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Category: Society Page 51 of 69

ACLU: Defending American Values Against the Bush Administration

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On April 4, 2008

In Law, Society

So the Wall Street Journal’s got a story highlighting the ACLU’s role in assembling defense teams for Guantanamo Bay detainees:

The American Civil Liberties Union is spearheading a high-profile effort to defend Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and other alleged 9/11 conspirators from conviction and execution by the Bush administration’s military commissions at Guantanamo Bay.

Backed by a slate of prominent legal figures, including former Attorney General Janet Reno and former Federal Bureau of Investigation Director William Webster, the ACLU has assembled a team of top civilian attorneys to supplement the military defense counsel assigned to represent Guantanamo’s “high-value detainees.”

I suspect that the ACLU is a little worried about the PR aspect of this, as they just mass emailed a statement about the story.  I think they put it perfectly:

The manner in which we seek justice against those accused of harming us will determine whether the United States will be seen at home and abroad as a nation of laws. We must decide whether we live the values of justice that make us proud to be Americans, or whether we will forsake those values and continue down a path of arbitrary rules and procedures more befitting those who are our enemies. Because we are a great nation, true to our founders’ vision, we must uphold our core values even in the toughest of times. The right to a speedy trial in a court of law before an objective arbiter; the right to due process; the right to rebut the evidence against you; the right not to be tortured or waterboarded, or convicted on the basis of hearsay evidence are what truly define America and our commitment to the rule of law and our founders’ aspirations.

The military commissions set up by the Bush administration for the men imprisoned at Guantánamo Bay — including those it suspects were involved in the September 11 attacks — are not true American justice. These trials should represent who we are, what America stands for, and our commitment to due process. They are not about how civilized the accused are, but how civilized we are. America does not stand for trials that rely on torture to gain confessions, or on secret evidence that a defendant cannot rebut, or on hearsay evidence.

For these reasons, the ACLU and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers have taken on the task of assembling defense teams to be available to assist in the representation of those Guantánamo detainees who have been charged under the Military Commissions Act, subject to the detainees’ consent.

We take this step because we simply cannot stand by and allow the Bush administration’s military commissions to make a mockery of our Constitution and our values. We believe in the American justice system — despite its imperfections and distortions by pundits, politicians and ideologues — and we believe we can make the system stronger by engaging it and fighting for what is right, fighting for fair trials and for America’s reputation.

Amen.

On China and the Olympics

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On April 2, 2008

In Policy, Society

I’ve a strong love/hate thing going on with the Olympics(TM).  In truth, it’s a giant scam to suck money out of the taxpayers of the host region, aggrandize the ancient old men running the governing bodies of the sports, and slap an ad on every surface visible to the human eye.  Sporting competition plays a tiny tiny role.  Certainly one that could be easily supported and conducted without the Olympics(TM).

That said, I’ll always rank living in the middle of the ’96 Olympics as one of the best times I’ve ever had.  I lived in the middle of all the major venues, and thanks to employment circumstances, had a bucket full of tickets.  I saw basketball, fencing, and badminton (the best, by far) medal matches.  Wandered around Centennial Park in the most intoxicating atmosphere – all of the crass commercialism around us couldn’t begin to dampen a collective realization that the world was hanging out together, and having a fantastic time doing it.

So I’ll rail against the Olympics in general, but I’ll show up for the personal experience in a heartbeat, given the chance.

~

All that said, I think that the world’s reaction to China hosting the Olympics is important, but I have yet to personally sort what I think is the best course of action.  I have a lot of sympathy for what Sally Jenkins is saying here.  For me, it should go without saying that China’s treatment of Tibet is appalling, and ought to be condemned (and not in that half-assed press release way). Further, I think the Olympics really shouldn’t have ended up in Beijing – it gives China (yet another) chance to fake its way into the world’s biggest markets under the guise of being Just Like Us and Nothing To Be Concerned About.

And it’s that last point that sends me in all sorts of contradictory directions. I want people to realize exactly how it is that China produces what it does for rest of the world. But I don’t want to do it in some sort of Lou Dobbs Xenophobia Special sort of way. Which then bounces me back to the other side of things – it would be good for the rest of the world to realize that China is a behemoth in world finances, and cannot be treated as some semi-relevant curiosity. I was in Shanghai a few years ago, and took an elevator up the Jin Mao Tower for a view of the city. And what did I see from the 88th floor? A city bigger than New York. China does need to be dealt with . . . and not just in a constructive manner (which is what every nation deserves, including Cuba), but a manner which takes its power and pettiness into account. While I’d personally be quite fine with the majority of Wal-Mart’s supply lines drying up overnight, I suspect it’s probably not the best thing for the US economy. So we ought to tread carefully. Just not obsequiously.

