Thursday, October 05, 2006
We Must Wake Up Before It Is Too Late
Once again, "politics" takes precedence over the personal. Last week, Congress passed a bill fraught with danger for us all, but most people don't seem to realize what the implications are. I think it is imperative that all of us inform ourselves fully over what is happening. This issue is, in fact, a turning point. It may presage the demise of all we have treasured as our "democracy." As writers of the past have remarked, "It Can Happen Here."
To be present and witness such a turnaround in government is disturbing enough. To be a victim of the massive shift of power without even knowing it is happening until it is too late is truly a tragedy.
As is so often the case, my information comes from Patricia Lay-Dorsey and her blog www.windchimewalker.blogspot.com I urge you to read her recent entries for fuller information, and to learn what she is doing about it.
For my part, I feel my major responsibility is to inform everyone I can in every way I can about what is actually going on right now, right in front of our eyes. The article below is a starting point:
Fatal Vision: The Deeper Evil Behind the Detainee Bill
By Chris Floyd, TO UK Correspondent
t r u t h o u t | Perspective
Monday 02 October 2006
There is no week nor day nor hour when tyranny may not enter upon this country - if the people lose their confidence in themselves - and lose their roughness and spirit of defiance.
- Walt Whitman
1.
It was a dark hour indeed on Thursday when the United States Senate voted to end the constitutional republic and transform the country into a "Leader-State," giving the president and his agents the power to capture, torture and imprison forever anyone - American citizens included - whom they arbitrarily decide is an "enemy combatant." This also includes those who merely give "terrorism" some kind of "support," defined so vaguely that many experts say it could encompass legal advice, innocent gifts to charities or even political opposition to US government policy within its draconian strictures.
All of this is bad enough - a sickening and cowardly surrender of liberty not seen in a major Western democracy since the Enabling Act passed by the German Reichstag in March 1933. But it is by no means the full extent of our degradation. In reality, the darkness is deeper, and more foul, than most people imagine. For in addition to the dictatorial powers of seizure and torment given by Congress on Thursday to George W. Bush - powers he had already seized and exercised for five years anyway, even without this fig leaf of sham legality - there is a far more sinister imperial right that Bush has claimed - and used - openly, without any demur or debate from Congress at all: ordering the "extrajudicial killing" of anyone on earth that he and his deputies decide - arbitrarily, without charges, court hearing, formal evidence, or appeal - is an "enemy combatant." Read more.
Patricia adds:
Now I know why I couldn't sleep on Thursday night after having read about the Detainee Bill having passed the Senate. And why Ed had one of the most vivid dreams of his life after having read the article about its passage in the New York Times the next morning. His dream? All about torture...
Not one to sit and stew, Patricia immediately took action. She first called and wrote to her Senator--Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)--asking her to account for her vote (in favor of the bill), and then took up a post outside the U.S. Federal Court Building in downtown Detroit holding her eye-catching sign, which read:
ASK SEN. STABENOW
WHY SHE VOTED
TO GIVE PRES. BUSH
THE LEGAL RIGHT
TO
IMPRISON ANYONE
HAVE THEM TORTURED
KEEP THEM INDEFINITELY
WITH NO CHARGES OR APPEAL
Patricia explained that she chose to stand outside the U.S. Federal Court Building because "Senator Stabenow's vote directly affects the judicial branch of our federal government. And lawyers are inclined to stop and read even a wordy sign. Besides, there's constant foot traffic in and out of this building, not to mention true diversity in terms of race, national origin, educational and economic status, and even age. It's as close to a global street corner as you're going to find in Detroit."
She continues:
But I guess not too many other activists have caught on to this because my presence caused quite a stir among the U.S. Marshal Security Officers and what I'm sure were Homeland Security representatives. Five of these men gathered on the sidewalk with cell phones and walkie talkies and tried to figure out how to handle this white-haired scooter-riding woman with the big sign. I could hear the words "Senator Stabenow" coming through on their walkie talkie, so it was pretty clear that my sign was being quoted. After about 10 minutes, one of the U.S. Marshals and one of the fellows from Homeland Security came up to tell me that I could stay there if I didn't block any entrance. Of course I knew this already. They didn't ask my name but the Homeland Security fellow asked how long I planned to stay. Shades of my vigils at the White House!
The responses to my sign were varied. A good number of people stopped to read it word-for-word. Some would then walk on, but others responded with comments like "You've got that right!", head nods and thumbs up. For one woman, who is an advocate for persons dealing with court-related housing and mortgage issues, the message on my sign stopped her in her tracks.
