Take Your Stand

I have to ask this question again: How is it that we had the national "fortitude" (or whatever it was) to impeach Bill Clinton for something utterly inconsequential to us as a nation and yet we don't appear to have the will to hold Dubya and Dick accountable for the myriad ways they have treated the Constitution and the Rule of Law with utter contempt? This completely blows my mind. Of course, the question is rhetorical. How could there possibly be an adequate answer?

As if all the damage done by the Bushies wasn't outrage enough, it appears that it would be just too much—too divisive, too negative, too unpleasant, too ineffectual—to hold them accountable. I'm hearing things like "They'll never do any time" and "Nothing will really come of it."

The vortex of this lack of political will is none other than the Democrats in Congress, the Bushies' so-called opposition. Fearing political fallout, afraid that many will see them as complicit in Bush's crimes, they would prefer that we just go blithely on, as if the nation and the Constitution hadn't just been given a huge eight-year-long collective kick in the gut. It's been said before: "Bush's fecklessness is not an excuse for Democratic dereliction of duty."

Barack Obama's nominee for attorney general, Eric Holder, told the American Constitution Society in June that "we owe the American people a reckoning." So here I am, arms folded, tapping my foot, cocking my eyebrow. Well? How about it?

I have read that Obama wants to "let sleeping dogs lie." Shouting here: THESE DOGS ARE NOT SLEEPING!!! They are savaging the Constitution and the Rule of Law. Under what circumstances could that possibly be OK?

In spite of the walloping Republicans took in November, Obama apparently feels he needs their support in order to accomplish his admittedly ambitious agenda. Fine. You're a very persuasive leader, Mr. Obama. Convince the Republicans in Congress that holding the Bush Administration accountable is the absolute best thing we can do, not as a measure of political expediency, but as a measure of restoring our very identity as a nation. Isn't upholding the Constitution something we can all agree on?

Shouldn't Republicans be as angry as the rest of us—if not more so? Isn't it Bush's fault that they took such a trouncing in November? They're still doing everything they can to put distance between themselves and Bush (witness Senator Bob Corker thumbing his nose at Bush during the auto bailout hearings). Wouldn't agreeing to the establishment of an independent investigation of the administration's crimes be an excellent way to distance themselves from Bush?

This is not just one issue among many. Yes, there are many, many pressing issues confronting us. But if we cannot uphold the Constitution and the Rule of Law, then we may as well just throw in the towel. This is ground zero, the foundation, the core of our being. Without it, we are not ourselves, we are not the United States of America. We are a third-rate autocracy, a powerful global thug.

Moreover, if we just let this slide, we are complicit in the crimes of the Bush administration. Our silence will condemn us, and not only us but our children and the founders of our country. Is this what they fought and died for? So that we could sit back and relax while the Constitution is flushed down the toilet by the Despot-in-Chief?

The point is not to get revenge, or to get a conviction or two, or even to drag what has been hidden (some of it well, some of it not at all) out into the light. The point is that we have a duty to stand up for what's right and good and true. The outcome is not ours to determine. We must take a stand, regardless of the odds against us or the likely result.

Here's an idea: Let's all rally around our beleaguered Constitution—all of us—and work together to repair the damage that has been done. Once we're done with this project, we can resume our partisan bickering. But can't we all agree, finally, on how precious and fundamental the Rule of Law is? This administration has treated not only the American people, but the Constitution of the United States, with utter contempt. They have shredded it, trampled it, spit on it, ground it under their heel. Such heinous transgressions cannot, must not, go unanswered.


Here, gentle reader, are some ways you can take your stand.

The folks at Democrats.com are very concerned about this issue. They have a petition, which you can add your name to here. Then ask your friends to do the same.

Bob Fertik at Democrats.com has also submitted a question to Change.gov, which he'd like you and your friends to vote for:

"Will you appoint a Special Prosecutor—ideally Patrick Fitzgerald—to independently investigate the gravest crimes of the Bush administration, including torture and warrantless wiretapping?"
—Bob Fertik, New York City

At the end of the first round [of voting] on December 15, our Special Prosecutor question was #6, but Obama's team only answered the first five, including one on the legalization of marijuana [pretty sure the answer was a resounding "NO"].

