a statement of conscience

As I write this, the United States Senate is engaged in a bit of political theater, while they pretend to debate whether or not they will make torture an American value. They are pretending to debate whether or not to give one person -- in this case the president -- the ability remove rights that we've all taken for granted under our Constitution for over two centuries from anyone he (or she, someday) identifies, without any accountability or oversight. They are pretending to debate whether our Democracy even matters, any more.

The legislation before the Senate today would ban torture, but let Bush define it; would allow the president to imprison indefinitely anyone he decides falls under a wide-ranging new definition of unlawful combatant; would suspend the Great Writ of habeas corpus; would immunize retroactively those who may have engaged in torture. And that's just for starters. . . .

Today's vote will show more clearly than ever before that, when push comes to shove, the Republicans who control Congress are in lock step behind the president, and the Democrats -- who could block him, if they chose to do so -- are too afraid to put up a real fight.

This is far too much power for one person to have, and is antithetical to everything America and freedom and Democracy stand for. In fact, this is the sort of power that someone like, say, Saddam Hussein had. Or Stalin. Or Pinochet.

I haven't written much about politics here in recent memory, because there are others who say what I want to say and they do it much better than I do: Glenn Greenwald, Josh Marshall, John Cole, and Digby, for example. But even though I've become entirely disgusted with what used to be my government and I don't have a whole lot of faith in the congress or the president to listen to me (actually, I don't have a lot of faith in the president listening to anyone who doesn't tell him exactly what he wants to hear,) I still believe in the underlying principles of Democracy. I still believe that it is the responsibility of every American, whether they feel adequately represented by the current congress or not, to stand up for their beliefs, even when they speak them to deaf ears in the halls of power. Even -- no, especially -- when those beliefs are unpopular.

My government is supposed to represent me, and as an American citizen, I must accept responsibility for the things my country does in my name. It is with that responsibility in mind that I feel compelled to write the following, not for congress who have already ignored my calls and letters, but for my own conscience, and for my children, should they one day ask me, "What happened then? Why didn't anyone try to do anything?"

What the House did yesterday, the Senate looks to do today, and the President will surely enact as soon as possible, is a direct assault on American values, and contrary to everything our country stands for. Though cynically and cowardly enacted as a purely political tool during an election, those who supported this bill do not speak for me, do not act in my name, and do not reflect my values.

Torture is not an American value. Torture is a totalitarian, sadistic value. Suspending access to courts and the right to face your accuser is not what Americans do. It is what tyrannical dictators and despots do, not a democratic republic like the one I was brought up in and love. Time and again, torture has proved unreliable to prevent or solve crimes, and it reduces our country to the level of the very terrorists we are supposedly fighting.

I believe in the right to a speedy and fair trial for everyone, even the most repugnant of defendants. No, especially for the most repugnant of defendants, because if we, as a society, can't guarantee the most hideously accused among us that right, what is it worth to the rest of us?

George Bush and his enablers in the congress -- Democrat and Republican -- has done more damage to our country, and our once impeccable moral standing in the world than all the terrorists combined. President Bush and his Republican allies in congress like to say that "they hate us for our freedom," but President Bush and his Republican allies in congress have spent the last five years working very hard to take that freedom away from the people they supposedly work for, and vest that power in something they call the Unitary Executive. If the Democrats won't stand up to stop torture, what will they stand up for? If Congress won't do its constitutional duty now, then when?

I am disgusted with, and ashamed of my government.

Shame on President Bush. Shame on his Republican allies in congress, and shame on the spineless, cowardly Democrats who did not stand up to them. Shame on them all, and shame on all of us if we do not turn out by the millions in the next election to put men and women into congress who will have the courage to do their constitutional duty, and defend the Republic from all enemies, foreign and domestic.

Comments

[Tom Boucher]

I don't know what to say. Both of my senators I voted against approved this bill.

When it comes time for them to run for office they'll get everyone focused on one hard issue for everyone, and they'll vote that way ignoring everything else. It's a wonderful tactic the republican party has mastered and leveraged every year, that's why they keep getting elected no matter what they do to us as a citizen.