"You mean the president can have anyone he wants thrown in jail?" I nodded my head and described how this bill gives the president final authority over who is determined to be an "enemy combatant", but does not require him to prove why. We talked about how this puts everyone at risk, even activists. I could tell she was very upset by this, and by the news that habeas corpus has been eliminated by this bill.
"So what can we do?" she asked. I encouraged her to come to the World Can't Wait demonstration at 12:30 p.m. on Thursday at Wayne State University's Gullen Hall. I hope she does. I don't want her to feel alone in her activism. Especially in times like these.
There were also negative responses to my sign. As I'd found in front of the White House, those Americans who disagreed with my message weren't interested in dialogue, but would make what I call "drive-by snipes."
One was, "We should kill 'em all!" obviously referring to my drawing of the hooded man being tortured. Another said, "This is great for terrorists." The most unpleasant comments came from a man who was obviously impaired in some way. He kept yelling things at me even from the middle of the street and then from the sidewalk across the street. His theme was "What about 9/11?" and "If you don't like America, why don't you leave!" But his comments had no bite to them.
I stayed out in front of the Federal Court Building from 3:15-5:30 p.m. and was seen by about a hundred people.
It felt good to be doing something rather than continuing to sit around feeling outraged. This kind of activism really does suit me, especially when I can help educate people to the realities of "democracy" in today's America.
(Next is a blog entry in which Patricia shares a letter she wrote to the New York Times.)
It's worse than we think...
Last Friday I sent the following letter to the editor of the New York Times, another in a long list of letters that I knew they would not print:
Re: Senate Approves Broad New Rules to Try Detainees
To the editor:
With the passage of the Senate and House Detainee Bills, we in America are getting our first real taste of what it must have been like to be a German citizen in 1933 when the German parliament passed the Enabling Act that gave Chancellor Adolf Hitler dictatorial powers through legal means.
The powers our United States Congress have given our President resemble those of a dictator. He alone can determine who is to be considered an "illegal enemy combatant" and can order his/her arrest and imprisonment. This imprisonment can be for life with no charges, no trial and no legal representation. The president alone decides what interrogation techniques will be allowed in these prisons. There will be no oversight or appeal of his decision.
Is it any wonder the world's people now laugh (or cry) when America says it is bringing "democracy" to the Middle East? We no longer have any idea what a democracy looks like.
Patricia Lay-Dorsey
To be present and witness such a turnaround in government is disturbing enough. To be a victim of the massive shift of power without even knowing it is happening until it is too late is truly a tragedy.
As is so often the case, my information comes from Patricia Lay-Dorsey and her blog www.windchimewalker.blogspot.com I urge you to read her recent entries for fuller information, and to learn what she is doing about it.
For my part, I feel my major responsibility is to inform everyone I can in every way I can about what is actually going on right now, right in front of our eyes. The article below is a starting point:
Fatal Vision: The Deeper Evil Behind the Detainee Bill
By Chris Floyd, TO UK Correspondent
t r u t h o u t | Perspective
Monday 02 October 2006
There is no week nor day nor hour when tyranny may not enter upon this country - if the people lose their confidence in themselves - and lose their roughness and spirit of defiance.
- Walt Whitman
1.
It was a dark hour indeed on Thursday when the United States Senate voted to end the constitutional republic and transform the country into a "Leader-State," giving the president and his agents the power to capture, torture and imprison forever anyone - American citizens included - whom they arbitrarily decide is an "enemy combatant." This also includes those who merely give "terrorism" some kind of "support," defined so vaguely that many experts say it could encompass legal advice, innocent gifts to charities or even political opposition to US government policy within its draconian strictures.
All of this is bad enough - a sickening and cowardly surrender of liberty not seen in a major Western democracy since the Enabling Act passed by the German Reichstag in March 1933. But it is by no means the full extent of our degradation. In reality, the darkness is deeper, and more foul, than most people imagine. For in addition to the dictatorial powers of seizure and torment given by Congress on Thursday to George W. Bush - powers he had already seized and exercised for five years anyway, even without this fig leaf of sham legality - there is a far more sinister imperial right that Bush has claimed - and used - openly, without any demur or debate from Congress at all: ordering the "extrajudicial killing" of anyone on earth that he and his deputies decide - arbitrarily, without charges, court hearing, formal evidence, or appeal - is an "enemy combatant." Read more.