The second round began on 12/30 and ends at midnight on 12/31. [That's tonight, folks!] Once again, marijuana legalization is #1. We need your help to make our Special Prosecutor question #1!

1. Sign in at http://change.gov/openforquestions


2. Search for "Fitzgerald"


3. This will display several similar questions, so look carefully for "Bob Fertik"


4. Look right for the check box, mouse over it so it goes from white to dark, then click to cast your vote

When you all gather around the bubbly this evening, waiting for the ball to drop in Times Square, make voting at Change.gov one of your year-end festivities.

Change.org is also asking you to vote on the issues that are of most importance to you. "The top 10 rated ideas will be presented to the Obama Administration on Inauguration Day, January 20, 2009, as the 'Top 10 Ideas for America.' We will then launch a national campaign behind each idea and mobilize the collective energy of the millions of members of Change.org, MySpace, and partner organizations to ensure that each winning idea gets the full consideration of the Obama Administration and Members of Congress."

Please vote here for "Appoint a Special Prosecutor for the Crimes of the Bush Administration" at Change.org. That round of voting will also end tonight. A second round will end on Thursday, January 15, so make sure to check back and vote again before then.

Finally, write to your representatives in Congress and to local newspapers about how desperate the need is for action on this. Talk to your friends. Pester your parents. Stop strangers on the street. It's really that important.

Immigration and the Labor Market

I missed this New York Times editorial because it was published on Christmas Day, when I and many others were otherwise occupied, but fortunately I caught up with it eventually, and I hope many others will as well. What I'm jazzed about here is that the incoming administration seems to understand the direct link between immigration -- both authorized and un -- and the U.S. labor market. That is good news for everyone, not just immigrants.

The best news is that the proposed labor secretary, Hilda Solis, "has built a reputation as a staunch defender of immigrants and workers." According to the editorial, "what Ms. Solis and Mr. Obama seem to know in their gut is this: If you uphold workers’ rights, even for those here illegally, you uphold them for all working Americans. If you ignore and undercut the rights of illegal immigrants, you encourage the exploitation that erodes working conditions and job security everywhere. In a time of economic darkness, the stability and dignity of the work force are especially vital" (emphasis mine).

Here's my oh-so-radical notion of what needs to happen to fix our utterly broken and brutal immigration "system." People who are able to find full-time employment in this country should be allowed to live and work here. Period. If we're going to have a truly global economy, and there is no way to escape globalization, then people -- like commerce and goods -- should be allowed to go where the markets are, in this case, job markets. Like other markets, this one needs regulation and oversight. Fine. I'm not suggesting we just fling wide the gates and invite everyone else to gorge themselves on our pie.

We need a system whereby immigrants who are already working here can obtain authorization (for themselves and their children and spouses) to stay. And then we need a means whereby a limited number of migrants wishing to work in this country can come for a limited amount of time to look for work, in a limited job market (or markets) where such workers are needed. Employers need to cooperate with immigration services, whose job it would be to help employers find qualified workers and to help qualified workers find jobs.

Immigration needs to be removed from the Department of Homeland Security and instead be its own entity. Issues of immigration are not issues of security. We are not being "invaded"; we are being helped by people who want jobs that most Americans are unwilling to take, people who are willing to work very hard, often in more than one job, just for the chance to feed and care for their families.

I assert that the the right to work should be considered a basic human right. Why some consider this a radical notion is beyond me. But if it's radical, well, then, so am I. I don't believe our borders need to be "defended," not from good tax-paying workers anyway. I believe workers should be welcomed, that workers already in this country will benefit from such a system -- all of them, immigrants and U.S.-born workers alike.

