GITMO and transferring these prisoners, I'm not sure they can block the actual transfer.

The way I see it, GITMO is a military base. The detainees are held by the US military. Therefore, as CIC, Obama could order them transferred to any military installation that he sees fit, sans any Congresssional approval.

This is already happening:

Meanwhile, an Obama administration official said that the administration plans to announce Thursday that a top al-Qaida suspect held at Guantanamo Bay will be sent to New York for trial.

Ahmed Ghailani would be the first Guantanamo detainee brought to the U.S., and the first to face trial in a civilian criminal court.

My guess is that Obama is playing a long game here. He lets Congress play NIMBY leading up to the mid-term elections. This keeps their constituents happy and prevents any seat losses over what is, in reality, a silly issue.

In the meantime the administration will quietly scale back the camp. A few detainees will be released, a few will be tried in US courts, a few in military tribunals. By 2010, Obama's set date to close the GITMO camp, it will have already outlived its usefulness with the Dem Congressional majority intact.

Author: Xu Han-You

Address:  Splendid Garden, Jin-xiu-hua-yuan, House-9-1-502, xi-huan RD, Xin Ye county city, Henan Province, China.

Postcodes: 473500

Home telephone: 0086-0377-66285112.

Email: abc13579-you@126.com, fairpersuiter@hotmail.com

The paper originally appeared in the Vallarta today.

http://www.vallartatoday.com/letters.asp?page=8.

 

 

 

 

 

My name is Xu Han-You. Now work at Xin Ye county people's  hospital, Henan Province, China. 

At the end of 1990, when my graduate study for Master's degree nearly finished, I, the most innocent student, was ordered to end the graduate study without lawful processes by the graduate school of Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences/PUMC, and its Cancer Institute in  Beijing.

 After I left the graduate school. The innocence of me was beat up  many times. While the courts related could never fair my sufferings. I  lost in the courts in Beijing for fairing my graduate study and in Xin Ye county for fairing my being beat up.

After I left the graduate school. Even my basic necessities of life are  disturbed. All my privacies are communicated to all people. ...... . I can  not write the lots of my sufferings in a single paper.

Recently, my new suffering is again occurred. I can not help but write  the un-tolerable suffering. And submit to you. I hope you shall publish  the article. Appeal the related people or departments for corrections at  once. Appeal people all over the world for help. The related  wrong-doers will not become the scum of China！The related  wrong-doers will not become the scum of the world！The related  wrong-doers will not become the shameless obstacles of Chinese  national rejuvenation！The related wrong-doers will not become the  shameless obstacles of global peace and development！

Here is my new suffering.

I was hit again at 2007-12-10 on duty as a doctor at Xin ye county people's hospital, Henan province, China, without right reason.

One year ago, my home telephone was not worked. In China, the  regulation on the private telephone is that the related company shall  repair the line immediately after the telephone owner has pay the company and has reported the telephone's stoppage. Also the company must guarantee to protect all the telephones' normal working. But many many times, I reported to the related company in Xin Ye county, Henan  province, China. But my telephone has worked after about one week's stoppage.

In modern society, the telephone is the basic necessity for a  worker.  One week, after my telephone was not worked. My human-rights is  again encroached on.

Combined my former sufferings, from my right to receive an  education, the right of person, to my right of the basic necessities of life  guarantee, ......, I have the most human-rights having been being  encroached on. Therefore, I can say, I am the Chinese whose  human-right is the most heavily encroached on.

All the friends can think over. When my graduate study for Master's  degree nearly finished, I, the most innocent student, was ordered to end  the graduate study without lawful processes by the graduate school in  Beijing. After I left the graduate school. Why I always encounter  sufferings? While before my graduate study in Beijing, I am always  peace and happy. After I left the graduate school. Why I become the  Chinese whose human-right is the most heavily encroached on? 

If that I become the Chinese whose human-right is the most heavily  encroached on could exchange for happy, peace and rich of all the  Chinese, or even the people all over the world, I thought I should be  born with bad luck and sufferings. If that after I become the Chinese  whose human-right is the most heavily encroached on can observe  further more people's human-rights being encroached on, I and other  people's sufferings of human-rights being encroached on are not  deserved. All the people do not conformed to the sufferings of  human-rights being encroached on！

 

 

Author: Xu Han-You

Address: Splendid Garden, jin-xiu-hua-yuan, House-9-1-502, xi-huan RD, Xin Ye county city, Henan Province, Post codes: 473500, China.

Telephone: 0086-0377-66285112.

Email: fairpersuiter@hotmail.com

The paper was published on The Seoul Times: www.theseoultimes.com/ST/db/re.

﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡

(Resume: Xu Han-You, male, 42 years old, growing up at Xiao Zhuang, Zhangmahu village, Sha Yan Town, Xin Ye county, Henan Province, P,  R, China. Graduated from Xin Xiang Medical College in China and have studied as a postgraduate student at Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences/Peking Union Medical College, cancer institute. Working as a doctor more than ten years, good at movement; music; English language and writing at the spare time.)

～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～

 

When I first encountered motor vehicle, I did not known where I had come from; Why I call the elders grandpa and grandma; Why I call the medium aged father, mother, uncles, aunts and paternal aunt; Why I call the younger brothers and sisters ...... .

I had not known what voice was when I first heard the motor vehicle steam whistle and drone at my child-hood time. All the children of my village dashed to the sound emitting place at the same time without  prior consultation, very curiously and very pleasantly found a huge monster quickly walking to us. We timidly dodged far from the coming motor vehicle. As time went on, we met the vehicle a lot of times. We knew it was called motor vehicle. So, when the motor vehicle ran along us again. Some group children kept in step with the motor vehicle swiftly, curiously touched the glasses behind the motor vehicle where installs the flashing safelight, very pleasantly wanted to take out the mysterious and wonderful light bulb ......

The countryside-men had never seen the radio at my children-hood in my village. Once upon a time, one worker of city brought back to our home village a radio. Many people heard talking of the radio, made click of admiration for the Henan Yu-Opera from the radio. Our children further curiously gathered between the people and were reluctant to part with, stared at the speaking radio. Sometimes, one bold child furtively held out his hand and touched the mysterious  subject. Often he was rebuked by the elders.

My children-hood is happy like other child. My grandpa and grandma, mother and father, etc., were afraid of my suffering from hot when the summer came and were afraid of my suffering from cold when the winter came. All the heavy farm works were done by my second elder brother in my family in most time of my school years. I, liked my grandma and mother, was diligent and easy to stir. I always did exceedingly well in my school learning and often was praised by uncles, aunts and seniors of my neighbors.

At our rural area, people often entrust part-timely their pampered children to the care of good relatives or friends to be pampered. The aunt carer is often called "Lao Ma", the entrusted mother. The uncle carer is often called "Lao Die", the entrusted father. I was entrusted part-timely to the pampered care of my paternal aunt, I often call  "Lao Ma". I can never forget the White He river beside my entrusted mother's home where was clearly seen the sand-bed. I often played at the clear river with my "Lao Die" and the son of my "Lao Die". At the children-hood, it is my most cheerful life when I went to the home  of my "Lao Ma" and fished in the White He river with my "Lao Die". At that time, I often thought why the fish can live in the water and why the soft-shelled turtle hid itself into the sand-bed in the clear  White He river water...... 

In my home, we had raised pigs and oxen. In my children-hood, I asked my mother why the ox and the pig eat differently from what the  people eat? How heavy the ox did on the farm! But the ox was always beaten and abused? Why we spent a lot of money to buy an ox? Was not the ox the same as slave whom my textbook had described?

September, 1981, I was proud of enrolling myself in the Xin Xiang medical college. Because there was few college students in my village. The learning was wholeheartedly at the college. But I did not know who was chairman of my college, and where my dean, even the teacher in charge of my class were homed. After graduation, I was allowed to worked at Dabie Shan mountain(one of  the Chinese mountain areas), Shang Cheng county, Henan province. Dabie Shan mountain people were so good and honest that they always said hallo enthusiastically to me with a smile on their faces.  Some people even invited me to have a dinner with them in the festival time, fervently offered good food and drinks.

  But I did not know who was head officer of Shang Cheng county health bureau; Where the head of Shang Cheng county people's hospital was homed. What the different was between the section chief of county health bureau and the section chief of county people's hospital. Many section chief names in the Shang Cheng county health bureau, I never knew.

  The enthusiasm of Dabie Shan mountain was not able to keep my thirst for knowledge; The enthusiasm of Dabie Shan mountain was not able to keep my willpower for upward; The enthusiasm of Dabie Shan mountain was not able to keep my desire to scale the height in medical science; The enthusiasm of Dabie Shan mountain was not able to stay the wave from China capital Beijing！

  At September, 1988, I was enrolled in department of nutrition and cancer, cancer institute, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences as a  postgraduate student for Master's degree.

  In my opinion, on the basis of life, there was not different between the Beijing and Shang Cheng county or my home town Xin Ye county. No matter where I lived at that time, Beijing, Shang Cheng or Xin Ye, I did not know anything who was the Chairman of China; Who as the Premier; Who was the General Secretary of Chinese Communist Party. To say nothing of what the different were between them. But I experienced people at Shang Cheng and Xin Ye spoken more energetically and powerfully than Beijingers'. While there were golden books in Beijing. I wholeheartedly lived in the books.

  On June four, 1989, a new word, demonstration, was stamped deeply with the brand of in my brain. At that time, the countryside student of me, I did not want to demonstrate. I did not know what the demonstration was. I did not want to hold up reading. I had the new ideas about the cancer research. In order to contribute more in medical science, I wanted to go abroad for further studying. But I was ordered to quit the graduate school with unlawful oral notice when I nearly graduated and had passed all the subjects for graduation. With being unconsciousness-like and regret, I left Beijing. For I did not know there were lots of unfair treatments to me. But I known there were lots of favorable books in Beijing. So there was large part of medical science wasteland for further opening up. So there was large part of medical science wasteland for me and other intellectuals to sow. China capital Beijing should not be full of medical science intellectuals when I was not ordered to quit the graduate study. China capital Beijing should not be full of countryside turned medical science graduate student of me if I was not ordered to quit the graduate study.

  November, 1990, I went back to the Dabie Shan mountain where I had been treated heavily enthusiastically. A few people asked why I was ordered to quit the graduate school; whether that I was ordered to quit the graduate school is because of my 1989 year attending the demonstration? I answered: I had never demonstrated or gone on a hunger strike, etc.. I answered: I did not know what meaning the demonstration was. I only wanted to read and study.                                             

  The Dabie Shan mountain, Shang Cheng, seemed to change look; The Dabie Shan mountain people seemed to change faces; The Dabie Shan mountain people did not smile again when meeting me;  The acquaintance of Dabie Shan mountain did not want contact  with me. There were lots of poor Dabie Shan mountaineers, left their home and eared money aimlessly.

  Dabie Shan mountain hospital no longer had room for my living to treat the patients carefully. I was warded in a little hotel. Which seems to ward off the persons who could fair me. Dabie Shan mountain people seemed not to see a doctor for me. I seemed to become mad. I thought, people knew what I thought. Beside my ears, there were voices of invisible people. I ran more than half China province capital railway stations by trains. I wanted to ask people all over the China if they knew that what they thought in their brains were known by others and if they knew my present  worse fate. If what they thought in their brains were known by others. How could the people think freely? Do the scientific researches become unequal and no guarantee? I felt people around me knew what I and others thought. But the people around me said they did not know when I asked some of them if it was true.

  The enthusiastic people of Dabie Shan mountain changed to otherwise. Many times, I was bitten cruelly with no right reasons.  Many times, my daily necessities were stolen. Before September, 1988, before my Beijing graduate study time, the patients had been  very enthusiastic and glad to see a doctor for me. After I went back from the graduate school. The patients were far from me. But I kelp on working well. The lowest wage I got was less than the half of my official permitted wage. I was compelled to leave the changed  Dabie Shan mountain; Left the Dabie Shan mountain area where I had wanted to serve very much; Left my skilled stethoscope.

