Twelfth Bough

i run my own damn think tank

Archive for November 1st, 2007

My Oath is Better than Your Oath

Nov 1

Posted by Marlena in Bush/Cheney, Injustice, Iraq, Military | No Comments

Where to begin? The diplomatic ranks had a contentious meeting Wednesday because some of them will be ordered to serve in Iraq against their wishes. They consider the order a potential death sentence.

Diplomats are generally not known for flying off the handle. I guess the foreign service really does not believe that The Surge Is Working, or else they wouldn’t be staging a public mutiny.

Rice, who did not attend the meeting, was also making clear in the cable that foreign service officers have an obligation to uphold the oaths they took to carry out the policies of the government and be available to serve anywhere in the world, McCormack said.

Rich! Unlike HER BOSS, who also took an oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States, Condi does not neglect to remind these people of their obligations. Apparently some oaths are mandatory, like the ones that diplomats and soldiers take, and some are optional, like the ones the rulers of the “free” world take. Did you know this? I did not know this.

Not to be outdone in the compassioning and reminding…

At the White House, press secretary Dana Perino told reporters that President Bush understood the diplomats’ concerns but believed that both Rice and the foreign service would be able to handle the challenge in Iraq.

“The president understands that at a time of war it is distressing for some individuals to serve in those areas,” she said. “The president is concerned, but he also has confidence that Secretary Rice will handle this matter in a way that is caring for the people at the foreign service, but also ensures that the mission that the United States is on is supplemented by the foreign service officers who took an oath in order to serve their country.”

See, he understands it’s Distressing to serve in those areas. He is Concerned. But, duty calls! You go work it out downstairs now. Or, in laymen’s terms, you could think of this more like a very disparaging remark or gesture. You know what I mean. The Diplomats will definitely understand, because their job is to read between the lines.

And to top off this hypocrisy dessert, some delicious wing-nut sprinkles:

Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., the House Armed Services Committee’s top Republican, said he intends to suggest that diplomats who refuse to serve in Iraq be replaced by wounded veterans.

“Let’s replace these reluctant Nellies with America’s finest citizens,” he said in a statement. “Our wounded warriors will serve our country efficiently, effectively and with undying patriotism.”

Yes, please do suggest that. I’m sure that wounded veterans would like nothing better than the privilege of going back to Iraq to serve with “undying” patriotism. I mean that’s the way you thank people for their service.

Update: Via Froomkin, Some ideas about what George can do after he’s done presidentin.

“Three hundred and sixty-five days a year, in the wind and snow of winter and the heat and humidity of summer, let him tend to the graves of the almost 4,000 men and women who have given their lives in the debacle of Iraq. They honored their oaths, obeyed their commander-in-chief and sacrificed their lives of promise to a lying, unprincipled warmonger.

“He can begin at the grave of my grandson, Lcpl Jonathan W. Collins, killed in action on 8/8/2004.”

Waterboarding

Nov 1

Posted by Marlena in Bush/Cheney, Military, Torture | No Comments

This man makes so much sense it just astounds me. We hardly ever see this kind of public integrity anymore.

Waterboarding is torture. It’s not simulated torture, it is real torture.

We live at a time where Americans, completely uninformed by an incurious media and enthralled by vengeance-based fantasy television shows like “24”, are actually cheering and encouraging such torture as justifiable revenge for the September 11 attacks. Having been a rescuer in one of those incidents and personally affected by both attacks, I am bewildered at how casually we have thrown off the mantle of world-leader in justice and honor. Who we have become? Because at this juncture, after Abu Ghraieb and other undignified exposed incidents of murder and torture, we appear to have become no better than our opponents.

With regards to the waterboard, I want to set the record straight so the apologists can finally embrace the fact that they condone and encourage torture.

He goes on to make the following points:

1. Waterboarding is absolutely torture.

2. It’s not a simulation because water really does go into the victim’s lungs. It causes death by drowning.

3. Supporting its use on anyone means supporting its use on Americans.

4. Torture does not work as a means of collecting good intelligence. Victims will say anything to make the torture stop.

Who is this guy?

In a further embarrassment for Mr Bush yesterday, Malcolm Nance, an advisor on terrorism to the US departments of Homeland Security, Special Operations and Intelligence, publicly denounced the practice. He revealed that waterboarding is used in training at the US Navy’s Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape School in San Diego, and claimed to have witnessed and supervised “hundreds” of waterboarding exercises. Although these last only a few minutes and take place under medical supervision, he concluded that “waterboarding is a torture technique – period”.

