American Law

Ok, I really hadn't planned on writing anything today, and I know that I already commented on this story, but the more I find out, the more pissed off I get. So I guess I'm gonna vent.

This whole story with the secret CIA death squad is absolutely infuriating to me. Here's the basic story, for those who don't know. Recently, CIA Director Leon Panneta informed Congress that the CIA had been running a secret counterterrorism unit that reported only to former VP Dick Cheney. As soon as he found out, Panneta informed Congress. This is bad because anything that the CIA does is supposed to be reported to Congress, by law. This is called oversight. It's part of on the foundations of our government, the balance of powers. Now, I have a deep respect for the laws of this country, and I believe nobody is exempt from them. Not you, not me, not George Bush, not Barack Obama. Anyone who breaks a law should be punished. Especially if they break them willingly. The fact that Cheney decided he was above our Constitution pisses me off to no end. Obviously, if Cheney felt the need to conceal it from a Republican-majority Congress, then he must have been doing something wrong. Let me play out a scenario for you. Reportedly, this unit was built to conduct secret operations inside other countries, and we weren't planning on informing the other countries that we had a unit inside their borders. So, lets say that this unit is sent on a mission deep inside North Korea. During their operation, they are discovered and captured. North Korea would undoubtably consider an armed American military unit in their country an act of war. Before we had any clue what was happening, North Korea would have all the reason they ever needed to start shooting nuclear bombs at our west coast. Even if we beat North Korea in a long-term war, we have severe devastation on out west coast, and our standing with the rest of the world is permanently damaged. This is bad, because regardless of what some right-wingers want you to believe, we cannot survive as a country if we have no allies. We have to be on good terms with other countries, for security and trade reasons, among other things. I am sick and tired of hearing a new story every week reporting that the Bush Administraion broke another law. This shows an utter lack of disrespect for the country I love and cherish, and the fact that someone we elected to office decided he wasn't gonna play by the rules is humiliating. We chastise and criticize countries where rulers ignore their own laws. But for the past eight years, we were no better than any of these countries. I am tired of America being seen as a bad guy in so much of the world. I long for the days I read about in history books, when Amercia was respected and looked upon as a paragon of virtue and all that was good. This argument also applies to torture. According to the Geneva Treaty, which we helped write and sign, torture is illegal. Not only is torture illegal, but it is wrong. I don't care who is in custody, no one should be tortured. It is an immoral practice. If it wasn't, we wouldn't debate it. And if you don't buy the morality issue, look at it this way: if the country we are fighting sees that we are ok with torturing their guys, what do you think they will do to our soldiers? We have an obligation, as the biggest and most influential country on the planet, to hold ourselves to a higher standard than torture. As I recently heard a minister say, "Who would Jesus torture?"
I absolutely dare anyone to argue with me about any of this. Because I know that I am on the moral highground on this issue. Torture is wrong. Lying is wrong. You cannot debate this. You also cannot debate the fact that Republicans consistently brand themselves as morally higher than the rest. But after torture, lying, extramarital affairs, and a war that was initiated by the use of deceit and backstabbing, I am begining to wonder where morality actually resides in our country.

Palin: A Comedy of Errors

Time for part 2 of my extra long weekend post. Just a couple subjects on tap here.

PALIN

For a little comic relief, I give you Sarah Palin and everyone around her! I know, that's an old and unfunny joke at this point, but that is what this situation feels like anymore. Lets look at how this comedy of errors is playing out: First, underqualified, semi-intelligent, fanatical woman is somehow elected governor of Alaska. Next, aforementioned governor proceeds to bend ethics and laws to her liking, while somehow convincing everyone she is fighting corruption. Then, fading presidential nominee pins her as running mate to (successfully) inject life into failing campaign. Governor-turned-VP nominee proceeds to bolster conservative base while alienating moderates, including the people running the campaign. Her lack of curiosity, low work ethic, and non-understanding of issues makes her the butt of jokes across the country. After the election, instead of laying low and buffing up on issues in anticipation of a potential 2012 presidential bid, she makes the rounds of the speaking circuit and develops a public feud with a late-night comedian, while alienating her few remaining political allies. Then, in a move that leaves everyone and their dog shaking their head, she resigns from the governorship with a rambling, semi-intelligible news conference with honking geese as her backing vocals. She spends the next week defending herself with the tired talking point, "I'm not a quitter, I'm a fighter," despite the fact she just quit her job that she was elected to. If it were a play, it might be funny. But this is an actual person we are talking about. It's almost sad at this point. And now she's in a spat with the father of her teenage daughter's baby, who she tried to force into marriage. Once again, I can only shake my head. The silver lining here? At least she's not running a state anymore.
By the way, if you haven't read the Vanity Fair article about Palin, you really need to. You can find it at the Vanity Fair website, titled "It Came From Wasilla."