  I went back to my home town, where I had been reared. No matter where the child goes, the mother is always worry about her child's health. It is natural that people always want to go back to their warm home when they meet difficulty. But I was resentful to my family. Why I could not finish my graduate school studying like others though I had passed the entrance examination and admitted to the China highest medical graduate school where I had studied  very well? At that time, the Chinese graduate students were fully supported by our nation. Did my family or some people else in China capital Beijing think the countryside big boy of mine had  studied too well to let them quiet? Nevertheless, that ordered me to quit the graduate school event is the China's first. Was the event over?

  I had to take the tools of farm firmly and did the farm work with my amily after leaving the Shang Cheng hospital. I did not believe that there was no scope for my abilities in the swiftly changeable,  great world and reforming China.

  After more than one year farming, I was transferred to my home town, to work in the emergency department of Xin Ye county  people's hospital, Henan province, P , R, China.

The department of emergency medicine stresses the emergency.  The patients suffer from emergency diseases, come to the department of emergency medicine for emergency treatment. The doctor and nurse on duty are afraid of mistakes and emergency  when making emergency treatment. The officials are especially anxious about the emergency case.

  I am anxious about what the emergency case is anxious about with high responsibility. Be-carefully, I manage to be a good doctor in the department of emergency medicine, Xin Ye county people's  hospital. I have passed the standardization test of clinic resident qualified doctor, organized by Henan province. I have become the qualified doctor in charge of western internal medicine and want to test for higher grade doctor.

  I want to eliminate the invisible voices besides my ears. So I run for fit at the morning, do the dumbbell exercise at dus. Long time exercise makes me healthy and strong. It is normal thing for me working nearly whole night sleepless on duty. I am quick at thinking at work. But I can not cast off the unthinkable voices beside my ears from beginning to end. I suffer from dizzy, headache, etc. because of the voices.

  In later year of 1996, I felt astonishing when several devil peoples broke in the doctor rest-room at department of emergency  medicine at middle night and beat up me to head blooding and  edema. Which was deliberately provocative！ It was the first time in the history of Xin Ye county people's hospital that the doctor was beaten up like this. Why the first time beaten up happened to me?

  I felt much too astonishing when I lost lot of blood in my digestion tract by my stool at October, 1997. Because I have been being healthy and strong. I am sure it was caused by devils！

  When I went to the street after beginning of recovery. I seemed to see many people were wiping their eyes and the speaking voice of  the people seemed to become soft when I met them.

  I felt quite ashamed; I felt indignant. Why my life and work are disturbed after I left the Beijing graduate school? But before I studied at the Beijing graduate school. My life and work had been so smooth and happy that I wanted to live like that. 

  It is rejoiced that after those disturbed life I am still myself and going to serve the patients, contribute the society with further  greater ability at my present hospital.

  Ah, Xin Ye county people's hospital！You are the people's life  body guard！ You are the symbol of international Red Cross  humanitarianism！You must not operate any mistake！You must not  suture any mistake！You must not dose patients with any wrong  dosage！

  Ah, the department of emergency medicine！How glorious and  great when you save the emergency case！It would  be everlasting  humiliation when you lose an emergency treatment！

  Ah, Xin Ye county people's hospital！You should really be  people's hospital！ 

  My home county city, a small city, It was the first time when I came here to attend the contest of maths, physics and chemistry at  my middle school time. At that time, we had used the kerosene lamp in our school. Recent years, my home village used electricity.  Which have lines like other lines in our life and sciences. The  electric lines for our life！No matter Spring, Summer, Autumn, or  Winter; No matter sowing or harvest, they still lie on the stand  highly, send light; send warmth; send health; send happiness and joy;  send ...... for the thousands upon thousands families！Can the  families forget the contributions of the lines?

  Ah, these beloved lines！No matter in the past or in the future; No matter how cold or how hot the weather is in the various adverse  circumstances. Does your light still go on！ Ah, these beloved  lines！By the time goes on. You deposit more and more energy  power！Ah, these beloved lines！You flow the feeling of kinship from both sides people of Taiwan Straits? You flow the friendship from the Atlantic sides people, or people all over the world? You flow the smile from the space ?

  Ah, these beloved lines！Have you teared ? Have you bled ? Have you been in tears of joy and enthusiasm ? Ah, these beloved lines！ Have you faired and opened me? Have you lightened my family?  Have you lightened the people ?

  I backed to Xin Ye county from Beijing; I backed to Xin Ye county from Dabie Shan mountain; I came to the Xin Ye county  town from my home village. The road for Xin Ye county town  expresses my thought and action of serving the people  wholeheartedly with absolutely healthy trends and an indomitable  spirit！The road for Xin Ye county town is the road for my scaling  the height in sciences！The road for Xin Ye county town can lead to  the United Nations！The road for Xin Ye county town can lead to all  over the world！The road for Xin Ye county town transports the life  and fresh blood of millions upon millions people pursuing happy life！The road for Xin Ye county town beats the same pulse as me  and millions upon millions people！But the Xin Ye county town  people do not eat the same meals！

  In China, there are proverbs as saying goes: The people may have good fortune or bad fortune in a short while; The Moon can become full and negative; The tree can grow green leaf or not. While people always want to become better and better. So are the countries. Now, China is on the way of reforming and opening-up for rich and brilliant. Can China's opening-up and reforming road become a good example of other countries?

  It is the basic principle of human-being that the parents must look after their children. At least, must the parents not harm their children ferociously with every possible devil actions. Also, it is the basic principle of human-being that one country or the United Nations must look after their citizens. At least, must one country or the United Nations not harm his or their citizens ferociously with every possible devil actions.

  I hope that people all over the world should live happily forever！I  hope that people all over the world should not live like my life  experiences！                                          

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *                         

 

 

Author: Xu Han-You

 

Address:

Splendid Garden, jin-xiu-hua-yuan, House-9-1-502, xi-huan RD, Xin Ye county city, Henan Province, Post codes: 473500, China.

 Working address:Department of internal and emergency medicine,Workers hospital of Nanyang textile corporation, Nanyang city Changjiang RD No.200, Henan province, China.  

Email: abc13579-you@126.com or

fairpersuiter@hotmail.com.

Words count(including Resume): 3799.

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[Resume: Xu Han-You( in Chinese: 徐汉友), 43 years old, male, married, a Chinese, Graduated from Xin Xiang Medical College, Henan Province, China and have studied as a postgraduate student at cancer institute, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences/Peking Union Medical College, majoring in Nutrition and Cancer. Working as a doctor more than 19 years in Departments of eye, internal medicine and emergency medicine, He love English language, music and exercise. Now, the author is working as a doctor in charge of western internal medicine, Department of emergency medicine, Xin Ye county people's hospital, Henan Province, China. He is very interesting in medicine and literature. Up to now, he has published two papers in international medical journal and book. And has published a literature article on international newspaper. The publications are recorded as follows:

1. Xu Han-You, Proposals on Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome's and other new infectious diseases' clinical prevention practices, Infectious Diseases in Clinical Practice. 14(6):339-340, November 2006.

  2. Xu Han-You, A Novel Strategy for Early Diagnosing Cancer, published on The Proceedings of UICC World Cancer Congress
(July 8-12, 2006, Washington, D.C., USA).

  3. Xu Han-You. Special Life Experiences of Doctor in China--------Man Explains His Life as Villager to Respected Doctor. The Seoul Times: www.theseoultimes.com/ST/db/re.

And the author also has published near 30 papers in China's medical journals.]

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Jack Lish was born into a lower-middle peasant family, in the Orient of China. From the beginning of his memory, he remembered that he has been always being appraised by his family, neighbor, teachers, classmates, et al.. He is innate hard-working and full of curiosity but introversion. Growing up with appraising, Jack Lish was always top student in every grade of school without anyone's helping. In 1988, came to his top school grade.  From the remote countryside, blank of outside world and politics, with innate no motive for government position, was he enrolled as a postgraduate student into China's topmost medical institute, Cancer Institute, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences/ Peking Union Medical College at China's capital, Beijing. Learning and studying, studying and learning were his life. No dancing, no dating, no social-butterflying, the books were his companion. Day and day passed. His brain was becoming medical knowledge-beded. His head was becoming bigger and bigger. His body was becoming fatter and fatter. His presentation in capital Beijing was becoming pathological shining. His nerve centre was becoming no-self controlled. His dream was becoming more and more abnormal and special.

He dreamed.......

He was the production of the politics. After the People's Republic of China was built up. The socialism China was becoming the man-made enemy of capitalism countries. Which only aroused by the differences of the philosophy. The capitalism countries lead by The United States of America, England, et al. managed to destroy the socialism China or to change the socialism China into capitalism China. The People's Republic of China lead by Mao Zedong, former president of China, managed to rich the China and other countries in the world by Communism philosophy. So the "Cold War" between the socialism countries and capitalism countries was occurred. The People's Republic of China lead by Mao Zedong was the important country among the socialism countries. Every measure was used to prevent the China's development by the capitalism countries. In order to develop China, the topmost officials of the People's Republic of China lead by Mao Zedong had a special meeting at 1960s, discussing the policy of educating highest talent as their future successor among the main stream offsprings of "Dynasty" at that time. Which the main stream officials of "Dynasty" were struggling to be the policy project. It was said that there were two factions in China, the northern faction and the southern faction.

At this critical situation, 1964, Jack Lish was born. Who was the offspring of two or more main streams officials of "Dynasty" at that time and who was just one for the national critical important project of policy for thriving and prospering China and world, up to communism society of whole world. He mixed if his father and mother had been a lawful marriage.

The project demanded that the Jack Lish should be entrusted a remote countryside family with the aim of bringing up from low social class people. So the different class life experiences could teach him normal and up-right character striving after a lofty ideal for whole people's thriving and prospering. At the same time, his brain can be more and more talent and developed. Which the family was present family. Many family were running for this task.

When the information was broken out. The whole world was changing to deal with this situation.   Especially in the capitalism countries, lots of steps were made to catch up the possible losing. The intensive peering had been being made. The global marriages were developed or rearranged with his countryside family members or relatives.

The countryside family bringing-up had been proved to be success. From newborn, childhood to youth, the human-being's best characters were integrated into his brain and body. The hard-working, honest, talent, clever, introversion but expressing himself well...... all were seen from him. So from the remote countryside village school, to the China's top medical academy, he made his way by himself. He became a best postgraduate student at the best medical academy in China's capital Beijing. Studying well at the graduate school, many people at the academy called him No. 1.

All which aroused many girls' favour in their eyes. All which also aroused many hates out of jealousy by the gentlemen of main streams officials, including the roots and present family and relatives. The rivals like factions, no root class, no family class, no relatives class, were much too heavy with the hates out of jealousy. 

The capitalism countries' secret service personnel, including the FBI of the United States and other countries', were around him. The capitalism countries were afraid of China's project success, considering his history and present shows.

By the hates out of jealousy in China and outside of China, the stupid and ridiculous action was made in 1989. Hunger him into fool by himself through going on hunger strike of "6.4 movement"! The remote countryside boy of him was blank of politics, with innate no motive for government position but only medical science. How could he go on hunger strike?

The stupid and ridiculous action was not worked by the haters out of jealousy when they went to harm and make Jack Lish a fool. The Chinese haters out of jealousy were suffering from more and more jealousy. It was said that my presentation at the highest academy of China, Beijing, could shut out the beautiful women's making up to the top positions of gentlemen. The America topmost officials, Uncle Sam thought if he was going on studying at Beijing. The United States' No. 1 position in the world or his father even grandfather position to other counties could be in danger. The England's topmost officials also thought if he was going on studying at Beijing. The Great Britain image could vanish. The Japan's topmost officials thought over and over that the Jack Lish was very honest and talent. If he was going on studying at Beijing and keeping on promotion, considering my high positions roots and present strong family. The revenge on their country for its invading China and genocide before 1945 must be prevented. The other capitalism countries also had those kinds of thoughts. While his roots and his family and his relatives were all jealous of being better than their's.