THEY KILL BABIES! of course, that's bad, so we must vote against the baby killer. Never mind that people can and do vanish while walking down the street.

My college level education has spent the last four hours trying to express my disgust with both senators of this state, and I can't without devloving into YOU FUCKING MORONS.

[Mudboy]

Wil, and others, please be very aware of the language you use... Refering to an unspecified group of Democrats as spineless is counterproductive and exactly the Republican strategy for the fall... If you want to call specific people spineless, then go right ahead, but the more you say the words spineless, cowardly, etc in the same breath as Democrats (regardless of context) you are running plays out of the RNC playbook... The republicans figured out 12 years ago that framing and language matter. Don't follow the RNC framing on issues, nor use the same language.

Having said that, the following Democrats are total numbnuts: Tom Carper (Del.)
Tim Johnson (S.D.)
Mary Landrieu (La.)
Frank Lautenberg (N.J.)
Bob Menendez (N.J)
Bill Nelson (Fla.)
Ben Nelson (Neb.)
Pryor (Ark.)
Jay Rockefeller (W. Va.)
Ken Salazar (Co.)
Debbie Stabenow (Mich.)

Oh, and Joe, but we all know he's not really a Democrat...

[SAL9000]

I am a Bush supporter, a supporter of the war(s), and a supporter of most all of his efforts to go kill bad guys.

Inasmuch as some believe that commiserating on the Internets is an efficient MO of "change," well, I gots news for you. It ain't really. Republicans run the country because the DNC let itself be held hostage by the very vocal minority confederation of disparate, wacko fringe groups for whom the word "strategy" is a small village in a foreign country.

[davelog]

>>I've never been so tempted to leave this country.

For the love of all we hold dear, DON'T. Stay and fix America.

We need a clean sweep. Register and vote in the upcoming election - but cast no vote for any incumbent. The people in office today are either part of the problem, or too meek and impotent to do anything about the farce that our great nation has become.

Vote them ALL out. Don't play party politics with their replacements either - voting any party blindly (even independents) will just perpetuate the unravelling of America. Vote for ideas, vote for platforms, vote for pledges that you believe will come to pass.

This country needs a lot of work to regain even a fraction of the global respect and internal harmony we once had. The first step is ridding ourselves of the disease that's currently eating us alive from within. We need a mandate from the masses, and only you can make it happen.

Wil, you rock. Speak your mind more often on these matters, and use your influence (which is greater than you probably imagine) to wake the country up. Terrible things have happened while we slept.

[GDISTORM]

Wil:

I am sorry that most of my posts tend to be to much in the line of run-on prose, but its probably too often I actually think I know what I am talking about. I probably don’t, but I try to give it my best shot. I really welcome the “political” perspective with your post. I think that you speak (and therefore write) with great eloquence, passion, and intelligence about your position on these issues, and I salute you and the others who have supported your views as well. Here is my perspective … if any of you are interested … as I have indicated in a previous post or two … I have taught as a associate professor of geography, earth science and meteorology at a 4-year institution. As part of my duties there I taught a course in political geography every fall during an election year. As a political Independent I was never worried about whether people were Democrats or Republics, Liberals or Conservative, but what does concern me is that people have so little knowledge of the political institutions are, what their responsibilities as citizens are, and what they can do to make their opinions heard. For example, a survey of 14,000 undergraduate students was made at 50 universities where they were evaluated about their knowledge of civics, government, history, and political rights. Freshmen failed with a 51.7% average and seniors failed with a 53.2%. Only with knowledge of what is possible and the real issues that are involved can real positive change occur. Now, of course, my other “political” experience, other than teaching about it was practical experience, where I served in student government long ago, and a president of a faculty senate. In that position I got to experience an attempted impeachment, and have a further validation of the importance of speaking your mind, and standing up for your principles, which Wil (and others) so eloquently accomplishes (much better than I could ever hope to). So keep up the good work … we all enjoy hearing your views Wil. I, on the other hand, was in a severe car accident where I had some head injuries (can’t you tell the brain damage … LOL). What they called my verbal extraction ability was damaged, so my ability to speak on the cuff or on my feet isn’t what it used to be, but unfortunately I can still pontificate in the written. So, I would advise everyone to stay positive, and understand that better days are ahead … have faith … try to change what you can and educate people about the rest … take care and stay safe … everyone.