Progress on this issue is all the more likely because Latino communities all over this country helped to elect Barack Obama on November 4, pushing some previously "red" states into the "blue." Issues of fair immigration laws are near and dear to many in Latino communities. There's no doubt that Barack Obama knows that he cannot afford to ignore the pressing needs of immigrants and workers in this country. And from all appearances, he's already making a good beginning.

Of course, we must also directly address the fear, xenophobia, racism, and nativism that underlie the current policies of ICE raids and terrorizing immigrant communities, workers, and their families. That will be a much harder job than coming up with a workable and humane immigration system that would ultimately benefit everyone.

A Warning from the Universe

Years ago when I was in Amsterdam, many days I walked past a bridge with a huge sign on it, in English, that read "Abuse of power comes as no surprise." Much later I learned that it was a work by American conceptual artist Jenny Holzer. To me, that message seemed like a warning from the universe, and maybe it was. Every day I walked past it, it burrowed a little deeper into my consciousness and stayed there, ready for the day when I began paying attention to how power is used and abused.

Hardly a day has gone by, these past eight long years, when I have not thought about that warning. Driven by the ideology of the "unitary executive," the Bushies used the unending, ill-defined "war on terror" to amass more power than any administration in U.S. history. The founders of this country would have recognized the abuse of power for what it is, they would have been utterly horrified, and they would have known that loud, persistent, fierce dissent was the only antidote.

In my darker moments I have feared that, drunk with so much power, the Bushies would find some cataclysmic reason to assert that the transition to a new administration is too dangerous in these perilous times, that they would impose martial law and retain power, undoubtedly in the interest of national security. For the first time ever, we have standing troops in this country ready to intervene in the case of public unrest. I don't think I'm being paranoid here. I will breathe freely -- in every sense of the word -- when Dubya and Dick finally step down. Until then, I'm on edge. I don't trust them for a millisecond. Or, actually, I do trust them -- to subvert the rule of law and abuse their power to whatever extent they can.

In spite of my fears, it looks like the transition will indeed take place and that there will again be a peaceful transfer of power in the United States. The president-elect holds much promise; he is very popular, well liked, widely admired -- and rightly so. He has given us permission to hope for progress toward the ideals we cherish: liberty, justice, equity, peace, the rule of law, to name only a few.

The moment they assume office, Barack Obama and his administration will face crises and disasters and abuses on nearly every front. But these are not their only challenges. Obama is about to step into the most politically powerful role on this planet, his predecessor having substantially expanded the powers of the office. It is extremely rare for leaders to scale back their own power, but that is exactly what Mr. Obama must do. He must return this country to the rule of law, whether he himself would be a tyrant or not. He must unflinchingly demonstrate that no one--not even the president, and perhaps especially not the president--is above the law. He must work to restore the checks and balances of our government.

Of course, Congress must work with him toward this goal. And, most important, we the people must also. We must work to restore and defend the rule of law and the Constitution and to guard against abuses of power and the rule of tyrants. We put the fox in charge of the hen house when we let Dubya assume the presidency, a disastrous error that will take many, many years to remedy. By being alert and ready, by participating and raising our voices, we will do much to rectify all that has gone wrong in the last long eight years.

Our rights, our civil liberties, and the rule of law are not to be compromised under any circumstances. The founders of this country knew how precious and fragile liberty is, and many of them gave their lives for it. We can do nothing less than dedicate ourselves to restoring what has been lost and guarding it vigilantly until our last breath.

Winter Solstice Prayers

When I pray, I ask for exactly what I really want, not what seems realistic or possible or likely. In my experience, miracles are more likely when you look for them. Please feel free to add your own.

I pray that the women of this earth would be healed and strengthened and empowered and fulfilled, especially the women of Darfur, Congo, and Central America.

I pray that the children of this earth would be well nourished and well cared for, well educated and well respected, and that they would be seen as the miraculous treasures they are.

I pray for the end of violence, especially violence as policy. I pray for protection and healing and refuge for those living in lands ravaged by violence and war.