The moon shining night began to be faint. The black ink like dark night came when he was dreaming.

The "Peking Union Scandal" or "Peking Union-Gate Scandal" was occurred in 1990. Jack Lish was expelled from the graduate school of Chinese Academy of Medical Science/ Peking Union Medical College. The innocent Jack Lish was expelled from China capital Beijing with unlawful process. Gone with the black dark night! Gone with the socialism China!

The innocent and native big boy Jack Lish never thought his top academy studying aroused such deep movements around the world.

The present officials thrown away the past former Chairman Mao Zedong led national project for thriving and prospering China and other countries. They should be the project promoters. But, in fact, they were the haters out of jealousy to the leading role of the project. They paid more attentions to their own gains. They thought that the Jack Lish was their rival. Their feelings Just like when the eater was eating the best feast excitedly, a dirty fly flew onto his delicious food. How bad!

Why the top officials of foreign capitalism countries and China did not compete freely and equally? Why the top officials of foreign capitalism countries and China blackly damaged the innocent Jack Lish with gentlemen images? ....... The innocent Jack Lish was dreaming and wriggling his body.

The Capital ordinary people did not feel what the top officials felt. The Capital ordinary people felt exciting when Jack Lish was in healthy normal studying and life. The Capital ordinary people felt painful when he was unfairly expelled from the graduate school. On the road, in the bus and in the train, he saw the ordinary people shed tears when he paced up and down after being expelled. He saw the ordinary people stretched their hands to help him in dangerous and critical movement.

He saw the officials were pressing him to worse life condition. So the Jack Lish might be hungered, sicked, or changed to devil behavior life model. He was pressed to travel aimlessly at beginning.

The Peking Union Scandal made the officials blood pressure higher and higher. The hypertension morbidity was significantly high among the top officials after he was expelled. He was warded in a hotel just after he was expelled from the Beijing. Where he traveled many many secret service personnel were peering him, including the lots of foreign secret service personnel. They were very afraid of some justice peoples save him. They were very afraid of people speaking the reality of his unfairly suffering persecution.  

When he was studying at the graduate school of Chinese Academy of Medical Science/ Peking Union Medical College, Beijing. He had invented a novel method of strategy to diagnose the cancers earliest. Which had astonished the old generations of medical professors in China and in the so called developed capitalism countries. The politicians had been being very sensitive in Beijing and in the so called developed capitalism countries. Which was one of the reasons the Jack Lish being persecuted. They thought and hoped and dreamed that his being persecuted should not just like the history persecuted famous figures. His being persecuted should be only the talking material after meal and drinks by the ordinary people.

The shameful reasons to persecute him were thought by the politicians and the haters out of jealousy. They thought he was not worth to be promoted to high position where he became their father. In Chinese saying, it is "grasp his lower jaw to beg dripping saliva", being the father statute to them. How fatuous and muddleheaded they are!

The devil politicians and the haters out of jealousy had more devil action to persecute him. Pressing him to worse life condition, so the Jack Lish might be hungered, sicked, or changed to devil behavior life model. At the same time, the politicians and the haters out of jealousy had been managing to invade his brain, stealing his ideas of medical sciences and other aspects of sciences. They had been thinking that he had lots of money in his brain. Some bystanders spoke besides him to others. How the battle was going on? What you had gained today?

The Jack Lish was still dreaming. Working, learning and exercising well, he was still like doctor of student. He did not sicked. He did not change to devil behavior life model. He did not drink alcohol. He did not smoke. The politicians and the haters out of jealousy thought frightfully how difficulty to harm him and how frightened their bad doing! The politicians and the haters out of jealousy thought frightfully how vigorous he was!

The devil politicians and the haters out of jealousy had another devil action to persecute him. They thought he worked as a doctor of internal medicine which was easy to do for him and he had lots of time and energy to relax and building-up. So they planed to change his job to work as a doctor of emergency medicine which is the most tension and most dangerous job. Which they dreamed, in less 3 months, he would be defected. Before they changed my job. His wage was reduced to lowest.

The department of emergency medicine was the most special one. Where the hospital of department of emergency medicine was a special military hospital without military clothes. The hospital personnel were all the secret service personnel related to The Peking Union Scandal. They had been being afraid of local people's movement to fair him. The department of emergency medicine consisted of main streams secret service personnel of top developed capitalism countries. There were Americans, Englanders, Japanese, German, Frances and others.               After more than one year's working in the special department of emergency medicine, the workmates felt he was their big teacher. The dream of politicians and the haters out of jealousy to defect him in a short time had been become bubble and come to nothing. They had been crying to say: Hating to his surpassing them! The unhappy feelings at the graduate school of Chinese Academy of Medical Science/ Peking Union Medical College, Beijing by the politicians and the haters out of jealousy were again aroused. They had no way but to hit him! They had no way but to sick him using special gun! The national guilty were done by the topmost officials of gentlemen, the politicians and the haters out of jealousy! He was hit in one late at night, the dark night! His intestine tract was damaged to bleeding by the radio-weapon.

There was a ward, a special battle field, a no humanitarianism hospital department, a no humanitarianism place to harm the rival of the politicians and the haters out of jealousy. There was a no humanitarianism place to sink only Jack Lish, a special slave, his blood. There was not second place like this in the world. The politicians and the haters out of jealousy had been using the radio-controlled equipment to interfuse his brain, steal his science ideas, interfuse his thought, control his emotions, make him suffering. The politicians and the haters out of jealousy had been ordering the secret service personnel peering around him. Polluting his air, taking in his money, going bankrupt the hospital, delaying his wages were some of their harming him means. All the bad doings to him were prevented or cured or treated by Jack Lish. They had been crying again that he was much too difficulty to defect!

The politicians and the haters out of jealousy took him to work at the harming him department of emergency medicine, and considered that if he was not able to work on he might not have the ability to be a better politician. But, at there, he was their big teacher, a big director. Lots of hospital-mates called him the big doctor, maybe the great doctor. The ordinary people appraised him. Lots of patients want to see a doctor for him. But the patients could never freely come to see a doctor for him. It was said that the patients had to bribe the secret service personnel of the department of emergency medicine before came to see a doctor of him for their critical patients. Usually, doctor Jack Lish was the doctor to diagnose and treat the critical patients with final hope. At this worst situation, his promotion was no way. Growth and growth, pent-up and pent-up, he sank Chinese courts for fairing his graduate student being persecuted and the being hit at the department of emergency medicine. The fairing could not come to him with the unhappy politicians and the haters out of jealousy!

Pent-up and pent-up, he again attended the enrollment exams for graduate school, Zhejiang University for Master of science degree of emergency medicine. His exam scores were very high. The English subject scores were more than 90. While the full scores are 100. The total scores were much too high over the enrollment standard. But the score report to him was much too low, below the national enrollment standard and the Zhejiang University enrollment standard. It was said that his exam scores were ordered to be below the enrollment standard scores. It was difficulty to understand that why the politicians and the haters out of jealousy did not let him to work and study at the high level institute of emergency medicine. So that he might be more easy to be defected. They were afraid of his further study. They were afraid of his further service to the ordinary people. They were afraid of his learning more and deep knowledge. They were afraid of the unhappy and tension feelings aroused like that at Beijing.

After Jack Lish was expelled from graduate school at Beijing. The Chinese people were losing confidence in the future. The poor peoples sank spirit things to enrich their brain and stomach. The rich peoples sank spirit things to enrich their brain and keep their money. The persecuted peoples sank spirit things to enrich their brain and smooth their longtime suffering. The lots of underground churches have been being built up. The poor peoples, the rich peoples, the persecuted peoples and others were becoming the believers of religions. The most noted new created religion was Falun Gong. Which was the most peoples' believed religion. But was the most pressed unlawful religion.

In Kosovo War, the Chinese Embassy was bombed. The Chinese military plane was crashed down into the sea by USA military plane and the pilot was dead without finding the dead body. All which were occurred after Jack Lish was expelled from graduate school at Beijing.

When Jack Lish was working at the special department of emergency medicine. The workmate on duty at the same time was the commander controlling the'patients'come to stress him, to tire him, and to harm him. Usually, they used these tricks: several patients coming to see a doctor at the same time; in the total working time, lots of critical patients coming to see him, no relax; disturbing his working; et al.. But the Jack Lish was not only working and dealing with well. But also he became more and more strong. The commanders of representatives of the politicians and the haters out of jealousy had to be convinced, no ways to defect him.

Single man, single life 40 years, he could not get married. He had not had any love affair. Because the politicians and the haters out of jealousy had not stolen well his science ideas. He only dreamed. There was a beautiful girl going with wind. Breaking through the politic obstacles, breaking through the common customs, she flied onto his bed. They fell in love at the first sight. They kissed each other in long time. Her whole body became tender and tender. They could not refrain from each other. They touched each other tenderly, on his neck, on his chest, on his penis; on her face, on her neck, on her chest, on her breasts, on her perineum. In, in, in, they could not refrain from each other. They flied, flied, flied. Flying to the fair heaven, flying to the price receiving platform, flying to the international arena, flying to seed the happiness on the Earth, he flied and he suffered from seminal emission.  

The politicians and the haters out of jealousy had no ways to defect him but to be frightened. They felt that the Jack Lish's brain was still a super-computer. When mentioned a disease, a situation, a process for treatment of disease, his brain moved faster than a computer. The all resolutions were going on his brain in a few seconds. The politicians and the haters out of jealousy stole his doctor experiences. But they felt that his experiences were like the water well. The experiences could never be drained.

The politicians and the haters out of jealousy were becoming more and more anxious. True or pretence, the girls of G8 Summit countries were wooing him. The politicians and the haters out of jealousy thought that after more than ten years' battle, Jack Lish was real a person adept in special martial arts and given to chivalrous conduct. So that they had no way to defect him. Therefore the alliance was a must, but in a lowest position. In this aspect, the No. 1 country, the United States of America was still No.1. So the daughter of FBI of the USA had married him. Jack Lish felt that the marriage was a alliance, a part compensation for his being persecuted. For the No. 1, the United States of America might be the No.1 persecutor to him in the past.

Jack Lish dreamed and saw the Berlin Wall had been down. The former USSR had become Russia. The Time of Josip Broz Tito, the former president of Yugoslavia, was end. Which all expressed that the socialism was difficulty to go on. Now, the China's 49% or so was foreign soil. The only one person in China to say, no! to the capitalism countries was Jack Lish!

The world's no-peace was because the capitalism countries' nearly being overdue weapons were needed to be finished their functions and their something of intentions being to be others' father.

Poor promotes change. The unfair speeds change and revolution. Pressing arouses fighting.

Jack Lish was dreaming that he was faired to be a real graduate certificates obtainer. He became a professor and a famous politician. He met lots of foreign friends. One American shook hands with him and said smilingly let us fat together! The communism was coming!

Arise, you prisoners of starvation!
Arise, you wretched of the earth!
For justice thunders condemnation.
A better world\'s in birth.
No more tradition\'s chains shall bind us.
Arise, you slaves, no more in thrall!
The earth shall rise on new foundations.
We have been naught, we shall be all.

\'Tis the final conflict;
Let each stand in his place.
The international working class
Shall be the human race.      

......

By the song of "The International", Jack Lish is awake. He lies on his bed in his house at one poor county, one poor hospital, in China. He gets up. The new day is beginning. Step by step, he moves on.