Patricia adds:
Now I know why I couldn't sleep on Thursday night after having read about the Detainee Bill having passed the Senate. And why Ed had one of the most vivid dreams of his life after having read the article about its passage in the New York Times the next morning. His dream? All about torture...
Not one to sit and stew, Patricia immediately took action. She first called and wrote to her Senator--Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)--asking her to account for her vote (in favor of the bill), and then took up a post outside the U.S. Federal Court Building in downtown Detroit holding her eye-catching sign, which read:
ASK SEN. STABENOW
WHY SHE VOTED
TO GIVE PRES. BUSH
THE LEGAL RIGHT
TO
IMPRISON ANYONE
HAVE THEM TORTURED
KEEP THEM INDEFINITELY
WITH NO CHARGES OR APPEAL
Patricia explained that she chose to stand outside the U.S. Federal Court Building because "Senator Stabenow's vote directly affects the judicial branch of our federal government. And lawyers are inclined to stop and read even a wordy sign. Besides, there's constant foot traffic in and out of this building, not to mention true diversity in terms of race, national origin, educational and economic status, and even age. It's as close to a global street corner as you're going to find in Detroit."
She continues:
But I guess not too many other activists have caught on to this because my presence caused quite a stir among the U.S. Marshal Security Officers and what I'm sure were Homeland Security representatives. Five of these men gathered on the sidewalk with cell phones and walkie talkies and tried to figure out how to handle this white-haired scooter-riding woman with the big sign. I could hear the words "Senator Stabenow" coming through on their walkie talkie, so it was pretty clear that my sign was being quoted. After about 10 minutes, one of the U.S. Marshals and one of the fellows from Homeland Security came up to tell me that I could stay there if I didn't block any entrance. Of course I knew this already. They didn't ask my name but the Homeland Security fellow asked how long I planned to stay. Shades of my vigils at the White House!
The responses to my sign were varied. A good number of people stopped to read it word-for-word. Some would then walk on, but others responded with comments like "You've got that right!", head nods and thumbs up. For one woman, who is an advocate for persons dealing with court-related housing and mortgage issues, the message on my sign stopped her in her tracks.
"You mean the president can have anyone he wants thrown in jail?" I nodded my head and described how this bill gives the president final authority over who is determined to be an "enemy combatant", but does not require him to prove why. We talked about how this puts everyone at risk, even activists. I could tell she was very upset by this, and by the news that habeas corpus has been eliminated by this bill.
"So what can we do?" she asked. I encouraged her to come to the World Can't Wait demonstration at 12:30 p.m. on Thursday at Wayne State University's Gullen Hall. I hope she does. I don't want her to feel alone in her activism. Especially in times like these.
There were also negative responses to my sign. As I'd found in front of the White House, those Americans who disagreed with my message weren't interested in dialogue, but would make what I call "drive-by snipes."
One was, "We should kill 'em all!" obviously referring to my drawing of the hooded man being tortured. Another said, "This is great for terrorists." The most unpleasant comments came from a man who was obviously impaired in some way. He kept yelling things at me even from the middle of the street and then from the sidewalk across the street. His theme was "What about 9/11?" and "If you don't like America, why don't you leave!" But his comments had no bite to them.
I stayed out in front of the Federal Court Building from 3:15-5:30 p.m. and was seen by about a hundred people.
It felt good to be doing something rather than continuing to sit around feeling outraged. This kind of activism really does suit me, especially when I can help educate people to the realities of "democracy" in today's America.
(Next is a blog entry in which Patricia shares a letter she wrote to the New York Times.)
It's worse than we think...
Last Friday I sent the following letter to the editor of the New York Times, another in a long list of letters that I knew they would not print:
Re: Senate Approves Broad New Rules to Try Detainees
To the editor:
With the passage of the Senate and House Detainee Bills, we in America are getting our first real taste of what it must have been like to be a German citizen in 1933 when the German parliament passed the Enabling Act that gave Chancellor Adolf Hitler dictatorial powers through legal means.
The powers our United States Congress have given our President resemble those of a dictator. He alone can determine who is to be considered an "illegal enemy combatant" and can order his/her arrest and imprisonment. This imprisonment can be for life with no charges, no trial and no legal representation. The president alone decides what interrogation techniques will be allowed in these prisons. There will be no oversight or appeal of his decision.
Is it any wonder the world's people now laugh (or cry) when America says it is bringing "democracy" to the Middle East? We no longer have any idea what a democracy looks like.
Patricia Lay-Dorsey
