from the LA Times: Look to 1777 and Learn, Mr. Bush
By David Bromwich, David Bromwich is editor of "On Empire, Liberty and Reform: Speeches and Letters of Edmund Burke" (Yale University Press, 2000).
"When imperial conquest is grafted onto the normal structures of constitutional government, the change will produce grotesque distortions of thinking that undermine judgment and common sense."
Friday, June 25, 2004
Sunday, June 20, 2004
A reminder from Ted Rall on Memorial Day... to remember all..
" According to the Associated Press, Iraqi morgue records lead to a low-balled rough estimate of 33,000 additional civilians killed between May 2003 and April 2004. (This doesn't include those killed in explosions or those who were buried without ever going to a hospital.) These 63,000-plus people--yes, people--paid precisely the same price as our soldiers for deposing Saddam Hussein. But unlike our soldiers, they didn't volunteer.
No one, even Michael Moore, talks about the dead Taliban and Iraqi government soldiers, many of them conscripts. Yet the these tens of thousands, every bit as much as U.S. celebrity war heroes like Pat Tillman (killed, it turns out, by "friendly fire") died performing their duty, defending their countries against enemy forces. The fact that their side lost cannot diminish the horror of their destruction, wipe away the grief of their wives and children, or dishonor their sacrifice. God knows we try. We pretend that our 880 dead soldiers, followed at a distant second by civilians reduced to "collateral damage," are the only losses that matter out of nearly 100,000.
American lives are precious, but we-and our soldiers--are no more valuable than any anyone else. Until we accept our founding principle that we are all created equal and start acting accordingly, we'll keep wondering why the world holds us in contempt.
(Ted Rall is the author of "Wake Up, You're Liberal: How We Can Take America Back From the Right,"
" According to the Associated Press, Iraqi morgue records lead to a low-balled rough estimate of 33,000 additional civilians killed between May 2003 and April 2004. (This doesn't include those killed in explosions or those who were buried without ever going to a hospital.) These 63,000-plus people--yes, people--paid precisely the same price as our soldiers for deposing Saddam Hussein. But unlike our soldiers, they didn't volunteer.
No one, even Michael Moore, talks about the dead Taliban and Iraqi government soldiers, many of them conscripts. Yet the these tens of thousands, every bit as much as U.S. celebrity war heroes like Pat Tillman (killed, it turns out, by "friendly fire") died performing their duty, defending their countries against enemy forces. The fact that their side lost cannot diminish the horror of their destruction, wipe away the grief of their wives and children, or dishonor their sacrifice. God knows we try. We pretend that our 880 dead soldiers, followed at a distant second by civilians reduced to "collateral damage," are the only losses that matter out of nearly 100,000.
American lives are precious, but we-and our soldiers--are no more valuable than any anyone else. Until we accept our founding principle that we are all created equal and start acting accordingly, we'll keep wondering why the world holds us in contempt.
(Ted Rall is the author of "Wake Up, You're Liberal: How We Can Take America Back From the Right,"
Sunday, June 13, 2004
A bit old, but an interesting observation from Jimmy Carter during his recent African tour... from Mali..
Jimmy Carter - Reflections "It is disturbing to observe the adverse effect of some U.S. policies on the less-developed nations. Despite helpful contributions of USAID and military assistance in Mali, for instance, the grossly exorbitant cotton subsidies for mega-farms in America cost the country far more than all the combined assistance from rich nations. Malians produced more cotton last year than any other African country and it is their number one export, but they had to sell it with no profit in order to compete with the heavily subsidized U.S. crop. Also, there is a heavy-handed effort by Washington to force other countries to violate the basic premises of the newly established International Criminal Court. Our government threatens to withhold military assistance
unless they will guarantee that U.S. citizens be immune to possible punishment for war crimes or other atrocities. Another interesting development has been the efforts from Washington to elevate the issue of terrorism, and American diplomatic officials are forced to participate in this over-emphasis. We were warned strenuously about the new terrorist dangers that had arisen when we planned our visit to Timbuktu and Mopti. I decided that we would take a chance, and when we met with representatives of a dozen donor agencies in Bamako, I asked if any of them had any evidence of increased violence in the area or terrorist threats. The unanimous response was laughter."