My name is Xu Han-You, now, lost stable life in China because of my human-rights being the most heavily encroached on and after Nanyang Nanshi hospitai,one hospital, under administration of Henan Province branch (oilfield) corporation (or Henan Province Petroleum Administration),China Petrochemical corporation, stolen my medical science ideas and strategies of research programs.
  At the end of 1990, when my graduate study for Master's degree nearly finished, I, the most innocent student, was ordered to end the graduate study without lawful processes by the graduate school of Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences/PUMC, and its Cancer Institute in Beijing.
After I left the graduate school. The innocence of me was beat up many times. While the courts related could never fair my sufferings. I lost in the courts in Beijing Chaoyang district court for fairing my graduate study and in Xin Ye county court for fairing my being beat up. Which the courts judged against the Chinese laws and regulations related.
After I left the graduate school. Even my basic necessities of life are disturbed. All my privacies are communicated to all people. ....... I can not write the lots of my sufferings in a single paper.
Recently, my new suffering is again occurred. I can not help but write the un-tolerable suffering. And submit to you. I hope you shall help give me the fair and help give me the graduate certificates. Appeal the related people or departments for corrections at once.
 The related wrong-doers will not become the scum of China! The related wrong-doers will not become the scum of the world! The related wrong-doers will not become the shameless obstacles of global peace and development!
   Here is my new suffering.
  I was hit again without any right reasons at 2007-12-10 on duty time as a doctor at Xin ye county people's hospital, Henan Province, China. And the devils who hit me have been being unpunished at all!
  And my bike was stolen when I wrote this kind of letter at April 29, 2008. 
Combined my former sufferings, from my right to receive an education, the right of person, to my right of the basic necessities of life guarantee,......, I have the most human-rights having been being encroached on. Therefore, I can say, I am the Chinese whose human-right is the most heavily encroached on.
   All the friends can think over. When my graduate study or Master's degree nearly finished, I, the most innocent student, was ordered to end the graduate study without lawful processes by the graduate school in Beijing. After I left the graduate school. Why I always encounter sufferings? While before my graduate study in Beijing, I am always peace and happy. After I left the graduate school. Why I become the Chinese whose human-right is the most heavily encroached on?
If that I become the Chinese whose human-right is the most heavily encroached on could exchange for happy, peace and rich of all the Chinese, or even the people all over the world. I thought I should be born with bad luck and sufferings. If that after I become the Chinese whose human-right is the most heavily encroached on can observe further more people's human-rights being encroached on. I and other people's sufferings of human-rights being encroached on are not deserved. All the people do not conformed to the sufferings of human-rights being encroached on!
  As you are the world famous newspaper, a principal organization in the world promoting equality, freedom, human-right safeguarding, fair and democracy for countries all over the world. So I write to you for help. Please notice the related Chinese people and departments or international bodies to give me the fair treatment of compensation and postgraduate certificate. 

I look forward to hearing from you as soon as possible.
  Address: Department of internal and emergency medicine,Workers hospital of Nanyang textile corporation, Nanyang city Changjiang RD No.200, Henan province, China.  

Email: abc13579-you@126.com or fairpersuiter@hotmail.com.
Your Sincerely,
With best regard.
A innocent Chinese: Xu Han-You( in Chinese: 徐汉友)

There has been a lot of silly talk lately about how US prisons are ill-equipped to handle GITMO detainees. This is demonstrably false on many levels, but a 2007 article about Colorado's Supermax facility caught my eye when I saw a familiar name: former US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

From CNN:

 

Visiting Supermax, the "Alcatraz of the Rockies," reveals nothing so much as an astonishing and eerie quiet.

It's not what one would expect of a place that houses 473 notorious terrorists, vicious murderers and violent, disruptive escape-prone inmates brought in from other federal penitentiaries.

I've visited noisy, boisterous state and federal prisons, where inmates scream for a visitor's attention or proclaim their innocence.

But at Supermax -- officially called "Administrative Maximum," or ADX -- everything is very tightly controlled, with nothing left to chance, so there is no particular sense of a threat, no feeling of vulnerability.

Prison officials also have been bugged by rumors that the penitentiary was not entirely safe and secure, and that the lack of adequate staffing and a perimeter fence were potential problems to the community.

Bureau officials insist allegations of inadequate security were fueled by corrections labor unions wanting more staffing, but complaints caught the attention of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and Colorado Sens. Ken Salazar and Wayne Allard, all of whom visited.

In the end, it was agreed that a $10 million perimeter fence wasn't needed.

Bureau of Prisons officials stressed that 95 percent of the Supermax prisoners are the most violent, disruptive and escape-prone inmates from other federal prisons, and they were transferred to ADX to help control those other facilities. At ADX, every prisoner has his own 86-square-foot cell.

Despite the brutal nature and violent history of most of the inmates, not a single major assault against a corrections officer has occurred since the first inmates arrived in 1994.

And before you argue that these prisoners are less dangerous than the GITMO guys:

The handful of journalists allowed in were not allowed to see the headline-grabbing terrorists isolated under specially designed procedures. We didn't get a glimpse of Zacharias Moussaoui, Ramzi Yousef, Richard Reid, Theodore Kaczynski or Terry Nichols.

And apparently so as not to fuel inner terrorist fires, the newspapers from September 11 that will eventually reach the al Qaeda members and sympathizers imprisoned here will be altered. It will be 30 days before they finally have access to the 9/11 papers, and then they will find that all articles dealing with the anniversary or terrorism will have been excised.

So the next time your GOP buddy tells you that US prisons can't take the terrorists, refer them to Wayne Allard, Ken Salazar, and Alberto Gonzales, none of whom can be accused of being soft on crime.

Erich "Mancow" Muller, a Chicago-based conservative radio host, recently decided to silence critics of waterboarding once and for all. He would undergo the procedure himself, and then he would be able to confidently convince others that it is not, in fact, torture.

Or so he thought. Instead, Muller came out convinced.

"It is way worse than I thought it would be, and that's no joke," Mancow said. "It is such an odd feeling to have water poured down your nose with your head back... It was instantaneous... and I don't want to say this: absolutely torture."

"I wanted to prove it wasn't torture," Mancow said. "They cut off our heads, we put water on their face... I got voted to do this but I really thought 'I'm going to laugh this off.' "

Now it's Sean Hannity's turn to prove it's -- not torture!

Hannity a Fox News anchor, promised to subject himself  to waterboarding to benefit a charity for the families of U.S. soldiers back on April 22nd.  This was over a month ago.

Keith Olbermann of MSNBC's Countdown, even offered to donate $1000 per second Hannity undergoes waterboarding torture.

Hannity has yet to do it.

Goes to show you exactly how much he really cares about our soldiers and their families --zilch!

What's really odd is -- the mainstream media isn't reporting this story about Mancow undergoing TORTURE!

9 years ago, my son was born.  I was 22.

I and the mother were not together, but it was a situation where I established paternity, and entered into a fair 50-50 oral agreement.  Some of you are now saying, "Boy, wrong move there, buddy." 

I know, I know.

So anyway, until he was 2, I saw him for half the day while his Mother worked, and vice-versa.  This worked fine, and I was accomodating and also extremely involved in his progress and basic care.  I held down a job, and then when I got home was Mr. Mom, all alone for my 12 hrs.

So. 

By age 2,  I was in a relationship with someone I had met, and we were going to have a baby, as a couple.  Almost immediately, my son's mother became a nightmare to deal with.  Then one day she called and wanted my son to go to a private day-care on some of the days I had him.  I had no reason to do that, I said, and plus--the day care was 6 miles away in a drug infested inner city neighborhood.

The actual street was notorious for people who sold pot.  I did not want to lessen my time with my son, nor did I want that environment suddenly thrust upon him. 

I said no.

So by this point, I had been picking up my son on Sunday mornings at 8:00 AM.  I arrived, and buzzed their apartment.  No answer.  I called on the phone.  No answer.  I buzzed again, and was told "Your son doesn;t want to see you."

After a back and forth of anger, fear, and desperation for the unknown--I called the police.

Big help.

Little did I know that without papers establishing my paternity or any agreement for custody, I had no right to see my son, who had never gone two days without seeing me.  I begged them to do something.  They laughed.

I felt like someone had kidnapped my child, and no one wanted to help.  I couldn't breathe.

After 2 hours of emotion, rage, and panic--I was left with no options.  She had him in a secure building, where I couldn't go in.

I had to leave, they said, or they'd have to arrest me.

After getting counsel from Mom and Dad, I reluctantly hired a lawyer, and set up establishing custody.  We didn't really have the money, but what do you do--let someone take your child from you?  Weeks had passed by, and the police hadn't intervened.  I still couldn't see my son, and I was heartbroken.

After thousands of dollars in lawyer fees, being tricked by people who were in the Family Court, paying a Guardian ad litem--and 6 months of court--I finally was given time with my son.  It was only for a few minutes, and it wasn't alone.  He had grown, as any parent who has not seen their child for weeks or months can tell.  He was less responsive.  Not happy anymore.  Shy.  Sad.  Quiet.

She had made him believe that I didn't want to see him, or let him believe that.  I guess she lacked the courage to say it was her decision.  But that didn't matter to me, because I knew I had fought as hard as a man can for his child.  Within weeks, he opened up to me a bit.  But he was only 3.  He had no idea why this traumatic thing had happened to him.  I wish I had known how to make it up to him, but I guess all you can do is appreciate what you have now.

In the end, a year later, I finally settled with her on partial custody, basically 50-50, and that I would nonetheless pay her child support anyway, just to end it.  That makes no sense to alot of people, especially since I watch him sometimes on her time.  What was the whole point?

Anyway, no sour grapes.  I enjoy my Monday, Tuesday, and Every other Weekend as much as a loving father can.  But I can never know what it's like to see him every day, take him to every family event, nor check on him any night I feel like it. 

Not all father's run from their responsibilities.  Not all father's are deadbeats.  I know there must be other Dad's out there like me, who have to wonder who is around your child, who is disciplining your child, and who is getting to spend time with your child--at least some of the time, and there's nothing you can do about it.  There is the irrational fear of a stepdad being more cool, or having a closer bond with your child.  What if he gets hurt?  What if he gets around the wrong friends?

You feel like half the week you are complete, then the other half, you try to but can't.  It never goes away that everyone's not here.  I feel guilt for those who are, because they'll never know what's the matter for half the week.  If they know, they can't know what it's like. 

All you can do is enjoy every moment, spend time with them instead of watching TV, and teaching them strong values and character, and hope for the best. 

I guess that's all any parent can do, really.

It is horrible.  But worth it. 

Some people say, "Well, then you shouldn't have had a baby with someone you are not with."  "See what happens?" 

They may be right.  I really don't know.  I know I wouldn't replace my son ever. 

But this is how some of us live.   

 

I have been in a quandary for months over making a decision about making aliyah. I feel I owe it to my friends here at TPM to explain why I decided not to go ahead. As with most decisions of this magnitude, there was a multiplicity of reasons. It was all brought to a head on Mother's Day.

 

As many of you know my entire side of the family resides in "Israel". Our children are scattered across the globe (Amsterdam, Bangalore, and Tokyo) but my wife Ruth's family are all here in the US. On Mother's day we had a big celebration with about half of her family. As I observed the family fun, it occurred to me how much my wife enjoyed these people - she was truly alive with her eyes sparkling and her laughter lively.(after 40 years of marriage you would think I would have already figured this out) I realized how self absorbed I was in my obsession with the Israeli/Palestinian conflict and the possibilities of peace. Ruth needs to be close to her family for the support and stimulus it gives her (she gets together with one or more of her family weekly) and moving to Israel would rob her of the gift of her family.

 

Another factor was trying to sell our home and at least one of our vacation houses in a piss poor real estate market. But from my point of view one very important aspect involves my current crisis of faith. Right or wrong, my Jewish faith and Israel are completely intertwined like a hand and glove. It has been so since learning everything about being a Jew at my grandfather's knee.  My anger at what Israel is doing (or not doing) on the peace agreement front has now spilled over to my identity as a Jew. I have certainly commented enough on TPM for most of you to understand my frustration with Israel.

 

As a result I have resigned from my Conservative congregation (it's a very large suburban one and they will not miss me or my money). I have tried a Reform Temple but while the words were somewhat similar, the spiritual dimension is not the same. I fear moving to Israel would merely exacerbate my religious conflict being totally immersed in a Jewish culture.

