In Memoriam
by sarabeth at 6:00 am on September 29th, 2006 in Bush Man Date, War on TerrorTwo hundred and nineteen years ago (almost to the day), the founding fathers put together not just some shining prose for the ages, but they crafted the finest manifesto for living as a society that the world has ever been able to put together. (This is the document that some of us, at least, revere as the Constitution.)
When George W. Bush assumed office, this magnificent foundation of freedom and equality and liberty and justice, and the edifice constructed upon it, had stood for two hundred and thirteen years, and had come to represent our bedrock values, our national identity. Quite simply, it told us who we are. And who we thought we would forever be.
George Bush – may future generations never utter his name without saying a very bad word and then spitting* – took just six years to bring the whole edifice tumbling down.
So who are we today, now that we have legalized torture, now that we have legalized Soviet-style state tyranny? Does anybody know?
The President of the United States can now (or as soon as he stops jumping up and down and signs the document that comes to his desk) take anyone he wants – foreign citizen, legal resident, U.S. citizen – and just declare them to be an unlawful enemy combatant, and stick them into jail for the rest of their lives, without ever bringing charges. And they will have exactly as much recourse as the Soviet man-on-the-street had in the days of Stalin. Or a little less than Chinese dissidents have today.
Who are we now, if not our own worst nightmare?
As Glenn Greenwald put it, this bill is
a profound betrayal …of the fundamental promises of the American system of government.
It was for this that people of my generation endured those drills at school, that endless rehearsal of ducking under desks so that when the time came (it was always when, right, not if?) we would be able to escape the Red menace’s nuclear radiation? It infected us anyway, didn’t it? After the self-destruction of the Soviet empire, we, of our own free will, have voted their worst excesses into law? Our law now.
Even they never had the brazenry to make it the law, it was just what they did anyway, off the record. So now, we’re actually out-Sovieting the Soviets. I guess it’s true. U.S.A., U.S.A., U.S.A.! Number 1, baby (Hi Mom!)!
The America we used to be, the America we thought we were, no longer exists. That America was invaded a long time ago. We didn’t realize it at the time, but preparations for the assault began on September 12, 2001. Maybe the invasion itself was launched on March 19, 2003 (which is, of course, the day that Iraq was invaded). Every step on the way to launching the invasion of Iraq was a step to launching the invasion of the America we used to be.
On September 28, 2006, on the floor of the Senate, that America was finally vanquished. We are now under occupation. We are now, officially, an oppressed people. Like oppressed people everywhere, we are going to have to learn to sing the praises of our oppressors. So join me, please, in a chorus of “Heil to the Chief!”
It is the duty of every American who used to believe in that lost America, and still does, to resist this occupation. Fight it, tooth and nail, in your heart. Fight it, hammer and tongs, at the ballot box. Let’s tell all these spineless bastards who we are, the Democrats as much as the Republicans. Let’s tell them who they need to be if they want to represent us.
* Till somebody comes up with something better, I suggest that just as devout Muslims cannot say Mohammed without adding Peace Be Upon Him, anyone who still believes in the America we used to be should replace the words “George Bush” in their vocabulary with “George Bush (the motherf***ing spineless lying coward bastard), spit”. I will henceforth use the abbreviation TMSLCBS.
InTheMiddle wrote:
The American collapse started way before Bush…. You realize how many governments exist in the US? You realize how broke you are? Your debt has been running the country, not the presidents.
Bush is just a pawn, just like other presidents before him….. Americans tend to forget the past mistakes of their government and blame current events for all things bad….
Posted 29 Sep 2006 at 9:01 am ¶
matt wrote:
least apt comment ever.
Posted 29 Sep 2006 at 9:20 am ¶
AndresB wrote:
Do you think this new bill will make it to the Supreme Court, and what will they do with it if it does ( I mean for god’s sake, it tosses out habeas corpus!)?
Posted 29 Sep 2006 at 1:34 pm ¶
sarabeth wrote:
Undoubtedly. But it may take a while for it to get there. They handed down the Hamdan judgment by a 5-4 margin. If Bush gets to make one more Supreme Court appointment by the time this law shows up there — which is not improbable — don’t be too surprised if the Supreme Court rubber-stamps it.
Of course, if the Democrats get control of the Senate they could block a questionable Supreme Court appointment. But it really doesn’t seem very likely that they will get control of the Senate.
Like I said in the other post, the judiciary is the last remaining hope. But not a terribly strong one, I don’t think.