CIA, CONGRESS, AND WIRETAPPING

Lots of developments coming from this front. The CIA and certain members of Congress are at odds over a public letter from six House Democrats addressed to CIA Director Leon Panetta. According to the Dems, Panetta admitted in a hearing that the CIA had misled Congress in the past. The CIA is obligated, under the National Security Act of 1947, to inform Congress of everything it does. Now it is being reported that the issue being discussed here is a secret counterterrorism operation that answered only to former VP Dick Cheney. Apparently, even Panetta didn't know about this operation until recently, and immediately ordered it's termination upon finding out about it. He also immediately informed Congress of the operation's existence. Also, a CIA report was unclassified that tells that President Bush personally authorized warrantless wiretapping. Not only this, but to get approval, he skipped getting Attorney General John Ashcroft to sign off, because Ashcroft was in the hospital recovering from surgery. OK, lets check these out one-by-one. First, what ever happened to the balance of powers and Congressional oversight in the CIA? Did the Bush administration decide it would follow the rules only when it felt like it? When the CIA decides it is gonna do what it wants, without telling anyone, and the White House is OK with that, who is to stop them from doing something illegal? This also vindicates House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who received criticism from the right for claiming that CIA misled her. Sounds like she was telling the truth. And Panetta didn't really deny the allegations. He simply issued a statement stating that "it's not the policy of the CIA to mislead Congress" Not exactly a scathing denial. We know it's not the CIA's policy, but policy and reality seem to have differed considerably over the last eight years. As for the connections to Bush-Cheney, this only confirms what many have suspected about the Bush Administration (and VP Cheney in particular) for a long time. It's really scary that even the CIA director didn't know about it. This ties in with the CIA failing to inform Congress of their acts. Apparently nobody knows what is going on in Langley. Except Dick Cheney. (Now that's a scary thought!) Finally, the fact that Bush was personally involved with the wiretapping is not a big shocker, at least to this observer. This is also very deja vu-like, considering the new Nixon Tapes, in which Nixon also personally authorizes wiretapping. Good example to follow. This could be a big blow to the former administration if a federal prosecutor decides to pursue charges. Regardless, many conservatives will argue that the the former president had every right to do things like this, considering the war on terror. No, you are wrong. The president never has the right to do these things. This undermines our laws and the Constitution. If Republicans love the Constitution as much as they say, they will stop trying to rip it to shreds over anything that concerns national security. Follow the laws. That is what they are there for.

Well, time to wrap this up. As a parting note, two quick, ridiculous stories. Governor Rick Perry of Texas (he of secessionist fame) has nominated as his new secretary of education someone who in the past said that public education was unconstitutional and communistic. Good job, Gov. Perry, you are making everyone proud. In your new nation that you want to form, will all education be outlawed? Can we just give this guy a patch of land somewhere far away to call his own, so we can get him out of our hair? Also, goodbye to Sen. Roland Burris of Illinois. The embattled senator, appointed by disgraced former governor Rod Blagojevich, has announced he will not pursue re-election. Thank God.

Coming Monday, the confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor. I am looking forward to it, and personally, I have no doubt she will be confirmed easily, making Monday a mere formality. More on this subject sometime in the next few days. Also, I may delve into the Republican sex scandals and the mysterious religious tying Ensign and Sanford together. If I can figure it out. Very shady, very interesting.

Thank you for sticking with me through this long-winded post; I promise they won't all be this long, this weekend was just one of those times. I'll be back within the next few days!