 

I had thought that I could fight for peace more effectively in Israel than I could in America but I now see that was an arrogant and naïve assumption on my part. This is particularly true because I am losing much of my mobility. As some of you know, I had polio when I was two and something called post polio syndrome has robbed the remaining strength in my polio ravaged legs. As a result, I find myself using my power wheelchair more and my crutches less ( I used to be pretty nimble and quick with those crutches).

 

I will continue to post my thoughts on Israel but at age 64, I doubt my ability and energy are sufficient to make a meaningful difference to Israel's peace prospects. I am far too emotionally caught up with this problem (as Bruce Levine can testify) and would not be helpful to Israel, myself or my family. It is the latter which will now assume paramount importance. Thanks for listening. .

Sorry just had to express my good humor at finally getting back in the swing here at TPM.

I notice that few things have changed on many fronts

     Dick Cheney is still an asshole and a Dick allbeit a limp one of the latter.

     Montana Max is still more of a "Fuckus" than a "Backus".

     And the GOP have yet to find their minds.

Anyways that's it for now because I notice that my spelling is not being corrected and the last thing I need to do is put my true intelligence on display for all of you.

 

PS: "ss" I will be calling soon just let me know when is a good time.

Blunderdick delivered his speech to the American Enterprise Institute yesterday, but it didn't all go as planned. Right before he got on stage, he had the teleprompter arrested and sent to Guantanamo for questioning. People in the audience were in utter disbelief-- a look of genuine concern descended upon everyone in the room. As a gesture of reassurance, Blunderdick reached in his pocket, pulled out seven index cards, held them up and said "No need to worry folks, I got it all written down".

This must have been on his Pentagon list of "what if" scenarios.

Armed with the quiet confidence of a man who just foiled an inanimate object's sinister plot to destroy the world, Blunderdick stood behind the lectern and began his address. He had a very captive audience-- all naked, hooded, shackled to the seats and wearing leg-irons. There was a lot of love in that room.

Blunderdick talked about how ready he was to lead on day 1. He was referring, of course, to the first day he took office as Vice President of the United States of America--September 12, 2001. (Some may remember a different day 1, which took place on January 20, 2001. While there exists footage of Blunderdick being sworn in on this day 1, he categorically denies the existence of January 20, 2001.)

Blunderdick would refer to his index cards often. You may have also noticed that when he speaks, it looks like he talks out of the side of his mouth. Don't be misled. He talks out of a completely different part of his body. I know. I know. It's deceiving because his upper lip opens crookedly, up and to the left as he speaks, then it snaps shut when he's finished. That's just a nervous tick; the result of an unfortunate snorkeling incident in the Bering sea. He was underwater, yelling at a very puzzled orca, when he noticed a piece of floating hamburger and chomped down on it, not realizing it was bait on a hook. Blunderdick was tugged all the way up to the surface. Imagine that. How does an orca even begin to process such an odd encounter?

Regarding national security, Blunderdick has had to walk back a few things he's said in the past, no need for me to repeat them all here, be captured, thrown in a secret Egyptian black ops prison and forced to share a 4'x4' cell with some vengeful hardened teleprompter.

Striking a lighter note during the speech, Blunderdick reminisced about some of the people he's met on the world stage throughout his years in public office. He shared charming anecdotes about some of his favorite conversation starters- water boarding, electrocution, eye-gouging, testicle-vicing, and others.

Before you knew it, Blunderdick had completed his remarks, the trap door beneath him opened, and he was instantly sucked 700 miles downward via the secret vacuum tunnel that bends space and opens a portal to his undisclosed location on Pluto.

The speech couldn't have lasted more than 20 minutes. I say it couldn't have lasted more than 20 minutes because Blunderdick can't include 99% of the things he did during his Vice Presidency.

Because 99% of the things he did was an unmitigated disaster.  Why harp on it in a speech?

Look to the future and let others like me dwell on your past:

Let's say you were handed one of the most critical pieces of intelligence in the history of America--that Bin Laden was determined to fly planes into buildings in major U.S. cities--how could you possibly extrapolate that Bin Laden was determined to fly planes into buildings in major U.S. Cities? The fact is that after 9/11, Blunderdick sprung into action. Singing here-I-come-to-save-the-day, he exacted revenge by invaded the wrong country, plunged our country into endless war, redacted most of the constitution, helped inspire the slowest response to a natural disaster in modern history, ushered in an unprecedented era of corporate corruption with no oversight whatsoever, sent the U.S. economy into a downward spiral, causing the insolvency of major banks, and, having crafted the least visionary energy policy for the 21^st century--helped bankrupt the entire American Auto industry.

Everyone has tiny missteps, right?  

Make enough of them and you can collect your award for the most incompetent Vice President in the galaxy, get invited to the American Enterprise Institute, and deliver your acceptance speech.

Just like Blunderdick did yesterday.

There's another way to look at the Rumsfeld briefing to the President: It shows how information was parsed to achieve an objective. Rumsfeld's bible citation-parsing mirrors how the US government selectively massaged information and the law.

Rumsfeld bible citations show there were multiple people involved, and this is important when understanding how OSD assigned tasks. The bible citations were selectively cherry picked, as the US government did with intelligence information from POWs or gleaned through FISA violations.

Read more »

well its time to blow off some steam. Can anybody tell me when it became neccesarry to kiss the bosses a** to be happy at a job.?  I know a kissing has went on for a long time but it seems that now things have gotten out of hand and hard work does nothing for you.

    I was down graded at work today for no other reason then one of the bosses a kissers wanted my job. My boss said that if someone else was doing it it would get done better.

    I cant wait to see this happen. He has tried it 2 or 3 other times and it didnt work.  

 

       Sorry for bothering you all with this but had to get it off my chest!!!

   hope everyone is having a nice day

Politics and Media Headlines 5/22/09

RNC AD: Guantanamo - To close it? To close it not?

New GOP Ad Compares Threat Of Closing Guantanamo To Nuclear War (by Greg Sargent at The Plum Line)
The Republican National Committee has a new Web ad that appears to suggest that the stakes of the Guantanamo issue are as high as those of the Cold War nuke standoff... The ad references the famous 1964 "Daisy" ad that Lyndon Johnson ran against challenger Barry Goldwater, which featured a little girl plucking daisy petals while a voiceover counted down to a nuclear detonation... The suggestion appears to be that closing down Guantanamo potentially poses as big a threat as did the possibility of war with a nuclear-armed superpower -- and that Obama's move to close Guantanamo is as reckless and dangerous as Goldwater's comments about possibly using nukes in Vietnam.

The ad, which also quotes Congressional Dems defecting from Obama on the issue, shows how neatly those Dems have fallen into the GOP's trap by letting them drive the Gitmo debate. It has now enabled the Republicans to use the issue as a wedge and to use the words of Democrats to try to cast doubts on Obama's ability to keep us safe.
Those of us who voted for Goldwater (yes, it was a lifetime ago) used to say, "They told us if we voted for Goldwater there would be war, and I did, and there is."

You may not be surprised to learn that fear has won the Guantanamo battle:
Congressional Aides: Obama's Speech Unlikely To Move Dems Much On Guantanamo (by Greg Sargent at The Plum Line)
Congressional aides I talked to are saying that Obama's big speech yesterday, in which he defended his plan to close Guantanamo and house detainees on American soil, is unlikely to move opinion much among Congressional Dems -- for now, at least. The aides provide an interesting perspective on the fluidity of the situation, hinting at the extent of the breach that has opened up between the White House and Congressional Dems on this issue -- and the extent of the work that will be required to repair that breach.

Supermax Prisons in U.S. Already Hold Terrorists (Washington Post)
In news conferences, speeches and debates this week, lawmakers from both parties, as well as the director of the FBI, have sounded alarms about moving Guantanamo Bay detainees to federal prisons, where they could launch riots, hatch radical plots or somehow be released among the populace... But the apocalyptic rhetoric rarely addresses this: Thirty-three international terrorists, many with ties to al-Qaeda, reside in a single federal prison in Florence, Colo., with little public notice.
The apocalyptic rhetoric doesn't have to bear any relation to the real world, although it tends to be more effective when there is some tiny kernel of truth in it somewhere. The rhetoric is intentionally apocalyptic and would be just as loud if those spouting it were yelling the opposite of what they're screaming about today. In fact, tomorrow they may well be shrieking the exact opposite of what they're bawling today. Because the purpose is not to bring understanding, or to persuade, but to intimidate. The right wing has been doing it for a very long time and has been pretty successful up until they practically destroyed the country with their version of governing.

Obama's civil liberties speech (by Glenn Greenwald at Unclaimed Territory, Salon)
Obama's speech [Thursday] ... was fairly representative of what Obama typically does:  effectively defend some important ideals in a uniquely persuasive way and advocating some policies that promote those ideals (closing Guantanamo, banning torture tactics, limiting the state secrets privilege) while committing to many which plainly violate them (indefinite preventive detention schemes, military commissions, denial of habeas rights to Bagram abductees, concealing torture evidence, blocking judicial review on secrecy grounds).  Like all political officials, Obama should be judged based on his actions and decisions, not his words and alleged intentions and motives.  Those actions in the civil liberties realm, with some exceptions, have been profoundly at odds with his claimed principles, and this speech hasn't changed that.  Only actions will.

Obama on National Security: I Am Doing the Right Things; I Have Not Broken Campaign Promises (by Prof. Darren Hutchinson at Dissenting Justice)
Ironically, Obama, who ran as the antiwar candidate, is now the "war" president. He is the commander-in-chief in two ongoing offenses, including one in which he has authorized a "surge." As proof that his antiwar rhetoric is a distant memory, Obama has delivered a speech to justify his Bush-esque national security policy against liberal (and Cheney's) criticism in a building that houses the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights, which rank among the most enduring of American symbols. This is a long road from the flag pin controversy...

[Obama] is, as Reverend Wright accurately stated during the campaign, a politician. All presidents before him were politicians as well. I was stunned that liberals refused to see this. So, to the formerly effusive and uncritical Left: I told you so.

Civil Libertarian Rips Obama's Speech: All Bells And Whistles (by Sam Stein at the Huffington Post)
"Obviously, he is a very effective speaker, but of course we have major problems with what he is doing," said Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights. "He wraps himself in the Constitution, talks about American values and then proceeds to violate them." In an interview with the Huffington Post shortly after Obama concluded his remarks at the National Archives, Ratner expressed disappointment and even a tinge of anger at the approach the president had outlined on detainee policy, military tribunals, and even accountability.

The Thought Crimes President (by Ian Welsh, thanks to Alegre)
[P]eople who have committed no crime which can be proved in a court of law, including the crime of conspiracy, will be held indefinitely without a trial.  Note that Obama wants to use military commissions to try some detainees, which means that these detainees can't be found guilty of anything even under military law. This is punishment for a thought crime...

Perhaps some of the prisoners, if released, will go back and take up terrorist activities again.  Let us assume, for the point of argument, that they will. Does that mean that we punish them for crimes they have yet to commit?... And where do we draw the line?  Once we've decided that thought crimes are worthy of preventative punishment, once that is a principle embedded in the law, who else are we going to lock up whom we can't prove has committed a crime, not even that of conspiracy, because we think they may commit one in the future? That's not a power any human being should have over another. But it is the power Obama has demanded, has arrogated to himself, just as George Bush does.

Click here for more politics and media news headlines.