“Even worse than being a Democrat”

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On April 2, 2008

In Society

Someone should have told Monica Goodling that, despite the Administration’s best efforts, you still can’t fire a Federal employee for being gay.

On Edge

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On April 1, 2008

In Politics, Society

Zimbabwe’s still waiting (as are its neighbors):

Rigging fears were increasing in Zimbabwe on Tuesday three days after the election commission failed to release results from the presidential vote, in which the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) claims to have ousted authoritarian President Robert Mugabe.

Only partial results from the parliamentary elections that were held concomitantly with presidential and local elections on March 29 have been released, showing the opposition enjoying a slight lead over Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party.

The election has received a little bit of coverage here, but it always seems to come without any background on why this election is worth paying attention to. While the story of Zimbabwe has at times been front page news in the UK, it has barely made the back pages in the US. And what’s that story? The man went from revolutionary hero – turning Rhodesia into Zimbabwe – to a desperate old king attempting to hold his entire country hostage as a means of remaining in power. Zimbabwe is an absolute wreck of a country with no functioning economy to speak of, an outflow of refugees, and a barely functioning political system.

Or is that political system functioning? If the government actually admits defeat in this election, it would represent a previously unimaginable peaceful close to the end of Mugabe’s reign. Given his willingness to wreck Zimbabwe before, I just don’t see this happening, but news reports this AM seem to indicate it as a real possibility. Here’s hoping.

Doping

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On March 31, 2008

In Cycling, Society

As a pro cycling fan, I’m rather well acquainted with the world of performance enhancing drugs. And the dopers that use them. It is, as you might imagine, a topic close at hand during any discussion of the state of the sport. At this point, I don’t really have any moral outrage. And it’s not just because I’m worn out by the succession of recent doping stories. It’s that doping has *always* been around. It’s part and parcel of the sport. The Festina affair is recent history, in this context. When you read any books dealing with the history of cycling, whether it’s the the last 25 years of pro racing or Dino Buzzati’s masterpiece on the ’49 Giro d’Italia, riders have *always* turned to drugs for an edge.

And if you’re not a cycling fan, and you’re thinking that this isn’t really a problem in the sports *you* appreciate, you’re almost certainly deluding yourself. Every sport needs to grapple with doping (and so do “sports” like golfing). It’s against this background that I think a new book- Dope: A History of Performance Enhancement in Sports from the Nineteenth Century to Today – will be worth reading. Written by the author of Rant Your Head Off, it looks like a real history of doping in sports:

Dope starts in the mid-1800s, when doping was performed on racehorses with the intent of altering the natural outcome of races. Back then, the stables in which the horses were kept weren’t all that well guarded, so a doper could come along and administer a drug that would affect the animal’s racing. Sometimes the drugs were meant to give the horse a boost, and sometimes they were meant to slow the animal down.

[ . . . ]

You’ll get to see stories of doping in the Olympics from the quadrennial spectacle’s earliest days, the rise of various drugs (like amphetamines, testosterone, other steroids and eventually EPO and designer steroids), as well as read about doping incidents across a wide range of sports over the last century. You’ll read stories of doping in weightlifting, swimming, track and field, cycling, football (both kinds), baseball, as well as doping in other sports.

[ . . . ]

But most of all, what I hope you’ll get out of the book is an appreciation and understanding that doping is not a problem that just magically appeared over the last twenty years (despite how the many in the mainstream media seem to cast the story). The desire to boost human performance, and to find ways of pushing the boundaries of what we’re capable of, has existed for a very, very long time. And at one point in time, “the human experiments” that doping athletes perform were once even considered merely using technology in man’s quest to be better, faster and stronger. The perfectability of man/woman, if you will.

I intend to put my hands on a copy and review it when it’s finally released.

Mark Jenkins’ Street Art

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On March 31, 2008

In DC, Society

Inspired by a link to this wonderful bit of street art, I went looking for some photos of Mark Jenkins‘ street art.  He’s done a number of projects in DC that I’ve randomly stumbled across.  Turns out he’s got a pretty comprehensive site of his own.  Check it out.

