Category: politics

Today, in 1863, Abraham Lincoln gave one of the most important speeches in this country’s history after the worst battle in the history of the United States.\
I love reading it. It’s profound, and in a few words, explains what’s truly great about this country. Not that we fight or disagree, but that we believe that the ideals this country was founded on is worth fighting for, that freedom is worth fighting for.\
<blockquote>
<p>Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.</p>
<p>Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.</p>
<p>But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate – we cannot consecrate – we cannot hallow – this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us – that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion – that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain – that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom – and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.</p>
</blockquote>

This makes no sense to me: NY to allow illegal immigrants to get drivers license. I’m not anti-illegal immigrant, but this change is asinine; it reads like an 8th grade social studies project. I can’t believe educated, professional, adults came up with this plan and other educated, professional, adults agreed to it. Just… GAH! The government is stupid.\
If anyone needs me I will be returning to my “head-in-the-sand” state of existence. I was much happier and less frustrated there. Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 2, here I come!

I am honestly confused by an article I read this morning: US Sailor: Don’t deport my wife. I thought that people married to US citizens got to stay in the US regardless of their status, unless something else was going on (fake marriage, criminal from elsewhere). So, what’s up with the possibility that this woman, and many more like her, could be deported? Does the law state that the husband and wife have to live together? That is the only thing I can fathom that would make the wife’s future unknown, since obviously she and her husband can’t live together while he is serving in Iraq. If that is the case, how frakin’ easy would it be to change this stupid law as it applies to military personnel? Why is it causing such a ruckus? Come on, stupid government, fix this teeny tiny little problem and let’s move on to tougher issues.

Here is my free-flowing account of the Stop the War/Impeach Bush protest held on Saturday in DC. You can read Salon’s coverage here. I really appreciated the opportunity (and knowing about it beforehand) so that I could do something. I’ve been feeling so powerless lately that shouting for a day made me feel better. Having never been to anything like this before, it was a great learning experience.\
I went with friends which made the experience very enjoyable, as there was a lot of waiting, standing around, and walking. It was part neighborhood festival, part sight-seeing tour, and part social studies lesson. We people-watched. We listened to the speakers. We marched. We had nice conversations with those around us. We looked at and appreciated cool buildings (the White House looks so much smaller in person, I guess tv really does add ten pounds). We took a ton of pictures of us and the other protesters. We chatted and caught up with each other as well as discussed the different topics of the day. We chanted and took turns holding up a sign that read, “Support the Troops: Bring them home now.” I wondered where Susan Sarandon was.\
Seeing the different homemade signs was cool, funny, and poignant. One sign read, “Fighting for peace is like fucking for virginity.” Some called the war a class war and others asked how many gallons of oil a liter of blood was worth. Some signs were dedicated to dead soldiers. Some called Bush and Cheney evil (“Cheney/Voldemort ’08” is the one I remember the best). A lot of signs called for impeachment (which, thank you). Most signs reflected the idea of supporting the troops AND ending the war. One sign read, “Read Chomsky.” My favorite sign was “Supporting peace is not unpatriotic.”\
There was a big age range of participants, everyone from grandparents to students and a handful of kids and tots. There was a Santa; a guy in camo, smeared in fake blood; a 12 foot tall figure dressed as war; a fake Bush and Cheney or two. Tons of veterans. A lot of out-of-towners. There were a few tourists who happened to wander into our midst as they tried to cross the street against the mass. A lot of older women. A lot of banners that went off of the “stop the Iraq war” agenda (as did some of the speakers), which led to me wondering what kind of tangents were raised at the Civil Rights march where King made his famous speech (Maybe, “BTW, school lunches suck”?).\
There are estimates that one million Iraqis have been killed.\
Ramsey Clark, former Attorney General, and the head of ImpeachBush.org, listed some of the reasons for impeachment:

• Criminal negligence after Katrina.
• Intentionally and knowingly LYING to the people, Congress, and the world about reasons for war.
• Detaining American citizens without charges or counsel. (Hello, Constitution? Where are you?)
• Sanctioning torture.
• Illegal wire-tapping, illegally ignoring judicial authority. (Yoo-hoo, Constitution? Still can’t find you.)
• Attorney General/Gonzales firings scandal.\
  Cindy Sheehan talked about how she “retired” from this, and it was heartbreaking to hear. After all her efforts, she felt like nothing was being accomplished. People would march and yell and then go home and watch a football game. (I wonder how my fantasy football team did. The Redskins are playing tonight- Woot!) She came back though and encouraged everyone to participate in more civil disobedience. She wanted us to “stand up and lie down!” She also encouraged soldiers to refuse to fight. Which, no. That is a capital offense.\
  There was a lot of questioning of the government, Bush, Cheney, Pelosi, Obama, and Congress. There was a lot of “preaching to the choir”. (But the crowd drew the media, so I guess some of the speeches were a good thing.) There was a teeny tiny bit of harsh words exchanged with the anti-anti-war people, but not by me. One of the anti-anti-war signs read, “Casey Sheehan would be on our side”. See how I was nice and didn’t call them pro-war? There was one guy- one!-selling soft pretzels and cold water right in the middle of the marchers’ path. As we were listening to the speeches and then marching, I couldn’t see the end of the people, even when higher up. There were so many people there it was amazing.\
  At the Capital, we saw the Iraq war veterans do the mock funeral to start the “die-in” and saw the first person get arrested. We left after that. I am disappointed at the media’s coverage of this, since I don’t know what happened to the one thousand other people who signed up to participate. (ETA- I’ve since read 160 were arrested.)\
  Honestly, I am unsure about the point of those who got arrested. They were arrested for crossing police lines. We were fine on the walkway leading to the Capital steps and the front lawn. Many many people lied down on the lawn. But some protesters crossed the line, which is when they were arrested. Did these people really-super-badly want to protest on that specific piece of property or did they simply want to be arrested? Some civil disobedience makes sense to me: chaining yourself to a tree so that it won’t be cut down; not sitting in the back of the bus to protest civil rights’ differences; blocking the path to abortion clinics (which I don’t agree with). These acts have an easy-to-understand relationship between the crime and the protest. But wanting to lie down on a certain piece of property doesn’t make sense to me. I fully concede that I may be missing something vital to their rationale. I went to the website though, and didn’t learn anything.\
  There was a physical kerfluffle with several people being taken down by the statue/monument thingie in front of the Capital after the die-in started, but I don’t know the details because I was in the port-o-potty at the time.\
  We saw a couple of dozen police on horses, a dozen on bikes, and a few dozen more hanging around by their cars. They weren’t bothering anyone and it was nice to see them since I wasn’t intending any skirmishes.\
  As we left the area and walked towards the Washington Monument, I asked my friends to pretend to be international spies when we got to the other side of the Monument. But we didn’t walk that far, so that plan was nixed.\
  Max was disappointed he didn’t go and asked if he could go to the next one. He also wants to set up an anti-war website and have his own protest march. After I tucked him into bed, he said, “If the war ends while I am asleep, can you write a note and put it on my door?”\
  I don’t think this will change anything. More and more people are starting to speak out though, so maybe eventually things will change. Maybe all it will take is a new president. One sign read, “Only 142 days [or whatever the right number is] to impeach Bush.”\
  My parents are proud of me though, which is still cool even though I am 33. My mom assured me that protests against the Vietnam War are what finally brought the troops home. There are more marches and protests planned: one urging Congress to not renew funding (we’re spending \$2 billion a week is one figure I heard), one involving meditating for peace, and there are synchronized regional ones in late Oct in which they are hoping to get a million people involved all over the nation.