Carolyn Kay                      
MakeThemAccountable.com

BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE   A Simple Question: Would God Condone Torture?     Maybe I'm missing something but I find it uniquely ironic that some the same people who clamor for prayer in school, claim that same-sex marriage is an abomination under God,who insist that America is a Christian nation, and fight for the Biblical version of creationism over science, are also the very same people who demand the right to be armed to the teeth with some of the most destructive private weapons on Earth, the right to slaughter and bring the most excruciating kinds of death upon God's other creatures for nothing more than their own entertainment, and now, condone the torture of other human beings as a legitimate tool of government. Is it just me, or does anyone else see this as the very height of hypocrisy? It seems to me that the mere fact that we're even debating the merits of torture is a clear indication that we've gone much too far towards allowing America to become a decadent nation. It has become clear that due to our all consuming preoccupation with personal titillation and hedonistic materialism to the exclusion of intellectual, moral, and ethical development, we're rapidly transforming this nation from that shining light on the hill, to a decadent hellhole in the valley of iniquity. Hypocrisy, self-delusion, deceit is no longer the exception, it has become the rule. And this is no accident. I've been watching this nation gradually sink into the abyss for the past thirty years. The late Sen. Claiborne Pell of Rhode Island, and sponsor of the Pell Grant said, "The strength of the United States is not the gold at Fort Knox or the weapons of mass destruction that we have, but the sum total of the education and the character of our people." No truer words were ever spoken, and they directly address the source of many, if not all of the problems that we face today. We've allowed ourselves to be manipulated, robbed, and cheated, as a direct result of becoming morally and intellectually bankrupt. We've become so preoccupied with big houses, big cars, and the pursuit of pleasure that we've completely lost perspective regarding what is real, and what is important in life. A prime example of that is a guy who was in the news earlier this week - I forgot his name, and it's not even worth researching, but in any case - after catching a football and running a few yards, he thought he was so important that he could thumb his nose at the President of the United States. This guy is so caught up in the superficial, and has become so completely overwhelmed with his own delusion of importance that the meaning of graciousness and simple courtesy has been completely lost on him. He was quoted as saying the only reason the president invited us to the White House was because we won the super bowl. Well, of course that's the reason! He failed to realize that an invitation from the president represents the people of the United States congratulating him and his teammates for a job well done. But obviously, he misunderstands the relative importance between the president of the United States, and a guy who caught a football. This guy is apparently under the impression that he's become so important that by rejecting the invitation to the White House he was depriving the president of the honor of meeting him. He fails to realize that playing football represents the toy department of life - just like too many more of us. Thus, I must admit it was partially the president's fault for inviting him in the first place. The president should have invited all of the young people across this country who graduated as the top scholars in their respective classes. By doing so, it not only would have placed what's important to the nation in perspective, but they would have also had the intellect to recognize the honor that had been bestowed upon them. Education is the key to a viable society, and the lack thereof is the key to our destruction. We often discuss, for example, how badly we need campaign reform, and how unrestricted lobbying prevents the government from functioning as it should. While that is undoubtedly true in our current circumstance, if we had a better educated electorate it wouldn't matter how much money poured into a politician's campaign coffers, he still couldn't be elected without being responsive to the needs of the people. After all, the only thing campaign funds are good for is brainwashing the ignorant. An educated electorate wouldn't be as prone to respond to the ten second sound bite, or the logical inconsistencies that demagogues present as patriotism. And they'd understand enough about America's traditions to recognize that torture is the perfect anthesis of not only Christianity, but the very foundation that this nation was built upon. They'd also recognize that promoting the interests of the people wasn't some sort of evil, socialist plot, and they'd see the inconsistency of attacking Iraq, while the people who attacked the United States were in Afghanistan. They'd also ask pertinent questions like"Why aren't the children of the rich, and political class, dying in this war like our love ones?" An educated electorate would have demanded to know what Cheney discussed with the business leaders he gathered together when the Bush administration first entered office - and they wouldn't have accepted "it's none of your business" as an answer. And a red flag would have immediately gone up when the corporation that Cheney headed received a lucrative no-bid contract as a result of invading an oil-rich nation. A thoughtful electorate would have asked early on why would an administration who claim to love and honor our troops send them into harms way without the wherewithal to protect their lives. And why would a patriotic administration throw billions of dollars at their cronies without any accountability, yet make the troops that they so honor have to pay for equipment lost on the field of battle, and are even forced to pay for their own meals while lying in the hospital after being wounded? After all, even prisoners of war don't have to pay for their own meals. Finally a thinking electorate would ask themselveswhy did the Bush/Cheney administration forced our troops to endure multiple deployments, and even held them hostage after their enlistment was up, when virtually every member of the administration moved hell and Earth to avoid military service when it was their time to serve the nation? Then, and even more curious, why did they do everything that they could to block an enhanced GI Bill to assist these same troops that they so honored, upon their return to civilian life. And now Cheney comes before us once again - at this point, filthy rich - to convince a grossly undereducated, naive, and self-absorbed public that he did it all for America. And you know what, he went up 10 points in the polls. God help America.    Eric L. Wattree wattree.blogspot.com   A moderate is one who embraces truth over ideology, and reason over conflict.

As the shitstorm over the prospective release of the Gitmo remnant rages, the prospect of the newly embittered jihadi, rightfully furious over his torture and captivity, turning his burning anger upon his old tormentors is brandished as if it were an excuse to perpetuate an injustice once it has first been perpetrated.

There is, of course, a thread of Anglo-Saxon jurisprudence which is denigrated by this debate (besides the thread ending in the prohibitions against forced testimony in the Fifth Amendment.)

When the state wrongfully holds an individual, upon discovering its mistake, the *State pays damages. What a concept!

The justly compensated claimant may retain his dignity without the (otherwise necessary) striking out at his torturers and their countrymen; For an “honor society” the idea of just payment is even more fundamentally implicated in self-respect than, perhaps, our own mostly materialist culture.

Withal, a financial incentive for pacification can be built in ( Periodic payments conditioned on non-combatent status should quell the howls from the right.)

Consider that we compensate the wrongly held, wrongly convicted.

How much more do we owe to the wrongly held, never convicted?

*”amounts ranging from $15,000 total to $50,000 per year of imprisonment”

What was Max Baucus thinking at his appearance at the "newsmakers" breakfast of the Kaiser Family Foundation Thursday when in the space of a few minutes he made the following two statements about healthcare reform:

"Everything's on the table. Everything. All proposals. All ideas that groups may have are on the table. And they're going to stay on the table. We are going to discuss them."

And, then two minutes later, pressed to explain why he continues to gag discussion of the option most favored by nurses, doctors, and tens of thousands of consumer activists, single payer, Baucus can say:

"We can't squander this opportunity. We can't waste capital on something that's just impossible."

No doubt Baucus is getting a bit testy about having to explain his rather inconsistent positions, and activists and some in the media who continue to pester him about why are you shutting out debate about an approach that just happens to work in the rest of the industrialized world.

The latest to pose the question is the legendary Bill Moyers whose show this week features the blackout on single payer.

Moyers has warmed up for the show by writing today:

Is it the proverbial tree falling in the forest, making a noise that journalists can't or won't hear? Could the indifference of the press be because both the President of the United States and Congress have been avoiding single payer like, well, like the plague? As we see so often, government officials set the agenda by what they do and don't talk about.

So if single payer remains out of bounds for those who are supposed to represent us, what does it leave as the option other than more reinforcements for the same insurance based system that has created the present disaster.

Need a reminder? Two more examples today:

A study in Health Affairs that documents physicians spend an average of 142 hours annually dealing with insurance plans -- at a cost of $31 billion. Primary care physicians spend even more, 165 hours per year, a sobering number for those advocating more reliance on primary care.

Nurses, as can readily attest, are also forced to waste an additional 23 weeks per year per physician battling with insurers. All those hours, for nurses and doctors alike, are hours stolen from bedside care taking care of patients.

Then there's the new survey from the American Academy of Family Physicians who report a big drop in patient visits -- care delivered -- because of cost. Nearly 90 percent said their patients are worried about being able to pay the high costs, 58 percent cited an increase in appointments cancelled, and 60 percent cited a jump in patients skipping preventive care.

Not to worry, according to Max Baucus: "we're going to try to get as close as we can" to "universal" coverage.

By forcing everyone to buy private insurance so more people can go broke with the high costs, skip preventive care and end up in emergency rooms when they get sick, and ensure that our nurses and doctors can spend more time with the bean counters and claims adjustors rather than patients.

Somehow, I don't think that's the public's vision of real healthcare reform. 

If you agree, why don't you fax Max Baucus, maybe a couple times, and let him know that we need real healthcare reform, not lobbyist-driven pablum and nonsense statements.

Follow the national nurses blog and twitter feed!

PPP has a new poll out.  It shows Creigh Deeds improving his position while Terry McAuliffe loses a bit and Brian Moran remains relatively static.

You had to expect Deeds to improve:  he chose to stay in legislative session and was unable to campaign for most of the spring.  Now he's on the air and on the trail and his effort has begun to demonstrate results.

Brian Moran has been campaigning tirelessly, but his broadcast presence is limited, and frankly, he's been laboring in the shadow of Terry McAuliffe and his scads of (mostly out-of-state) cash. 

McAuliffe has brought Bill Clinton to the state more than once, campaigned with music celebrities and spent more money than any other candidate for governor ever had before him at this point in the race.  His demonstrations of wealth have been truly ostentatious.  That's why the PPP poll must be troubling for the T-Mac camp:  they cannot put this thing away...
in fact, McAulife was the only candidate of the three to lose ground (albiet only 1 percentage point, well within the MoE) since the last PPP survey.

What this indicates is that all of McAuliffe's spending... all of his events with will.i.am... his train whistle stops with Bill Clinton...  these have done precisely nothing to improve his standing amongst VA voters.

A deeper look at the poll may reveal why:  of the three candidates, McAuliffe has, by far, the highest negatives:  36%.  There just aren't that many people left that are willing to vote for him.

It might safely be said that McAuliffe has found his peak...  and about a month too soon.

With that said, it would be pretty silly if I didn't acknowledge his status as front-runner.  At 29%, he's almost 10 points ahead of Deeds and Moran.  But...  and this is a big "but"...  he's remains 2 points behind the current leader, "Undecided".  This race is still up for grabs.

Before I conclude, however, I think I'd be dong my favored candidate a disservice if I were to ignore his greatest strength:  his base.

I think the 2006 Senate Primary may be instructive, even if the parallel isn't exact.  It was a contested primary with only two candidates.  Jim Webb was the economic populist running against the "old school" style of Democratic politics.  His opponent personified the entrenched and calcified top-down campaign.

Let's look at turn-out in that primary:

*2006 U.S. Senate Democratic Primary*
Top 10 Jurisdictions in Total Voters
(Statewide Turnout, 155,784 or 3.45%)
 

   1. Fairfax        - 35,232 (NOVA)
   2. Arlington      - 11,935 (NOVA)
   3. Virginia Beach - 7,590  (Hampton Roads)
   4. Alexandria     - 6,680  (NOVA)
   5. Richmond       - 5,425  (Richmond)
   6. Henrico        - 5,009  (Richmond)
   7. Norfolk        - 4,571  (Hampton Roads)
   8. Loudoun        - 4,078  (NOVA)
   9. Prince William - 4,091  (NOVA)
  10. Hampton        - 3,320  (Hampton Roads)

NOVA          = 62,016 total votes
Hampton Roads = 15,481 total votes
Richmond      = 10,434 total votes


Brian Moran is from Fairfax County; he's the dominant force in the region.  If he can turn out his base, he should walk away with the nomination.  I'm not Nate Silver or Chris Bowers, so I'm sure if PPP (or any of the other polls, for that matter) have tried to accomodate turn-out histories.  BUt if their polls are generic and unfocused surveys of all VA Dems, Moran may have a lot to look forward to.


 

Have we become a barbaric nation?  Where the mentally ill are left to languish in prisons because we don't provide the treatment they deserve?  Where prisoners are put in solitary confinement, which leads to mental illness, because housing prisoners that way is effective? Is effectiveness now the yardstick for everything?

Have we become a nation where human rights are denied the incarcerated and the mentally ill?  And we just lock them away and pretend they don't exist?

Torture has become a debate topic.  Barbaric treatment is endorsed by some with the excuse that "it works" - without regard for the humanity of those tortured by barbaric means.  