[GDISTORM]

Also, since 64 senators voted for it is obvious that the dems couldn't stay together as a group and a filibuster was doomed from the start.

[billman]

I'm a big believer in the idea that we would all be better off if we got a little chip implanted in our heads that made us do whatever the president told us to do. Then all I have to do is become elected president and bam! my problems are over.

[SpaceCadette]

Wil, sent you an email. Cafepress idea. Don't even know if you still check wwdnet email?

[cryssyer]

Wow. Great post. Made me think about changing my party affiliation...

Unfortunately, there are many more people that vote and don't know who to pick. I was waiting in line at the last presidential election (a record turnout for my little district) and I overheard people actually say "Well, he didn't screw anything up real bad so he is ok to vote for." WTF????

Yes, they were serious. Just because someone makes a nice speech (SOMEONE ELSE WROTE) after a horrible attack on our home soil, it doesn't qualify him as a good leader.

Thanks, Wil, for being so on the money when it comes to political issues. It's voices like yours that help educate those that wouldn't otherwise pay attention.

In saying that, ever think about running for office yourself? :p

[Superhobo]

Another Great reason why europena politics are better than american. In Ireland this week, Bertie Ahern, the Prime minister is being asked to step down by a majority of the population because he recieved a gift of £20,000 from his friends to get him out of some financial bother a few years back but never paid gift tax on it, claiming it was a loan. My guess is that most american senators and so forth would probably sneeze at £20,000!

[dragonfey]

The debate and the vote are a public relations spin as we have, for several years now, already suspended rights under the patriot act.

We have been shipping suspected terrorists to our allies who are more willing to openly commit torture. I will be extremely glad when Bush, and the other republican oilmen are out of power!

[thorkia]

Yankee17, the Constitution does not give you the right to revolt... What you want is the Declaration of Independance. Here is quote from it:
"...pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new guards for their future security.."

It quite clearly states that it is not just a citizens right, but there DUTY to stop the government from pursuing a path towards despotism.

Now, I am a Canadian, and we haven't yet sunk to the levels of Dictator Bush, but if I was an American, I would not stand for allowing my representitives to undermine the Constitution.

[BobApril]

It's been awhile since I've re-read the Constitution - I'll go back and check it tonight. But all those rights that we're taking away from these folks at Gitmo and elsewhere...are they GUARANTEED to non-citizens? To people who are not even legal residents? People who never even entered the U.S. at ALL?
That being said, I still think torture is wrong. I'm a Soldier, trained to respect and abide by the Geneva Conventions. It grieves me to see my government's official policies in conflict with that time-honored document. I think the bill is a travesty, and is a cinch to provide expensive and time-consuming court battles for the next several years, distracting from any real solutions. If the detainees are not protected by U.S. law, then they should at least have the status of POW - that grey area in the middle of the two statuses should not allow worse treatment than either one.
On the gripping hand, though...many of the people who protest most strenuously against U.S. torture define it in terms that I find strange, and that medieval torturers would find laughable. In a few cases, treatment reported as "torture" seems preferable to conditions I experienced as a rear-echelon troop in Baghdad. Most of all, I refuse to discuss the matter with anyone who sees a humiliating photograph or being sprayed with a hose as morally and ethically equal to beheading a prisoner with a dull saw.

[cbvance]

Wil:

I always enjoy your blogs. I applaud your courage to get out front and say what you believe, afterall politics is one of those topics that can cause even the closest of families to become distant from one another.

I agree with you that habeous corpus is a Great Writ and should never be taken away. I also believe however that our nation will survive these recent attacks, for you see this sort of "pocket" despostism is nothing new to our nation...if you read history you will find that the writ of habeous was suspended one other time by another despotic republican president ...Abraham Lincoln.

The Constitution survived those despotic acts and will survive our despots too.