Burnishing the GOP’s “Strong on Defense” Credentials

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On March 27, 2008

In Politics, Society

Earlier today, I decided against posting this article about the new “Cyber-security Czar”. You know, the one without any cyber-security experience whatsoever? Gosh, I know I sleep better at night with America’s cyber-security under the watch of a guy who’s primary claim to fame seems to be a book about how great it is to have organizations without any leadership:

By all accounts, Beckstrom is neither a cyber-security expert nor a Washington insider. But his private-sector background and published writings emphasize a decentralized approach to managing large organizations.

In “The Starfish and the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations,” a book Beckstrom co-authored with Ori Brafman in 2006, the authors use the two creatures to illustrate their argument that decentralized organizations — whether in the marketplace or the battlefield — are more nimble, creative and resilient than those that operate in a rigid, top-down fashion.

Why am I posting about it now, then? Just as a little warm up to this NYT story, which illustrates the level of care this Administration puts into defense of this country and its allies:

Since 2006, when the insurgency in Afghanistan sharply intensified, the Afghan government has been dependent on American logistics and military support in the war against Al Qaeda and the Taliban.

But to arm the Afghan forces that it hopes will lead this fight, the American military has relied since early last year on a fledgling company led by a 22-year-old man whose vice president was a licensed masseur.

With the award last January of a federal contract worth as much as nearly $300 million, the company, AEY Inc., which operates out of an unmarked office in Miami Beach, became the main supplier of munitions to Afghanistan’s army and police forces.

This story has to be read to be believed.  Illegal munitions suppliers, penny-ante fake IDs, and shoddy quality control in the hands of idiot kids.  This is what the “strong on defense” GOP brings us.

Michel Martin on Speaking Up

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On March 26, 2008

In Personal, Politics, Society

When Michel Martin‘s “Tell Me More” show replaced the BBC News World Service on WAMU earlier this year, I was less than pleased.  And after listening to her first couple of shows, I was pretty sure that I wouldn’t have the radio on in the background during her timeslot.  But, over time, she’s either come into her own or I’ve just done a better job of listening – I now appreciate her as an excellent interviewer, and as someone who is unafraid of being direct on uncomfortable subjects.

Today, she took a few minutes to offer an unflinching and clear eyed observation on the chattering class’s claim that they would have stood up and walked out of Rev. Wright’s now infamous sermons.  To wit:

I have had it up to here with members of the commentariat who keep lecturing us about how they would never have tolerated the Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s more incendiary sermons, and they wonder why Barack Obama did. They would have walked on out [of the church].

Can I just tell you? I don’t think so.

Give it a listen, or – at least – give it a read.

Elvis, Was a Hero to Most

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On March 20, 2008

In Personal, Politics, Society

Dedicated to the sad and fearful little man behind Laura Ingraham’s show:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuTi9UZtPbw[/youtube]

Quietly Doing Good

By

On March 19, 2008

In Society

It’s not often I can cite a WSJ story as something that warms my heart, but this qualifies:

One frigid March morning last year, federal agents raided a factory in this old whaling town, arresting hundreds of illegal immigrants as they sewed vests and backpacks for U.S. soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Most were shackled and sent to a detention center in Texas, where they faced rapid deportation unless they could post thousands of dollars in bail — money they didn’t have — to buy time to mount a defense.

Then, a mystery benefactor appeared. The anonymous donor ponied up more than $200,000 to spring 40 people from detention.

The payments, which until now haven’t become public despite extensive news coverage of the raid itself, came from Bob Hildreth, a Boston financier who made his millions trading Latin American debt. He was “infuriated” at the televised images of workers being shipped to Texas, he says. Helping them make bail is “payback.”

The raid broke families apart,” says the diminutive 57-year-old, who once taught high-school history. “This was extremely un-American.”

It’s not just the outlay of money. It’s the outlay of money for a cause that will almost certainly bring this man only grief amongst his peers.  And the benefit will only ever be really appreciated by the families he kept together.   Another part of what I admire about his action is the expression of faith in the basic decency of these people – that they would not run off (and thus leave him out of the bail money).  And so far, it looks like that faith was well placed – none of the recipients of his aid have skipped out on bail.

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