It appears that Mr. Nance has caused a bit of a kerfluffle in Bushworld, and CIA Director Michael Hayden had to try and tamp it all down by saying that waterboarding has only been used a few times. I mean, come on people. What’s the big deal? But Michael Mukasey, Bush’s nominee for AG, is having to answer for it too. And he refuses to say whether he thinks it’s illegal.

Instead, he called the technique “repugnant to me” and promised to investigate further if he was confirmed in the job. [meaningless] He explained that he could not say yet whether the practice was illegal because he had not been briefed on the secret methods of US interrogators and he did not want to put the CIA officers who used it in “personal legal jeopardy”. [dodge]

Which is simply to say that he has no intention of answering that question because Bush has no intention of stopping torture. Next week we find out whether he gets the job.

Many, many additional links re: torture can be found after Nance’s post.

For Your Consideration

Nov 1

Posted by Marlena in Economy, Injustice, Sustainability | No Comments

This gentleman, Karl Denniger, has a petition and he is looking for signers. First he has a rant, and a pretty good one.

We all go grocery shopping and we all buy gasoline. This winter your heating bill is going up - way up. Democrats in Congress have repeatedly blamed “greedy oil companies” over the last several years for the increases in the price of energy.

The truth is more complicated than that. By encouraging the “Wall Street Casino” through inappropriately low interest rates commodity prices - that is, oil, wheat, soybeans, orange juice, milk and metals - have all shot up in price at an incredible pace. This is real inflation and it hits you right where you live - in your food and energy bills. Yes, your computer and blue jeans are cheaper to buy, because some sweatshop in China makes them for you - a peasant who is paid 20 cents/hour sews those jeans. But those low interest rates have destroyed the value of our dollar, and those commodities, while priced in dollars, are largely mined and produced in other nations. As a result their price rises. Gasoline didn’t go from $1 to $3 because of greedy oil companies; it rose because you were lied to by your government and led to believe that a 1% interest rate was “good for our nation”, when in fact it was only good for a few Wall Street fat cats, while your grocery bill has doubled in the last seven years. And while computers are cheaper, you can’t eat them!

You know what the truth is in this matter. Look at your grocery bill. How much has milk gone up in price over the last six months? Cheese? Eggs? Meat? Soda? These are not “exotic” things; they are items your family consumes each and every day. “Greedy oil companies” didn’t cause Milk to go sky-high in price.

Alan Greenspan, now Ben Bernanke, and The Fed did that through inappropriate monetary policy, which led to devaluation of our currency and a resulting rise in commodity prices when measured in dollars.

Of course, the price of oil does also affect the price of these commodities because oil is a major factor of production and delivery. And the oil companies have stopped investing in power, plant and equipment because what’s the point investing in a dying industry? They operate in profit-taking, declining industry mode. (I thought this was rather amusing.) But he’s talking about monetary policy. That’s bad, too. Anyway, these things are all connected. The fact is we are getting screwed nine ways till Sunday, making it easier for responsible parties to point fingers at each other and absolve themselves.

Meanwhile, The Boston Globe returned it’s front page to world series events and ran a downright bleak story on heating oil prices. There’s no candy-coating this one. People are terrified, already cutting back on food in anticipation of trying to afford to stay warm and eat. One middle class family (self-employed carpenter and schoolteacher) is on track to spend $5,700 to heat their house this winter. That’s a lot of money. The article goes into some detail explaining how strong global demand, tight supplies and the fear of something happening have all been driving crude prices upward. Local dealers can no longer forecast costs accurately and therefore, many have stopped offering season contracts at fixed rates.

Wages flat, prices of everything up, massive debt, dollar weak, federal fuel assistance cut…This country is standing at the brink of economic disaster. The next time I see some suit on tv talking happy talk about the economy and the market, I think I will just gag. This is reality for far too many people:

Ellen Sdrollas of West Roxbury lives with her 17-year-old son on a $635-a-month disability check. Even with the new state money, they will likely receive less than $500 in fuel assistance for the winter. Last year, they suffered through a month of midwinter without heat, huddling around a gas oven while they scraped together money to fill the oil tank. Now, she despairs at how long they might go without heat this winter.

“I just don’t know what to do,” said Sdrollas, 51. “We barely eat already.”

At what point do we all understand what’s going on here? The middle class is being systematically destroyed. No middle class, no America.