[Banzai]

BobApril, I read the conventions recently and one of the provisions stipulates that uncertain persons be treated as POWs until their status can be determined by an approved body.

To everyone else I ask whether you've contact your representative and senators? (having just come back from their websites asking them not to support torture) If we don't speak out then truthfully we're part of the problem. And don't stop speaking out despite their not listening. In our system the squeaky wheels seem to be the only ones heard, so I say "It's wheel time!".

[Elizabeth Sheryl]

There were a couple people who commented saying--"well you voted him in office, TWICE." as though we should just sit back and eat the shit they are trying to serve us.

Another person pointed this out but I want to reiterate. Election-time politics is great at deferring Americans attentions away from what is actually going on in the world, what they actually stand for. They get in "moral" debates about relgion, family values, the Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays ridiculousness, abortion, stem-cell etc and get people fired up because we have strong opinions on these things.

So, Americans get mad that the opposite party politician is pro-life or pro-choice and you vote for the person who says he believes in what you do. He doesn't have to talk about what he will vote for, except "family values", and so politicians are getting elected left and right that are crafty, and who take bribes and care more about distracting than leading.

I didn't vote for Bush, I know many people who didn't vote for Bush, but even the people that did (lets say they are religious and want to make sure someone who holds their values is in office) they still have the RIGHT to disagree with what he is doing NOW. We put a person into office based on what they tell us during campains, and if that person doesn't do what they say, or takes it to an extreme/gets power-hungry, we should be able to express our anger and get the person out of office.

Another thing I heard from some DEMOCRATS that I worked with during the past election. "Well, he's already gotten us in this mess, we've gotta keep him in to settle it." Ridiculous, I know, but it's how some people thought.

[daveryder]

Hey Wil,
I thought I'd lighten things up a bit with a theme song you might be interested in using for RFB. I'm curious what you and your posse think about it - CHECK IT OUT

Also I'm asserting MY rights as a citizen to create music in what might technically be an illegal way, but which will ultimately increase the popularity of these artists (IMHO): Check out this mashup of Jay Z's The Black Album with Pink Floyd's The Dark Side Of The Moon - The Black Side Of The Moon.
Get it while you can, I don't know how long I'll be allowed to keep it up :-0

Anyway, love the blog and your cool words, man - all the best!

[Marti]

In clarifying - it is the Declaration of Independence that states
"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."
note: The italics and bold are my emphasis.

If our forefathers had the courage to face death for treasonous actions against the crown and against the accepted religious practices of that time - what are you willing to do to secure the freedoms they would have died for and counted the cost worthy?

We Americans have a choice - a choice much of the world does not enjoy to the extent we do – but here’s the kicker – we cannot change what is NOW, but we can work to shape and change what comes after. We can choose to be the passive but vocal complainers, or we can choose to ACT. Do something. VOTE in the coming round of elections. Apathy and a sense of hopelessness never changed an outcome.

[Chris Kessel]

Sadly, nothing is going to happen to change the course of events. As long as, on a day to day basis, Americans are able to go to work, get paid, watch cable, and eat cheetos, they just won't care.

The average person has too little to gain and far too much to lose to get involved. Further, there won't be a "rising up" of the people because far too many of the people don't mind, or even condone, what's going on. There's no commonality that holds enough people together to ever support a real full fledge rebellion.

Changing parties won't help either. No party gives back powers previous parties have created. At best, the new party doesn't abuse them, but eventually some new presidency will and things will slide further.

Perhaps I'm a pessimist, but the US is doomed. We will become a dictatorship. The figurehead may change, but the system will be a dictatorship. But, like most Americans, I'm not signing up for a rebellion. I've got a job, a wife, kids. Too much to lose throwing myself symbolically against the system. Things like this only ever changes through the weight of their own corruption. They get so greedy and control so much, than some internal faction rebels, recruits with rhetoric about a better society, and with luck after a bloody civil war you end up with something less evil than you started with.

[SAL9000]

Haven't Americans already been "acting?"