All of this is interrelated.  We've outsourced penal systems to private enterprises:  Businesses, that sell shares to investors and likely have lobbyists.  Lobbyists to feed the insatiable super max beasts via longer prison terms and harsher treatment.  

Why do we spend so much money housing prisoners and so little treating the mentally ill?

If it's effectiveness we're using as a yardstick, then let's look at the effectiveness of treatment.   Let's look at humane treatment.  For both prisoners and mental illness.  Let's consider humane treatment of those we've imprisoned in Guantanamo, those tortured on our watch and still terrorized by goon squads.   But also shine a light on similar mistreatment of citizens detained right here behind prisons walls.  

Can we not realize that humane treatment is for all?  That no matter what crimes people may have committed, it is wrong to endorse ill treatment.  Especially by private corporations, which sell shares to investors and pay lobbyists to urge legislators to write bills demanding longer, harsher sentences.

Torture is wrong.   But so is harsh treatment of criminals and mentally ill people.

I like to write when I am angry, to help get out the negative energy without resorting to physical violence, or some other such harmful act.  This results in some language which I wouldn't use if I wasn't so pissed off.  (With apologies to Kurt Vonnegut Jr) So be it. 

My words don't slice anybody's genitals with razor blades, I don't care if it upsets the Obama apologists who place hero worship ahead of justice, human decency, and the rule of law.  Facing inconvenient realities, or as Al Gore made famous Inconvenient Truth is often upsetting.

One of the phrases I've used is "King Obama," and I've got comments that indicate people are highly offended by those two words.  I really do mean to offend people when I write that, so I have no problem with it.  I think I can express a little more why I say this, and following on Bush's Unitary Executive two terms why I think that this is so very dangerous to our country and its institutions.

I admit I have never read Alice in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll, it was a little before my time.  (As I pull quotes from the net, I resolve to buy this book now.  Anybody out there say its better than Animal Farm?)  I did see the movie, and there was a very memorable scene, and a phrase or two that have stuck in my mind.

I may now start calling Obama "Queen of Hearts", but not to insult him about gender, or to say he is a homosexual queen.  (I despise and abhor Maureen Dowd for those exact behaviors.)  It is an allusion to the brilliant satire of Kangaroo Courts, Carroll's mockery of mock-justice.

At this moment the King, who had been for some time busily writing in his note-book, called out, "Silence!" and read out from his book, "Rule Forty-two. All persons more than a mile high to leave the court."

Everybody looked at Alice.

"I'm not a mile high," said Alice.

"You are," said the King.

"Nearly two miles high," added the Queen.

"Well, I shan't go, at any rate," said Alice: "besides, that's not a regular rule: you invented it just now."

"It's the oldest rule in the book," said the King.

"Then it ought to be Number One," said Alice.

The King turned pale, and shut his note-book hastily.

How, I ask, are the policies of indefinite imprisonment any different than rule 42?  Invented by the executive, on the spur of the moment, to specifically target somebody they couldn't handle by the current laws, so rather than dealing with this situation a law is made up to guarantee the desired result.  The executive (Obama) claims that we will stick to our "timeless values" and that "need not throw away 200 years of American jurisprudence while we fight terrorism" but now he pretends to not be making it up as he goes along, to satisfy his personal predispositions, actions that are exactly like the King of Hearts.

Does this not perfectly fit with our current debate in this country?

"Let the jury consider their verdict," the King said, for about the twentieth time that day.

"No, no!" said the Queen. "Sentence first--verdict afterward."

"Stuff and nonsense!" said Alice loudly. "The idea of having the sentence first!"

"Hold your tongue!" said the Queen, turning purple.

"I won't!" said Alice.

"Off with her head!" the Queen shouted at the top of her voice. Nobody moved.

This president, and the last, want to lock up "enemy combatants" forever - the sentence.  There have been no trials after 7 years of imprisonment, indignities and torture.  There have been no trials, thus no verdict.  This is a perfect parrallel, mocking the sheer stupidity of such a phony system of justice.  If you don't feel like Alice nowadays, I don't think you have been raised to appreciate the norms and morals of Western Justice. 

It makes me sad to live in this country sometimes, our educational system and media have failed a great many of us, turning us into a nation resembling the jurors in this story's court.  The funding of our public schools, and higher education is pathetic.  The ruling class, just as described in James A Michener's Hawaii (I just finished reading it), have decided not to educate people above their "proper stations."  The result is predictable we are fooled into supporting one of two political parties no matter what, Agressive Wars, thinking Iraq was behind 9-11, etc, etc.

"They're putting down their names," the Gryphon whispered in reply, "for fear they should forget them before the end of the trial."

"Stupid things!" Alice began in a loud indignant voice; but she stopped herself hastily, for the White Rabbit cried out, "Silence in the court!" and the King put on his spectacles and looked anxiously round, to make out who was talking.

Alice could see, as well as if she were looking over their shoulders, that all the jurors were writing down "Stupid things!" on their slates, and she could even make out that one of them didn't know how to spell "stupid," and that he had to ask his neighbor to tell him.

The fact is, we are surely living in the rabbit hole now, from perusing the story online, that is abundantly clear.  What remains is to decide whether or not it is a desireable state of affairs.  I emphatically contend that it is NOT.

"That I can't remember," said the Hatter.

"You must remember," remarked the King, "or I'll have you executed."

The miserable Hatter dropped his teacup and bread-and-butter, and went down on one knee. "I'm a poor man, your Majesty," he began.

"You're a very poor speaker," said the King.

Here one of the guinea-pigs cheered, and was immediately suppressed by the officers of the court. (As that is rather a hard word, I will just explain to you how it was done. They had a large canvas bag, which tied up at the mouth with strings; into this they slipped the guinea-pig, head first, and then sat upon it.)

Does this not mirror the tactics of the Bush admin forcing confessions of an Iraq-Al Qaeda link on threats of torture.  Al-Libi was mock burried in a coffin to force him to "remember" this link that President Bush, and Colin Powell used as evidence.

The childish Alice learned some wrong lessons, the same thoughts which a great many have in this country currently:

Here the other guinea-pig cheered, and was suppressed.

"Come, that finishes the guinea-pigs!" thought Alice. "Now we shall go on better."

The foolish idea is that putting a few animals into sacks will help us get on better.  As if there are only a couple of these animals, and we can feasibly supress them all.

Our officers of the court have even used the same techniques used to suppress the guinea-pig:

Iraqi Maj. Gen. Abed Hamed Mowhoush was being stubborn with his American captors, and a series of intense beatings and creative interrogation tactics were not enough to break his will. On the morning of Nov. 26, 2003, a U.S. Army interrogator and a military guard grabbed a green sleeping bag, stuffed Mowhoush inside, wrapped him in an electrical cord, laid him on the floor and began to go to work. Again.

It was inside the sleeping bag that the 56-year-old detainee took his last breath through broken ribs, lying on the floor beneath a U.S. soldier in Interrogation Room 6 in the western Iraqi desert. Two days before, a secret CIA-sponsored group of Iraqi paramilitaries, working with Army interrogators, had beaten Mowhoush nearly senseless, using fists, a club and a rubber hose, according to classified documents.

The sleeping bag was the idea of a soldier who remembered how his older brother used to force him into one, and how scared and vulnerable it made him feel. Senior officers in charge of the facility near the Syrian border believed that such "claustrophobic techniques" were approved ways to gain information from detainees, part of what military regulations refer to as a "fear up" tactic, according to military court documents.

That is from an article by Josh White, for the Washington Post.

Am I the only one who is more and more scared about how closely our country is beginning to resemble the the realities that were written about as WARNINGS, not as exemplary models?  I hope not, but sometimes it is depressing to read justifications of all of this, too many people have not learned these lessons.

If it were only a dream, and I could just wake up.... *sigh*

Now, proceed to call me a "kook," "loony left," and say "grow up" in the comments section.

 

 

Ok, dd has put my name in a Title with the word "cheney" and he has termed my distillation of straussian/necon "principles" TheraP's rules.  Now, the Fair Use Principle seems to demand a rebuttal here.  Or at least the opportunity to set the record straight - with some Rules of MY OWN.  Herewith, TheraP's REAL Rules:

1. Tell the Truth:  Transparency and Sunshine Rule!
2.  Perpetual Peace:  Compassion.  Namaste.
3.  Rule of Law:  No one is above it.
4.  Equality and Justice for all:  No exceptions.  No elite.
5.  Let's rejoice in the Community of Nations.  (see #4)
   
6.  Deal with your fears.  Don't blame them on others.
7.  Let your conscience be your guide.  (see # 1,3,4)
8.  All of Humanity survives and thrives as One. (see # 2, 4,5)
9.  Respect Dissent:  Dissent respectfully.
10.  Election to Public Office is a call to serve We the People.
11.  Separation of Church and State = religion out of politics.
12.  Rule of Law - greatest ally of a free people.
13.  Beware of propaganda - Free yourself from manipulation.

To arrive at those rules, I simply turned the straussians upside-down! 

But I can distill them even better: 

  Let us foster and prize:

•  compassion
•  peace
•  wisdom
•  hope
•  trust
•  cooperation
  
•  service

 At home as well as abroad.

The virtues above flow from Erikson's Stages:  The opposite of strauss.


 There!  Got that off my chest!  ;-)

David Kurtz commented on the idea that Cheney could be right that Obama has reserved the right to order torture

The recent performance of the former vice-President on television and at his speech at the American Enterprise Institute, left wondering what will be the iconic sentence that will define Dick Cheney and other members of the Bush administration for all time. Yesterday, while watching Cheney, it was Dick Nixon's iconic, "I am not a crook" that came to mind. But that defines Nixon and Cheney. We have to find Cheney's own sentence. (And although his message to Sen. Patrick Leahy -- "Go fuck  yourself!" -- is a standout, the question remains, what will define Cheney?

Here are a few of the iconic, defining sentences that come to mind for assorted politicians. Add your own, please! Especially for the members of the Bush administration.

Bill Clinton: "It depends on what the meaning of  'is' is."

Don Rumsfeld: "We have known knowns, unknown knowns, known unknowns..." (or however the hell it goes.)

Rudy Giuliani: "(Subject) (Verb) 9-11." (Joe Biden actually defined Giuliani for us)

Ronald Reagan: "I paid for this microphone!"

Spiro T. Agnew: "...the nattering nabobs of negativitism."

Lyndon Johnson: "My fellow Americans..."

John F. Kennedy: "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for yoru country."

Franklin D. Roosevelt: "The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself."

George C. Wallace: "Segregation now, segregation forever."

You get the idea... add your favorites. Tag the Bush administration.

 

 

I am saddened by your Obama bashing. 

First posted at RACblog.

The waiting game continues. President Obama has not yet announced his pick for the Supreme Court and various press reports have indicated that he is still in the process of making a decision. So, the national dialogue continues about what qualities and qualifications are necessary in a Supreme Court Justice. One of the most provocative (and interesting) conversations has been about President Obama's insistence that empathy is an essential characteristic that he will look for in the next Supreme Court Justice. This statement sparked a debate that not only questions whether the ability to empathize should be valued but also struggles to define empathy and identify its connotations.

The dictionary.com definition of "empathy" is "the intellectual identification with or vicarious experiencing of the feelings, thoughts, or attitudes of another." In other words, the ability to stand in someone else's shoes.

Read more »

The GOP are using scare tactics once again to stop President Obama from bringing terrorists from Guantanamo Bay to our U.S. prisons (prisons that currently hold over 300 other terrorists that the GOP have ignored for the decades). 

The GOP has brought back the famous Daisy commercial once used to scare Americans  by LBJ to defeat Barry Goldwater.