I pray for a worldwide end to bigotry. I pray that peoples of different races, and cultures, and backgrounds would stop viewing each other with suspicion and hate and would begin listening to, loving, and respecting each other.

I pray that every person and every family would have a good source of income, that everyone who wants to work would be able to work and would be fairly treated in the workplace and fairly compensated.

I pray that my country would return to the rule of law, complete with checks and balances.

I pray that my country and the world would have better leaders, leaders who would listen, and think deeply about the complex issues every nation faces, and that they would be granted wisdom and vision to help establish peace and prosperity and good will and understanding.

I pray that the people and communities whose lives have been devastated by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids would be healed and restored and provided for in abundance and that the ICE raids would end immediately.

I pray that people who want to work hard and support their families would be welcomed to this country with open arms and that we would all be able to see what a blessing they are to our communities and to our economy.

I pray that peoples of different faiths and cultures would learn to understand and respect each other.

I pray that we would learn to love and respect those who are different from us in any respect: skin color, language, nationality, culture, beliefs, body size, sexual orientation ...

I pray that we would all learn how to forgive each other and be instruments of healing and joy in each other's lives.

I pray that my culture would be freed from its rampant, insidious, toxic consumerism.

I pray that we would learn to cherish the earth and take care of it and bring it back from the brink of destruction before it's too late.

I pray that people all over the world would have their human rights and their human dignity protected and honored and upheld.

I pray that policies driven by greed, fear, bigotry, and arrogance would be replaced with policies driven by generosity, courage, fairness, and compassion.

I pray that we would all learn how interconnected we are and that we are more alike than we are different.

Finally, I pray for a special little blessing of joy for all those who read this.

Merry Christmas, feliz navidad, joyous Kwanzaa, happy Hanukkah, blazing solstice, happy diwali, and a rollicking whatever else you might be celebrating!

Christmas Gift List

In her Sunday Roundup today, Arianna Huffington requested help with her Christmas gift list. Here are my suggestions:

For Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld, prosecution for war crimes.

For Senator Bob Corker, a pay cut so that his salary and benefits exactly match those of the employees of the automakers based in Tennessee.

For Ron Gettelfinger, president of the UAW, a pay raise so that his salary and benefits exactly match those of Senator Corker before his pay was cut.

For Rush Limbaugh, a padded cell.

For Sarah Palin, lifetime memberships in PETA and the Sierra Club.

For Barack Obama, a progressive mandate. Oh wait, we gave him that already. Maybe he needs another one?

The Auto Bailout and a Tale of Three Cars

Here are some strings I would like to attach to the auto bailout. Instead of insisting that GM and Chrysler dramatically reduce their debt and lower workers’ salaries, let’s insist that they make cars people actually want. No amount of bailout money is going to help until they figure this one out. Come on, people, it can’t be that hard.

Focusing on the UAW and workers' wages lets Detroit off for its failure to manufacture better, more appealing cars. Moreover, lowering compensation so that it would be more comparable to that of employees of the foreign-owned manufacturers would reduce the cost of a car by approximately $800 according to the New York Times. "An extra $800 per vehicle would certainly help Detroit, but the Big Three already often sell their cars for about $2,500 less than equivalent cars from Japanese companies, analysts at the International Motor Vehicle Program say. Even so, many Americans no longer want to own the cars being made by General Motors, Ford and Chrysler" (emphasis mine).

My own experience as a car owner is a case in point. My first car was a used Dodge Omni I named Captain Quirk because it had more than its share of peculiarities. I can't remember exactly what it was I needed to do every so often under the hood to get the thing to go, but I actually acquired a small amount of car-specific mechanical prowess out of necessity. Everything started to go wrong when the odometer reached about 80,000 miles. All at once Captain Quirk became altogether unreliable.

My next car was a used Dodge Colt. I can’t even remember its name, if it even had one. It also began falling apart at about 80,000 miles. When I finally traded it in, the salesman actually laughed when he saw it. It wouldn't start in the rain -- something about a cracked distributor cap, I think. It was essentially useless. The car dealer was doing me a favor to take it off my hands.

