The CIA’s torture teachers: Communist China

Continuing our theme from Independence Day, let’s talk about freedoms and rights. For those such as Alan Dershowitz who advocate such things as torture warrants, or for simple apologists for the Bush administration’s shameful behavior, now comes this little ditty from the New York Times about how the CIA took a crash course in rough interregation techniques for Guantanamo Bay just after the Towers came down. What they probably didn’t know was that the material was derived from a 1957 Chinese training manual that an airforce psychologist discredited as generating false confessions. Of course, even if the method did work, we now know who this administration turns to for guidance: a discredited regime used by a form of government we despised. This brings me to a point that I’ve always believed: fasism, communism, whatever: each can be used to subjugate citizens in just the same manner. It’s just a slightly different rationale. Yes, that says that it can and has happened in the United States, and it goes back to what Benjamin Franklin said: Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. We’ve already seen that U.S. Senator Kit Bond was a perfect example. Of course, Franklin was defending against a different King George.

With our King George and in this case, we have to worry about what moral authority we have lost. Those Americans who happen to be abroad and in the wrong place and the wrong time will be the sorry beneficiaries of this president’s legacy.

Happy Independence Day!

fireworks Happy Fourth of July! 232 years ago, descendants of peopel seeking religious freedom declared that they would not be subjugated from afar by a tyrant and his parliament.

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.

Thomas Jefferson, The Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776

Since then nearly every government in the world has recognized the basic right to have a say in how one is governed, excepting of course Iran, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Zimbabwe, North Korea, China, Russia, and the United States. Even as he wrote those words, Jefferson held slaves on his property. It would take another eighty-nine years for black people to be free, and another 92 years for their children to go to the same schools as white people, and another 51 years for them to have the first black national candidate for president on one of the major party tickets.

Put another way, Jefferson lied. He did not hold those truths to be self-evident. People had to fight for them every step of the way, starting with patriots in the American revolution, continuing for the rights of black people during the Civil War. When we do not stand up for their rights of others, we lose our ability to defend our own rights. The examples are shameful. In Germany, nobody stood for others’ rights and the result was a world war and a holocaust that afflicted all of Europe, while back in America we once again jailed our fellow Americans because of the color of their skin.

Now in America we see another group once again fighting for their rights. That a person is gay does not offend my rights as an individual. Even were I to find homosexuality offensive in some way (which I do not), we as Americans have the right to offend. And we do it as early and as often as we can. Only heaven help the person who does it to us. The tyranny of the majority part of human nature, and requires each of us to check ourselves about our beliefs. And so, when Californians go to the polls in November, they will have a choice: indulge their bigotries and impose their will on a minority of people who merely want to the same treatment as others, or stand up for a group who has always held fast that they too are Americans and can and should do their part as patriots.

The tyranny of the majority doesn’t stop at race or sexual orientation, but is rooted in America in religion. George W. Bush is President of the United States in large part because he galvanized a group of people who wished to impose their religious values on all of us, and he and they have been remarkably successful. The Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, an organization that gives money to churches, has been held to be constitutional, while school vouchers have stripped away disparately needed money from improving public education. It is not Muslims who need to fear for their rights, but those of us who want nothing at all to do with religion. Can you imagine a presidential candidate, never mind a president, who did not end every speech with “God Bless America”? Our founders saw this fear and clearly placed freedom of religion in the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights.

Today is not also the anniversary of our founding, but also the 182nd anniversary of the deaths of Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. Those who believe that partisanship is an invention of the late 20th century should take the time to read John Adams, by David McCullough, in which he describes the bitter battle between then opponents in 1800. That particular bit of rivalry led to the historic decision of Marbury v. Madison in 1803. Our rivalries are as the framers intended, meant to spur good government. Whether that goal is met today is an open and fair question.

What is the difference between a Democrat and a Republican?