Posted 29 Sep 2006 at 1:51 pm ¶
Derrell wrote:
I concur — lifetime appointments in the judiciary are all that’s standing in their way. I also agree that their hope is that by the time this gets to the Supreme Court, it might be stacked in their favor. Regardless, the fact that it was rushed through now in the closing days of the 109th Congress says there’s still some worry they might lose control after the mid-terms. Because either they had to do it now because they might lose, or else they thought they needed it for political reasons leading into the mid-terms. Either way, that speaks to a worry about the elections. That’s a positive sign. Now a true cynic might just say that they’re not all in on “it” and those that are are more than willing to continue with an illusion of democracy, hence the “rush” to vote on this. Beat’s me. :-)
Cases take a year or more to make it to the Supreme Court, so they probably only need to “win” one more Presidential election to be able to stack the court. The next two elections seem likely to decide the fate of our quaint experiment as a constitutional republic. If the Republicans retain control of Congress this fall or “win” the Presidency again in 2008, we’re toast.
Then again, we’re toast on so many levels right now. When the now crumbling housing bubble turns into freefall by the end of next year, it’s going to generate either massive inflation or a serious recession. Combine that with perpetual war, historic levels of debt and a massive trade imbalance with Asia, and we’ve got a seriously bad time ahead of us as a nation. I think that’s why the cabal is rushing to get their fascist tools in place; Cheney’s junta isn’t stupid, they’re evil and Bush is just a sadistic poser who’s along for the ride.
Worse than Watergate indeed. At least Nixon cared about our country and its place in history. At least Nixon was actually President. Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld/Gonzales/Rove et al. should be tried at the Hague for War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity. At the very least they deserve to be impeached and tried in the US criminal justice system for running a crime syndicate out of the White House, Justice Department, IRS, DoD, and whatever other part of the government they’ve infected.
Posted 29 Sep 2006 at 3:02 pm ¶
sarabeth wrote:
They are obviously seriously concerned about losing the House, but most crystal-ball-gazers are not predicting a Democratic takeover of the Senate. So even if their fears are realized, and they lose the House, Democrats may still not be able to block a Supreme Court appointment.
Justice Stevens is 86, so Bush could get to nominate one more Supreme Court justice.
Posted 29 Sep 2006 at 3:26 pm ¶
rks wrote:
I wonder how many law abiding citizens have been snagged so far… did anyone bother to actually read the bill before revealing it’s ‘horrors’?
Sec. 948c. Persons subject to military commissions
`Any alien unlawful enemy combatant engaged in hostilities or having supported hostilities against the United States is subject to trial by military commission as set forth in this chapter.`
“(1) ALIEN.–The term `alien’ means an individual who is not a citizen of the United States.
Posted 29 Sep 2006 at 9:59 pm ¶
sarabeth wrote:
You might want to also read some of the commentaries by respected legal scholars who have not just read the bill closely but thought carefully about the meaning of the whole thing.
There is wide agreement that the fine print allows the government to also grab U.S. citizens.
Posted 30 Sep 2006 at 4:55 am ¶
Programmer wrote:
I’m curious. Could the lawyer of the person charged with covering up the killing of the 14-yr old girl use this law to claim immunity ? After all, he didn’t commit rape or murder himself.
Posted 01 Oct 2006 at 1:33 pm ¶
sarabeth wrote:
Not unless he has friends in high places who can produce paperwork showing that she and her family had been designated unlawful enemy combatants prior to the rape-murders.
Also, only the government gets to weild this law or hide behind it. Immunity is only for the CIA’s questioning minds or high administration officials engaged in official acts.
Posted 01 Oct 2006 at 3:26 pm ¶
Bob wrote:
“We are now, officially, an oppressed people.”
You’re now officially out of your mind. However, luckily, even being under this horrible, horrible oppression, you still have the freedom to get the fuck out. I suggest you use it. We’ll all be much happier.
Posted 01 Oct 2006 at 10:25 pm ¶
sarabeth wrote:
Will we also be blessed by your thoughts on the Mark Foley thing?
Posted 02 Oct 2006 at 4:42 am ¶
sac wrote:
Fantastic commentary on upholding our (former?) principles in the face of ultimate evil. We’ve fallen far since then.
Posted 02 Oct 2006 at 7:41 am ¶
Bob wrote:
“Will we also be blessed by your thoughts on the Mark Foley thing?”
Mark foley and his ilk are why we have laws. He’ll get what he deserves.
Posted 02 Oct 2006 at 8:23 am ¶
Bob wrote:
“Fantastic commentary on upholding our (former?) principles in the face of ultimate evil. We’ve fallen far since then.”
Except that Nuremberg happened after the war was over, whereas during the course of the war we regularly arrested, tried, and executed German soldiers in the field under “military tribunals”. They didn’t even have the benefit of being sent to the US to be tried by somewhat impartial military judges - instead they were often tried and executed by the very people whom they had just been attacking. Yet you’re right, even under those conditions we were “upholding our principles” because we believed in punishing those who committed crimes against us, and we did so without hesitation. Your dreams of impartiality on the other hand are nothing more than pleasant delusions told to western children in order to make them feel warm and fuzzy about the sacrifices made in WW2. In reality, WW2 was horrid, barbaric, and certainly involved more atrocities and “crimes” than any other war in recent history.
Posted 02 Oct 2006 at 8:31 am ¶