I traded the Colt in for a brand-new 1992 Toyota Camry, which I named Claire, after a friend who had a very old Volvo that was like a member of her family. I knew right away that Claire was a car I would drive for many years and many miles. Just like my friend’s Volvo, Claire became a member of the family. When Tom and I got married, his family dressed her up as a Holstein cow (Wisconsin humor), complete with an inflated rubber glove as the udder.

I’m still driving Claire to this day. She has more than 180,000 miles on her, and the only major repair she has ever needed was to have the radiator replaced. She looks fine, she's comfortable, and she drives beautifully. She has reasonably good gas mileage. I plan to drive Claire until she falls apart beneath me. I’m hoping for another hundred thousand miles or so.

Apparently many Americans have had car-owning experiences not dissimilar to mine. Cars made by the Big Three have been a pain in the arse. Cars made by Japanese-owned companies in particular have been a pleasure to drive, whether or not we are goofy enough to consider them a member of the family.

So, Big Three, your mission is to utterly transform yourselves, inside and out and from every angle. First, build some really great cars that are safe, affordable, comfortable, fuel-efficient, user-friendly, and have plenty of eye appeal. Excise the planned obsolescence. All it ever accomplished was to teach us that you make crappy cars.

Then, hire yourselves some crack marketing wizards. Retire the names Chrysler, GM, and Ford. Just get rid of them. They’re history. All the lemons we have bought from you have left a very sour taste in our mouths that we won’t soon forget. Rebrand yourselves altogether. Come up with zippy new Japanese names, not only for the models but for the companies themselves. We’ve come to associate Japanese names with quality cars. Go with that; exploit it. There’s no trademark on the Japanese language or on Japanese names.

Finally, consider moving your base of operations to another city. Sorry, Detroit. These companies have messed up so badly that the name of the city where their products were manufactured has become synonymous with lemon.

Ultimately, if you Big Three don’t figure out how to make cars Americans want to buy, then all the bailouts in the world aren’t going to keep you from going under.

Hate Speech on HuffPo: "A Nation of Overweight Porkers"

Frank Schaeffer posted "Why Is the USA Screwed -- Maybe Forever?" on the Huffington Post today. It's one of those "where are we going and why are we in this handbasket" diatribes, a cheery little screed morosely listing all that is wrong with our culture and why we are utterly doomed forever.

There I am, innocently reading along, when I hit a list item that sends me reeling. So I wrote a diatribe of my own back to Mr. Schaeffer. It took me forever to edit it down to HuffPo's limit of 250 words. I'm not going to link back to the article because I'm angry and don't want anyone benefiting from blatantly hateful language. But here is the link to my comment. If you happen to be incensed as well, feel free to post a comment of protest yourself. Here's what I wrote:

I take serious exception to this: "Why are we a nation of overweight porkers, incapable of losing weight[,] who may well have shorter life spans than our parents (declines in smoking aside)?" Here, Mr. Schaeffer, your ignorance is showing, along with your bigotry.

In spite of the so-called obesity epidemic, life spans continue to increase. You assume that the thin are in some way morally virtuous and that the fat are not. You also assume that fat people eat more than thin people do, but there is no evidence for that. There is, however, a clear correlation between ill health and a sedentary lifestyle, especially when combined with poor nutrition. But that correlation applies to people of all sizes.

Please, before you indulge in any more fat hatred, educate yourself. Start with The Diet Myth by Paul Campos.

Fat people are not part of what's wrong with our culture, but the stigmatization of fat people is. If shame made people thin, no one would be fat. The problem is not "overweight porkers." The problem is our obsession with body size, our knee-jerk judgment of people who are larger than average, and our refusal to accept that good people come in all shapes and sizes.

Insulting fat people does not do anything to alleviate what's wrong with our culture. And don't you ever call me a porker again, Mr. Schaeffer. You owe me an apology.