Jimmy Carter - Reflections "It is disturbing to observe the adverse effect of some U.S. policies on the less-developed nations. Despite helpful contributions of USAID and military assistance in Mali, for instance, the grossly exorbitant cotton subsidies for mega-farms in America cost the country far more than all the combined assistance from rich nations. Malians produced more cotton last year than any other African country and it is their number one export, but they had to sell it with no profit in order to compete with the heavily subsidized U.S. crop. Also, there is a heavy-handed effort by Washington to force other countries to violate the basic premises of the newly established International Criminal Court. Our government threatens to withhold military assistance
unless they will guarantee that U.S. citizens be immune to possible punishment for war crimes or other atrocities. Another interesting development has been the efforts from Washington to elevate the issue of terrorism, and American diplomatic officials are forced to participate in this over-emphasis. We were warned strenuously about the new terrorist dangers that had arisen when we planned our visit to Timbuktu and Mopti. I decided that we would take a chance, and when we met with representatives of a dozen donor agencies in Bamako, I asked if any of them had any evidence of increased violence in the area or terrorist threats. The unanimous response was laughter."
Thursday, June 10, 2004
I've always liked K.Vonegut.... still do...
Here's true words from an article he wrote in Mar 2004:
Cold Turkey
"How about Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes?
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the Earth.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. …
And so on.
Not exactly planks in a Republican platform. Not exactly Donald Rumsfeld or Dick Cheney stuff.
For some reason, the most vocal Christians among us never mention the Beatitudes. But, often with tears in their eyes, they demand that the Ten Commandments be posted in public buildings. And of course that’s Moses, not Jesus. I haven’t heard one of them demand that the Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes, be posted anywhere."
“Blessed are the merciful” in a courtroom? “Blessed are the peacemakers” in the Pentagon? Give me a break!
Here's true words from an article he wrote in Mar 2004:
Cold Turkey
"How about Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes?
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the Earth.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. …
And so on.
Not exactly planks in a Republican platform. Not exactly Donald Rumsfeld or Dick Cheney stuff.
For some reason, the most vocal Christians among us never mention the Beatitudes. But, often with tears in their eyes, they demand that the Ten Commandments be posted in public buildings. And of course that’s Moses, not Jesus. I haven’t heard one of them demand that the Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes, be posted anywhere."
“Blessed are the merciful” in a courtroom? “Blessed are the peacemakers” in the Pentagon? Give me a break!
"The ability to end wars comes from the inside out. 'War' is just the name we give to the ultimate dysfunction, in a mass way. We're murdering each other -- babies, children - polluting the land, destroying beautiful buildings and works of art, torturing people, lying about people, projecting all our fears. That's what war is. War isn't hell; it's worse than hell. It's madness. It is our self-inflicted madness."
-- Patricia Sun
-- Patricia Sun
The shear arrogance of this administration is clearly demonstrated in the latest scandal of "torture" and memos. The Miami Herold's editorial is clear as any article I've read on the danger's to our "rule of law" as any:
President's power vs. laws against torture
OUR OPINION: U.S. MUST ABIDE BY ITS COMMITMENTS AGAINST ABUSES
Miami Herald - June 10th
"U.S. presidents customarily have pushed the envelope of their legal authority to the maximum during wartime. President Bush has been no exception, suspending the right of habeas corpus for U.S. citizens in two known cases and claiming the right to operate a prison at Guantánamo Bay that exists in an extra-legal, no-man's land. Even with all that, the claim by government lawyers that Mr. Bush can authorize torture of prisoners in disregard of U.S. law, international law, the Geneva Conventions, treaty commitments, human decency and plain common sense should shock the conscience of every American.
It's hard to say what's worse -- the notion that the power to set aside laws is ''inherent in the president,'' as one report has it, or the claim that a president's power as commander-in-chief includes the right to use torture. Both of these wrongheaded ideas offend legal and constitutional standards -- the separation of powers, to cite only one -- and must be unequivocally rejected."
President's power vs. laws against torture
OUR OPINION: U.S. MUST ABIDE BY ITS COMMITMENTS AGAINST ABUSES
Miami Herald - June 10th
"U.S. presidents customarily have pushed the envelope of their legal authority to the maximum during wartime. President Bush has been no exception, suspending the right of habeas corpus for U.S. citizens in two known cases and claiming the right to operate a prison at Guantánamo Bay that exists in an extra-legal, no-man's land. Even with all that, the claim by government lawyers that Mr. Bush can authorize torture of prisoners in disregard of U.S. law, international law, the Geneva Conventions, treaty commitments, human decency and plain common sense should shock the conscience of every American.
It's hard to say what's worse -- the notion that the power to set aside laws is ''inherent in the president,'' as one report has it, or the claim that a president's power as commander-in-chief includes the right to use torture. Both of these wrongheaded ideas offend legal and constitutional standards -- the separation of powers, to cite only one -- and must be unequivocally rejected."
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