The administration has reached a deal with the House and the Senate to extend its domestic spying powers. Something the administration insisted upon was language that forgave service providers for having betrayed their customers’ trust by revealing what was thought to be privileged information without a warrant. The administration argues that they need the power to catch terrorists. However, the controls that are put in place, not only in law but in our Constitution are there to protect us, and not terrorists. Richard Nixon was a big fan of domestic spying and famously abused the NSA’s capabilities for his own political purposes. We see today that corrupt governments all over the world abuse their positions. By definition the power of a sovereign overwhelms individuals. This was recognized as far back as the Magna Carta, but furthered through the writing of our own Constitution and Bill of Rights, which enumerated the power of government, and reserved all other powers to the States or the people. Today’s Supreme Court has nearly lost sight of that for fear that we might be attacked by terrorists. There are worse things than being attacked by terrorists. Kit Bond, a leading House Republican said last week, “When the government tells you to do something I think you all recognize that is something you need to do.” That is dictatorship, not democracy.

But it gets worse. By forgiving the service providers, the Congress has said that it is okay to break the law if you’re a big enough company with powerful enough lobbyist, so long as you do it with the blessing of the current government. “We’ll clean up your mess.” That says that laws only matter to individuals and organizations that cannot afford to pay.

Republican Congress passing the extension of such intrusive laws would have been expected, as President Bush pretty much had his way with them. With the Democrats, the calculus is very different. First, they do not want to be labeled soft on terrorism, for fear they’ll alienate their right flank. Furthermore, while the press is reporting that the Democrats don’t want to make this a campaign issue, what they really don’t want is for a President Obama to have to have to address the matter. And so they’ve all but adopted the Republican position.

Not so nearly unrelated as you might think, Social Security is the 3rd rail of politics, and yet as everyone knows the fund will run out of money, and is desperate need of restructuring. If the Republicans attempt to do it, they get beat over the head by folks such as the AARP and others for trying to remake it in a way they would like. Just as it took Nixon to go to China, it will take the Democrats to restructure Social Security. And yet they won’t for fear of giving up one of the best potential campaign issues. Thus nothing happens, no matter who is in office.

I expect principled leadership. In both houses of Congress I see none. Government has to be about more than just the Abortion Battle and the Gulf War. It has to be about understanding the liberties we Americans had (I really can’t say “have”) and protecting, or restoring, them. The people who landed in Jamestown sought freedom from established orthodoxy. Were they alive today they would turn over in their graves to see what we have recreated.

So, what is the difference between a Democrat and a Republican in reality? Answer: not much.

Oil

Gasoline Pump Anyone not under a rock can’t help but notice the price of oil having skyrocketed. $4.00 per gallon prices may seem like a lot, and indeed they are compared to what they were, and so President Bush has decided to wage a war to attempt to get domestic production up. That means drilling off the shores of Florida and California and in the ANWR National Reserve in Alaska.

It’s a smooth political move. He figures now that prices are high he can play this card. However, many economists would disagree that this would do a thing to bring down the cost of oil. First of all, many believe that speculators are stepping in and buying up oil and storing it, thus driving up demand. These guys have a lot of money and might well be able to absorb any increased supply. The proof is what happened when Saudi Arabia announced that it would increase oil production by 200,000 barrels per day. Prices went up. The fact is that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission has been asleep at the wheel. These people are responsible for keeping speculators in check, and where they fail, we could sink speculators hard by selling lots futures from the Strategic Petrolium Reserve. That would really stick it to them.

But even if prices had gone down, the increased retrieval of oil doesn’t translate into the increased production of gasoline, as we are driving our refineries to capacity. Building new refineries in the United States is as popular as drilling, because it is a messy business with serious environmental consequences. You can trust me on this: I come from New Jersey, home of toxic waste.

Fortunately the President’s efforts (and by extension those of Senator McCain) to spoil our shores and Alaska are transparent. Unfortunately, our energy dependence problem will not go away any time soon.

In case you’re wondering, yes I am insulated just a bit by the oil increases. A small fraction of those increases have come from the weakened dollar. However, the dollar has stablized but oil prices have not. The way I am more insulated than I was in California is that I now have a commute from upstairs to downstairs instead of a 120 mile round trip commute. This is better than a Prius, but sometimes lack of colleague contact is a problem.

But our house is heated with oil, and many of the products we use require energy to create.