I am goin’ protesting tomorrow! Wish me luck that I don’t get lost on my way to the meeting point. What does one wear to a protest?\
Kevin and the boys bailed on me. I am really disappointed too. I was hoping this could be a great family experience, but the boys got a better offer (trip to grandma’s house) and Kevin’s ankle is too sore. I am also really disappointed that I will be out of the house while the boys are gone. I should be at home, reveling in their absence! Oh my, cleaning is so much faster and efficient during those times. And I am missing the opportunity. Poooo.

I read this yesterday and it’s one of the most eloquent and damning speeches I’ve ever read. I can only imagine what it would have been like to hear Frederick Douglass give it in person. You should read the whole thing, but here’s my favorite paragraph:\
bq. What, to the American slave, is your Fourth of July? I answer: a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciation of tyrants, brass-fronted impudence; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade and solemnity, are, to Him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy-a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. There is not a nation of savages. There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of the United States at this very hour.

(I sent this to comments@whitehouse.gov. I just couldn’t stand it anymore.)\
Dear President Bush,\
You, sir, are a failure as a president. You have disappointed me over and over again the past six years, and it’s only fitting that your most disgraceful act as the president of our country comes on the anniversary of the act I consider the most ridiculous thing any public figure has ever said in public.\
Four years ago, while talking about insurgents in Iraq, you told them to “bring ’em on.” Since then, over 3,500 America soldiers have died, over 30,000 soldiers have been wounded, and untold thousands of innocent Iraqi civilians have died (who, like all your other problems, your administration have just ignored by not bothering to count their deaths). You and your administration have constantly failed to admit your mistakes, correct your course or do more than make excuses and beg for more time. You’ve said over and over again that you listen to your commanders on the ground, yet it comes to light more every day that anyone who disagrees with you is shuffled off to retirement and someone more agreeable to your illusion is put in place.\
That act was a disgrace – the act of a bully who doesn’t fight himself, but puffs himself up with tough talk. But you’re worse than a bully, because it’s not you who’s in the line of fire, it’s the thousands of American troops over there who take the punishment for your mistakes and empty threats – mistakes you can’t admit and refuse to correct.\
You talk tough about the rule of law. Your party supports mandatory minimum sentences for citizens for even the most petty of crimes. Your party is supposedly the party of “law and order”. Yet today, you commuted the sentence of Scooter Libby – who was convicted of a crime. He was sentenced in accordance with the law, within in the sentencing guidelines. Yet, for some reason, you don’t support the rule of law for him, and nowhere near mandatory minimums. You, sir, are a hypocrite. You are a liar, and should be impeached. Why? In the aftermath of Watergate, the judiciary committee released the following:

In the \[Constitutional\] convention George Mason argued that the President might use his pardoning power to “pardon crimes which were advised by himself” or, before indictment or conviction, “to stop inquiry and prevent detection.” James Madison responded:

\[I\]f the President be connected, in any suspicious manner, with any person, and there be grounds \[to\] believe he will shelter him, the House of Representatives can impeach him; they can remove him if found guilty…

Madison went on to \[say\] contrary to his position in the Philadelphia convention, that the President could be suspended when suspected, and his powers would devolve on the Vice President, who could likewise be suspended until impeached and convicted, if he were also suspected.

Scooter Libby was acting on either yours or the Vice President’s orders. Either you, or Mr. Cheney, need to resign or be impeached (take your pick, if lying about an extramarital affair constitutes a high crime or misdemeanor, what do your multitudinous bad acts constitute?). If the series of articles in the Washington Post published last week is the truth, this was all Mr. Cheney’s doing, and you’re just a patsy. How frightening is that? The President of the United States of America is a patsy to a shadow government running out of the Vice President’s office?\
You deserve no less than to be run out of office, even if that means making Dick Cheney president. You should pay some price, under the laws you continually flout and except yourself from, for all the pain, misery and disgrace you’ve brought to your country, its citizens and the world.\
I know that you don’t care what I think. You’ve proven over and over again that reality and the truth have no effect on you. I don’t expect this to have any impact on anything, other than me using my First Amendment rights and putting a stake in the ground that I find your actions unacceptable and a disgraceful use of your authority as president.