More people voted in the '04 general election than in the '00, and what was the outcome? Republicans running the country (WH, House, Senate, state governorships).

[KaliAmanda]

I don't know if it's the bellicose reactions from the far right that have caused it, but there appears to be no opposition. The opposition, in fact, appears as few and scattered as Paris Hilton brain cells any given morning. The Republicans have taken divide and conquer to a whole new level, by arguing ridiculous points at both ends of a debate and leaving everybody else speechless and gasping for air. Still, the diversaionary tactics have worked over and over again. I often wonder exactly what it will take for the public in general to take a stand. It feels as if Bush is just screwing around atop his desk in the oval office and ripping all surviving copies of the Constitution over his head (a la Sinead O'Connor and the Pope on SNL).

[jo]

I get the impression that people these days have this view of war and imperialiasm as somehow charming, heroic, emotional, rather than the truth of terrifying, and horrible. Media/propaganda etc. give them this idea and they have no personal experience as a basis for comparison.

Why complain against a war you're sending someone else to fight? Why rail against a vision of a future (someone mentioned V for Vendetta...) that you won't have to experience yourself-- either you'll be dead by then, or the US will "win the war"... yadda.

Maybe if conscription were still a reality, and every cheetoh-eating couch potato uncaring individual had to get off their ass and learned that shooting people isn't charming or heroic or (gasp!) fun, and that they might actually get their *own* head blown off fighting in a useless conflict, they might feel this to be a more personal issue.

I think the lack of personalization ("it's all happening to someone else...") has cereberalised the issue for most. Therefore they cannot place the dangers within the context of their own experience, within their own future.

I don't believe in forcing people to do things they don't want to do, but I think if the conscription were reintroduced, it would go a long way towards personalising this issue for people. No more 'oh, it's just other people dying for me'. More like "shit, if I don't vote that ass monkey out of the command chair NOW, it's going to be *my* ass getting shot in Iraq next month."

A necessary evil?

[Jun Falkenstein]

SAL9000, I don't know if you, ahem *remember* that the Republican Party 'won' in the '04 election by an extremely thin margin. This country is divided, sir or madam, and twere the Republicans made it so. A good political party, no matter which one it is, UNITES the country, or am I naive to still believe that?

[ToddCommish]

Wil, While your point is well-stated and coherent, the extreme comments and "atta-boys" from your readers shows some of the fundamental problems with the anti-Bush brigade.

1. Posturing seems more important than actually doing anything. "I'm ready to leave the country" or citing a fucking comic book ("V for Vendetta") isn't really accomplishing anything. If you really really believe the Democrats will lead the country better, then help draft a PLAN. Saying "We're not them" didn't work in 2004, it won't work in 2008.

2. Democrats try to demonize the right wing, (especially Bush) rather than simply pointing out errors. Calling Bush a "despot" and a "dictator" is just plain stupid; it paints him sympathetically. I doubt many people think he's actually sitting around going "I think I'll trample some rights today." If you do, you're the idiot, not him. He's simply trying to do what he thinks is best for protecting the country. He's wrong most of the time, but don't try to portray him alongside Hitler.

3. The Bush2 administration has essentially been a five-year reaction to 9/11. Nothing he has done isn't tied directly to that day. Did he make horrible tactical moves? Yes. Does he continue to exacerbate a bad situation in the Middle East? Yes. Has anyone proposed a COMPREHENSIVE plan for (a) eliminating terrorism, (b) keeping peace in the Middle East, and (c) protecting us from similar attacks? NO. He was a dealt a bad hand, and played it horribly. As a poker analogy, he was dealt 82o and following two raises, pushed all-in because he didn't know how to play it.

You guys hate Bush. We get it. Feeding off each other's anger isn't a solution.

[Chris Kessel]

>A good political party, no matter which one it is, UNITES the country, or am I naive to still believe that?

A good party does perhaps, but apparently not a successful one. Successful parties seem to create a wedge that puts people firmly in their camp by creating a hate for their opposition, which in turn allows the part to do whatever they want.

This mythical "good" party wouldn't do whatever they want or they'd lose power, hence, they aren't a successful party.