The advertisement begins with a little girl (Birgitte Olsen) standing in a meadow with chirping birds, picking the petals of what appears to be a daisy (according to Olsen it was a Black-eyed Susan[1]) while counting each petal slowly. (Because she does not know her numbers perfectly, she repeats some and says others in the wrong order, all of which adds to her childlike appeal.) When she reaches "nine", an ominous-sounding male voice is then heard counting down a missile launch, and as the girl's eyes turn toward something she sees in the sky, the camera zooms in until her pupil fills the screen, blacking it out. When the countdown reaches zero, the blackness is replaced by the flash and mushroom cloud from a nuclear explosion.

The Democratic Party should immediately create a video of their own depicting the famous Abu Ghraib prison abuse.  They should show some of the worse photos of abuse and then show segments of all the reports that say these actions by President Bush, Vice President Cheney's Administration and the GOP put today's little girls and boys -- and the rest of us -- at even greater risk than we were in --before 9/11.

Where were the GOP when we held trials against those terrorists that are either currently serving out their prison sentences in the U.S. or those we've put to death, like.....Show photos of these terrorists (Timothy McVeigh, Abouhalima, Ajaj, Ayyad and Salameh, etc..)?

Where were people currently complaining about the closing of Guantanamo Bay like Newt Gingrich, back when Abouhalima, Ajaj, Ayyad and Salameh were being convicted and sent to our prisons back in 1993?  Did they warn Americans that these prisoners would be housed in their back yards?  NOPE - not a peep came from them!

Let's nip this bullpuckey in the bud, my friends.

There's a particularly objectionable idea that's been running around the Internet since we first went to war on the evil Islamic terrorists that want nothing but to destroy our God given way of life.  And this meme has recently resurfaced, after I thought it had long since been safely blown away by a designated firing squad and buried without a marker.  Yet recently it resurfaced.  When Jesse "the Body" Ventura called out Fox News commentator Brian Kilmeade live in prime time, this whole ugly thing clawed its way out of the grave.  And I'm here to whack the danged thing with a shovel and cover it back up again, by gum.

While young conservative hero Kilmeade was righteously and rightfully calling "the Body" on all the nonsense that "the Mouth" has been spewing lately about how we should play all namby pamby with enemies of our nation and not torture anyone even when there is clearly a ticking bomb ready and waiting to go off if we don't get the information to defuse it in time, Ventura came back with what can only be characterized as a vicious slur.  A cheap shot, a low blow.  While Mr. Kilmeade was making Mr. Ventura look like the empty bag of wind he is, Mr. Ventura demanded to know when Mr. Kilmeade was going to enlist in the armed forces.

Mr. Kilmeade responded, as any thinking person would, with outrage to this completely inapropros comment:  "What, you want me to enlist?  You don't like our armed forces the way they are?" 

Mr. Ventura ignored that response, as he had to, lest he admit that indeed, he had just treasonously questioned the fitness of our standing military to carry forward the War on Terror without the active enlistment of civilians whose duty clearly lies elsewhere.  Instead, Mr. Ventura blustered: "Walk the walk, don't talk the talk."  To this, the righteously angered Mr. Kilmeade asked the most intelligent question of the entire exchange -- "What, I can't fight for American unless I'm in the military?"

This nonsense all began back when we first started preparing for the War on Terror.  Throughout the liberal blogosphere, a particularly vicous and cowardly meme sprang up -- that those who supported the war effort and our troops most vociferously were 'chickenhawks' if they did not immediately go volunteer for active combat duty themselves.  And this spiteful, mean spirited, completely illogical and foolish characterization spread like wildfire.  Soon a decent, upright, God fearing, patriotic American citizen didn't dare speak up in support of our righteous War on Terror or our brave heroic soldiers prosecuting it without having fingers pointed and names called.  "Oh, if you're such a big war supporter, why aren't YOU in uniform?" the fruity left would sneer hurtfully.  "When are you shipping out to Baghdad?  Where's your rucksack and rifle, hero?  Is it hard to shoot terrorists without dropping your bag of Cheetos, Rambo?"

It was typical of the kind of childish incivility that lives long and prospers only to the left of the American political mainstream. 

But we thought it had been laid to rest when a brilliant conservative blogger, I think maybe it was Dean Esmay or possibly Jonah Goldberg, showed this scurrilous nonsense up for the stupidity it was.  After all, as whoever it was pointed out, just because I believe burning buildings are a bad thing and I want fires to be put out, that doesn't obligate me to join the Fire Department.  My opposition to street crime doesn't morally require me to become a police officer.  I support the brave men and women who willingly shoulder those duties, of course I do.  But my taxes pay for those things, and I'm happy to pay them (or was, before my taxes started being used to turn our American way of life into a socialist nightmare, thank you very much). 

So just because I support the War on Terror, just because I lustily cheer for the invasion of enemy countries and root for American troops and American CIA agents to use whatever means necessary to safeguard our great country, just because I denounce everybody who isn't completely behind our military efforts as traitors and weaklings, none of this obligates me to become a soldier.  And the fact that I choose not to enlist doesn't make me a coward or a hypocrite.  I can support the war in different ways.    With my taxes, and a magnetic sticker on my SUV, and my blog, and my lapel pin. 

Like Brian Kilmeade, I can speak out for America without wearing America's uniform.  I can fight for America without being a member of the American military.  There is ample historical precedent for this.  In World War II, not everybody was in the military.  Sure, every man jack who was fit for military service joined up because they knew it was their patriotic duty, but, I mean, look at that wonderfully Christian and patriotic movie IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE.  George Bailey never fought in WWII, but as the narrative said, "he fought the Battle of Bedford Falls".   And if he had never lived, his brother would never have been able to save the life of every man aboard a Naval transport!  Just by being alive, George Bailey served his country and fought for America, in a way every bit as meaningful as any of those others who enlisted and went off to war.  In fact, George should have gotten that medal at the end of the movie, not Harry.  We all know George was the real hero. 

In all of our wars there have been men and women, strong, fit, healthy, patriotic, God fearing, Christian men and women, who have fought for their country in ways besides serving in the military.  You can make many vital war contributions from behind a desk or a pulpit.   Sometimes 'talking the talk' is incredibly important, too.  If everybody heads off to the front lines, who will stay at home to support the troops?  It's not like those liberal war protesters ever enlisted, either, so who are they to point fingers and call anyone else hypocrites?

Men like Bill O'Reilly, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Brian Kilmeade... these are warriors and soldiers in the War on Terror, but in a different way.  They are warriors of words, soldiers of the keyboard and the TV screen.  But these too are vital roles, roles that only men of courage and vision and charisma and the most eminent masculinity can play.  Our troops fight the War on Terror, but our conservative media members fight an even more important battle every hour of every day for several hours, several days a week... they fight the War on Liberalism.  The War on Socialism.  The War Against Creeping  Hippie Softheaded Subversiveness, right here in our own backyard.   And it's important... it's vital!  Someone has to do it.  Someone has to step up!  It's a tough job, it's a real grind sometimes, they don't get paid much money and there isn't a lot of glory the money and the fame really don't mean anything to these men.  Like gladiators of old, they strap on their swords and their shields and they head into the arena every single day.  Not for themselves.  But for America!  The America of Francis Scott Key and George Washington, of Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant, of Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush.  For your America, and for mine... the America of concerned parents and dutiful teachers, pious pastors and helpful neighbors, the America where everybody does their bit, whether they're in uniform or not... the America that the godless atheist hippie socialist freaks are trying to tear down, bit by bit, vote by vote.

I believe that every patriotic American, every resident of America who merits the term 'citizen', has a patriotic duty to support the war and our military and to do everything in their power to safeguard our liberties and our way of life.  But for different people that means different things.  For the poor and the jobless, yes, it means joining the military.  But for the employed American with higher education, there are other opportunities to serve.   And yes, you can speak out for America without enlisting in the military; yes, you can fight for America without wearing a uniform.  George Bailey did. Captain America does.  And so do Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, and Brian Kilmeade.

God bless these warriors of the homefront.  We've never needed them more than we need them now.   And I, for one, am deeply grateful they are on our side.  As they surely are.  Can you left-wing dissident socialist America haters say the same?

I thought not.

It pains me to write that, but his column today is mostly on target.  Obama is, after sounding all the right rhetorical notes, adopting many of Bush's national security policies.  His legal lieutenants are literally debating the idea of preventive detention, whereby a person may be detained indefinitely on the basis of some future bad act.

In a nearly unanimous vote the US Senate bet that their constituents were cowards. They decided that Americans would not be brave enough to accept Guantanamo detainees to be held in US prisons. The Senate concluded that rather than uphold American values of justice and ideals of due process, their constituents would prefer to continue to operate Guantanamo and undermine our international credibility. I hope they bet wrong, but I'm not so sure.

POTUS spoke, literally backed up to the Constitution. EX VEEP spoke and backed into the past. It was no contest; POTUS WON. Our best times are ahead of us. The ex Veep's dark past is just that -- deeply dark and past its prime. The worst time is behind us.  America is turning the corner into the future.

What remains from the past? In the National archives, backing up POTUS, are the Constitution with the Bill of Rights, and the Declaration of Independence. These original documents established a set of brilliantly conceived checks and balances among three co-equal branches of government. That system is working again, after being down for the past two presidential terms. America is no longer as deeply bound to its recent dark past.

What does the future hold? Solutions to America' biggest problems are out there waiting to be discovered. Does POTUS have all the answers? Absolutely not, but he believes in the system and trusts what will emerge. Did the EX VEEP's speech have any answers? Absolutely not, because he does not believe in the system. He believes his own dark demons. Now that the system is beginning to rebalance itself without him, his impulses keep him fearful and desperate for power.

What does Constitutional re balancing entail? POTUS gave some clues in his speech. He talked about the lack of foresight in the past administration. And he demonstrates foresight as he leads us into the future. For example, he acknowledged that he expects oversight by Congress and the courts as he picks his way through the Constitutional legal minefield of "prolonged detention" and "military tribunals with rules."

Because the courts were active, even during the dark days, balances were kept in certain instances as courts prohibited Bush administration power grabs. Our new POTUS is also willing to live by court decisions on constitutionality. However, the same cannot yet be said about Congress exerting its proper authority, though there are hints. The Senate's demand for a plan before opening the purse to close Guantanamo was a good first step at reestablishing its prerogatives, though the process has been awkward. What lies in the future for the questionable solutions to the detainee problem? POTUS has been preparing a plan that will be completed in January of next year. It is typical of his operating method.

POTUS' governing style is to state the problem and assign members of the administration to work to find solutions. He announces the outlines of a preliminary plan, letting Congress know what its part is and when he would like to have something to sign. He gets feedback and makes changes. Eventually he realizes it is again time to teach the nation about what the problem and solutions will entail. Working with Congress and signing legislation finally leads to publishing the plan's full details.

EX VEEP's governing style, in contrast was to feel there was a problem, state the solution to his minions in secret, omitting the planning and reporting to Congress. He did not need feedback because the rule was "my way or the highway." Eventually he would be found out, but refused to admit any mistakes. Rather than teach, he worked through maintaining a fear posture and bypassed or deceived Congress whenever possible. He did not need a public plan and did not feel bound by the rule of law. Governing behind closed doors in secret, his loss of power has now produced a starkly contrasting new set of behaviors. He is out front and everywhere -- defending, obfuscating, prevaricating, fear mongering, insulting and angry for the most part.

POTUS is also out front and everywhere -- asserting, explaining, being transparent, truth telling, reassuring, and showing respect to adversaries and a positive demeanor, generally speaking. His ideas will be accepted or not. POTUS feel himself bound by what Congress and the courts decide. He feels that the government must be backed by the Constitution. He is quite willing to take on the EX VEEP because the man is mired in the past. The ex Veep's dark past is just that -- deeply dark and disturbing. The worst of him is gone now because he is powerless, though not without influence. He will eventually sputter out of the limelight. America is looking to the future, and honoring its beginnings. It is no contest; POTUS will win. Our best times have already begun.

See also Behind the Links, for further info on this subject.

Carol Gee - Online Universe is the all-in-one home page for all my websites.

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