Living in fear

Everyone needs to read Greenwald’s latest: The degrading effects of terrorism fears 

The money quote:

Ever since I began writing in late 2005 about this fear-addicted dynamic, the point on which Brooks focused yesterday is the one I’ve thought most important.  What matters most about this blinding fear of Terrorism is not the specific policies that are implemented as a result.  Policies can always be changed.  What matters most is the radical transformation of the national character of the United States.  Reducing the citizenry to a frightened puddle of passivity, hysteria and a child-like expectation of Absolute Safety is irrevocable and far more consequential than any specific new laws.  Fear is always the enabling force of authoritarianism:  the desire to vest unlimited power in political authority in exchange for promises of protection.  

Word. Our founders would not recognize the people we have become.

 

I love Susan Jacoby

The War on Christmas is getting old, she says. She tells us to quit worrying about what the Obama’s are doing (or not) and take a gander at this:

If you’d like to learn about a really egregious violation of the separation of church and state, my Dec. 7 Secularist’s Corner post discusses the fact that the Christian Science church is trying to push a provision into the Senate version of the health care reform that would allow insurance companies participating in the “public exchange” to reimburse people for the prayers of Christian Science practitioners. As it turns out, the IRS already allows the prayer services of Christian Science practitioners ($20 a day) to be deducted as medical expenses. That’s right–medical expenses. Why bother with double-blind clinical trials? If people think they’re being helped by faith healing, let’s just call it all a legitimate medical expense. This is a real outrage, and not only should the Senate tell the Christian Science church no on health care reform but the IRS should revoke this illegitimate tax exemption.

 

The geographic solution

One thing I’ve learned through the years is that changing my location doesn’t solve my problems. I tried that when I was younger. A new location will be a fresh start, I thought. New people! New home! New job! Except that I always brought along the Old Me.   It wasn’t until I actually got to  examining myself and working on ME that my “issues” began to fade.

This isn’t any different.

Before prisoners can be moved, Congress must vote to allow detainees to be housed on U.S. soil for reasons other than trial.

The administration envisions the prison grounds in rural Thomson, close to the Mississippi River, as a place for prolonged detention and a site of future military commission trials.

It doesn’t count if you close one place, just to open a new one in a different locale. 

See also: Detainees, Liberals, and the Powers That Be

And: Alan Barth, A Sunday Morning Reading

And: “…the only anchor ever yet imagined…”

And:  If you had a ounce of doubt left

 

Obushma

George W. Bush could have given this speech. I was agape as I read it and had to stop reading when I came to this paragraph (for fear I would throw up).

Where force is necessary, we have a moral and strategic interest in binding ourselves to certain rules of conduct. And even as we confront a vicious adversary that abides by no rules, I believe that the United States of America must remain a standard bearer in the conduct of war. That is what makes us different from those whom we fight. That is a source of our strength. That is why I prohibited torture. That is why I ordered the prison at Guantanamo Bay closed. And that is why I have reaffirmed Americas commitment to abide by the Geneva Conventions. We lose ourselves when we compromise the very ideals that we fight to defend. And we honor those ideals by upholding them not just when it is easy, but when it is hard.

We do?

Really?

Tell me all about it. 

I’m all ears.

Yep, we’re the good guys.

No doubt about it!

 

Stick a fork in us

Arthur: Offered with (Almost) No Comment

Read it. And weep.

 

“We have nothing to fear from love and commitment”

New York State Senator Diane Savino nails it.

 

Pre-emptive Arrest?

Looks like Denmark is taking a page out from the U.S. playbook.

The Danish parliament today passed legislation which will give police sweeping powers of “pre-emptive” arrest and extend custodial sentences for acts of civil disobedience. The “deeply worrying” law comes ahead of the UN climate talks which start on 7 December and are expected to attract thousands of activists from next week.

Under the new powers, Danish police will be able to detain people for up to 12 hours whom they suspect might break the law in the near future. Protesters could also be jailed for 40 days under the hurriedly drafted legislation dubbed by activists as the “turmoil and riot” law. The law was first announced on 18 October.

But not to worry, it only affects non-Danes, so it’s okay (not).

The Danish ministry of justice said that the new powers of “pre-emptive” detention would increase from 6 to 12 hours and apply to international activists. If protesters are charged with hindering the police, the penalty will increase from a fine to 40 days in prison. Protesters can also be fined an increased amount of 5,000 krona (671 Euros) for breach of the peace, disorderly behaviour and remaining after the police have broken up a demonstration.

The Danes are not happy.

Tannie Nyboe, a spokewoman from campaigning group Climate Justice Action in Denmark, said the new law was designed to control civil disobedience during the summit. “These laws are a big restraint in people’s freedom of speech and it will increase the police repression for anyone coming to Copenhagen to protest. Denmark normally boasts of how open and democratic a country we are. With this law we can’t boast about this anymore.

“It will increase the repression of any protester or activist coming to Copenhagen. This law creates an image of anyone concerned about climate change being a criminal, which will of course also influence the general treatment of any activist who comes into contact with the police or other authorities.”

 

What Glenn said

Add this to the list of reasons I am a registered independent. I really got tired of this sort of horse pucky, from both sides.

Greenwald:

I could understand and accept a lot more easily this blithe acquiescence to Obama’s record if it weren’t for the fact that progressives and Democrats spent so many years screaming bloody murder over Bush’s use of indefinite detention, military commissions, state secrets, renditions, and extreme secrecy — policies Obama has largely and/or completely adopted as his own.  One can’t help but wonder, at least in some cases, how genuine those objections were, as opposed to their just having been effective tools to discredit a Republican president for partisan and political gain.

It’s all about winning, not about doing what’s right.

 

You have no right not to be framed

Welcome to 1984. Or Stalinist Russia. Or Mao’s China.

Really.

Between this and this and this and this, do we even have any individual rights at all?  From the first (and latest) link:

But here’s the twist: The prosecutors say that they can’t be sued for anything they do in their official capacities, even framing suspects.

It is not an argument outside the legal mainstream. The federal government, a majority of states and thousands of prosecuting attorneys are supporting the proposition that prosecutors must receive absolute immunity for their actions at trial to do their jobs properly. And that extends, they say, to any investigative work they do before the suspect is charged.

[...]

There is no “free-standing due process right not to be framed,” Deputy Solicitor General Neal K. Katyal agreed. Having to worry about a potential lawsuit when deciding whether to introduce certain evidence, Katyal said, might cause prosecutors to “flinch” from their duties.

Oh. My. Gawd.

 

Post-election musings

From the headlines this morning:

ABCNews: GOP Sweep: Big Governor Victories in Virginia, NJ

Independents who swept Barack Obama to a historic 2008 victory broke big for Republicans on Tuesday as the GOP wrested political control from Democrats in Virginia and New Jersey, a troubling sign for the president and his party heading into an important midterm election year.

Conservative Republican Bob McDonnell’s victory in the Virginia governor’s race over Democrat R. Creigh Deeds and moderate Republican Chris Christie’s ouster of unpopular New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine was a double-barreled triumph for a party looking to rebuild after being booted from power in national elections in 2006 and 2008.

And in Virginia, the R’s won all downticket races as well, by huge margins. With redistricting coming up…this is not a good sign.

Riverdaughter (who lives in NJ) explains why she believes Corzine lost.

Corzine’s loss should have Obama peeing his pants right now,  Those of us who voted for Corzine in 2005 thought we were voting for a financially savvy, socially liberal Democrat who would fix New Jersey’s egregious property tax system.  Corzine came to office blessed with a Democratic Assembly.  And yet, he did virtually nothing about the property tax issue.  He shuffled some things around and made incremental changes.  Then, he walked away from the issue early in his term and has spent the last four years coasting on the fact that he’s a Democrat.

But it is the glacial incrementalism that is doing him in.  He was elected with the same expectation of hope and change that swept Obama into office.  And what we got instead was the status quo and a placeholder.  New Jerseyans are really struggling to pay these taxes and if Corzine can’t be bothered to do something, he’ll be replaced by the Republican who at least promises to not raise them.

NYTimes: Conservative Loses Upstate House Race in Blow to Right

. . . But the race was perhaps most notable for the fissures it opened in the Republican Party. Ms. Scozzafava, who was selected as the Republican nominee by the 11 leaders of the county committees that comprise this vast district along the Canadian border, was excoriated by Washington’s conservative establishment almost as soon as she was nominated.

Stunning blow to the wingnuts (and well-deserved, in my opinion), perhaps, but c’mon. The R’s didn’t lose the House over this. Worst case scenario is that they lost this seat, but let’s see what happens next year when Owens has to run for re-election in a regular election year in this heavily red district.

Maine voters overturned their own elected legislators yesterday because some of them can’t bear to think about what those icky ho-mo-sek -shuals do. I can’t bear to think of my parents doing it, but I’m not going to stop them from getting married just because I find the thought “icky.”  The tyranny of the majority rears its ugly head. Gosh, it sure would be nice if we had a Constitution that called for “equal protection” under the law or something like that. And anyone who got their panties in a twist over the Mormons funding Prop 8 in California better turn their ire at the Catholics now:

The Catholic Church was a leading supporter of the repeal campaign, even asking parishes to pass a second collection plate at Sunday mass to help the cause.

In Washington state, it appears that domestic partnerships will get expanded rights, but nearly 400,000 ballots have yet to be counted as of 5:40 this morning. Note, this ballot question also expands domestic partnership rights to heterosexual seniors, so in my heart, I can’t really count this as a “big win” the gay marriage column.  Gay couples still have no federal recognition of their legal marriages, nor any federal rights or protections,  and no other state is required to recognize them.

On the other hand, Houston may elect an openly gay mayor (run-off election pending), so there may be hope yet. But I’m not holding my breath.