when the status quo frustrates.

Don’t look down, Dems, but there’s blood on your hands, too

Thursday, September 28th, 2006

Scott Lefarkins posted a list of Senators voting for torture legalization and the end of our right to the Writ of Habeas Corpus. Only one Dem Senator voted for the bill*, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t sell us out.

Alternet has a great round-up of reactions to the news. My favorite comes from Booman:

The Dems have already agreed not to filibuster, hoping the Specter amendment might pass. This shameful cave-in will never be forgotten. Ever. We haven’t forgotten other blemishes on our history, like the Japanese internments, the Dred Scott case, or the resolution authorizing force in Iraq.
[...]
The Democrats didn’t prove they are strong on terrorism. They proved they are weak on human rights and defending the Constitution.

Someone in Scott’s comment’s pointed out that the Democrats are “Republicans Lite,” and I can’t disagree. Oh, sure, John Kerry and a few others lamented the passing of a few hundred years of rights protections with solemn speeches, but what did they do? Nothing. The fear of looking soft of terror has driven the party into total paralysis, and until we break them of it, things will not stop getting worse.

As I wrote Monday, no one will vote for the Democrats because of their foreign policy stances, and certainly not on terrorism. They have no hope of winning the bloodthirsty crowd. Yet Howard Dean and other party leaders continue to talk about one subject only: the War on Terror. Democrats are obsessed with pointing out how much the administration spends on the WoT/Iraq and how little they’ve accomplished. Even new Democratic challengers can’t seem to spew anything else. They offer no alternatives but feel tougher having said that they could’ve kicked more ass for a litle less scratch somehow, someway.

Unfortunately, all Republicans hear is someone trying to sound Republican, but with that twinge of insincerity in one’s voice that comes from not actually wanting to own Muslim oil slaves. There are no votes to be had from that crowd.

All the millions of disenchanted, non-voting, liberal-minded citizens hear are Charlie Brown teacher noises from a group no more likely to represent their real interests than the Republicans. As long as the Dems continue to suck in their guts and talk bully talk, none of those people will rush to the polls, either.

That leaves the Dems with what they already have, which is the group of pissed off people like me, who realize they’re our best available option in a bad situation, and their apologists who continue to enable the disintegration of their identity. And that hasn’t been good enough for some time.

Unless they rise up and provide genuine opposition, there will be no new votes to be had. That makes it nearly impossible to take back Congress or the White House. And that means the police state we just enabled will continue into the indeterminate future.

If you’re one of the Democrat apologists who says we shouldn’t disparage them before the midterms, or that they’re only dealing with the realities of the post 9/11 world, shame on you. You’re playing the same game they are. By trying to make short-term gains and avoid criticism from the right, you’re sacrificing your principles. By sacrificing yours, you make it easier for elected Democrats to sacrifice theirs. And that has led to the police state.

John Kerry struggled in large part because he voted for the war in Iraq. If he hadn’t, he could’ve gone on the offensive without compromise because he’d stuck to his principles. Instead he was forced to call it “the right war the wrong way,” and the flipflopper tag was applied. He deserved the scarlet ‘F,’ too, because he took the path of least resistance in the short term, only to have it backfire on him over the long haul. It’s a microcosm of the betrayal perpetrated by the entire party.

Apologists assume that Democratic criticisms from the left are defeatist or intended to push third party politics, but the sellouts have it backwards. We’re insisting that the party return to its recent roots of humanism and liberal social activism because it’s the party’s only hope of long term success. Those of you who make excuses for the present bed-wetting mentality are the ones sinking the ship, and I’m goddamned ready to throw you overboard.

*Update: In the final tally, 12 Dems wound up voting for this bill. Nice work, y’all.

28.09.2006 Politics, Torture 13 Comments

How long till they come and take your favorite blogger away?

Wednesday, September 27th, 2006

Much as I like to celebrate the wingnut administration calling itself a moron, Echidne points out the troublesome inclusion of the term “leftist terrorist” in the NIE report. They’ve advanced the theory that the left could start going all right-wing and bombing shit like, say, a federal building in Oklahoma or something.

ANYWAY, leftist terrorism is now considered a legitimate threat by the omnipotent Bush administration. Once the torture/detainee legislation passes, they can label anyone they believe has a “terrorist agenda” an enemy combatant and lock them away for torture. Remember, they don’t need cause or charges to take your rights away anymore (see Photographer, Pulitzer Prize winning). They’ll probably be able to rape you for shits and giggles, too, if they feel like it.

I’m going to put on my crazy hat for a moment. It’s the one that won’t look so crazy in another few years, once the police state comes back into full fashion again.

As Lindsay notes, decorated photographer Bilal Hussein had been a target of right wing blogs for some time. They considered his work too close to the action, too full of anti-US visuals, to be anything other than insurgent propaganda. Apparently, their cries were heard, and now he’s a torture toy.

The wingnut blogs also complain about the crazy, frothing “leftist” blogosphere. Lots of us say all kinds of mean things about the Bush administration, which, as we all know, is a gateway drug for terrorist agendas*. Before you laugh, remember that talking negatively about our efforts in Iraq has already been equated with helping the terrorists. Isn’t that the same as having a terrorist agenda?

Or suppose there actually is some random cell of people intent on doing violence, and the federal government breaks it up. What if their browser histories are littered with visits to Amanda’s site? Or Glenn Greenwald’s? The wingnut blogs have been gunning for those two for years because they’re particularly good at blowing holes in Bushchev logic. If Amanda or Glenn or anyone else is ever seen as fueling the cause of anyone who’s even written an email mentioning explosives, I see no reason they won’t be next on the hit list.

People know John Stewart, and Keith Olbermann. You couldn’t lock them up without drawing national outrage. But like Bilal Hussein, other people pave the way for Olbermann and Stewart, stirring the pot or raising issues that eventually receive their attention. Bloggers are a big part of that group, and their work is at least as dangerous as unforgiving photos — which is to say not at all, unless you mean dangerous to the cause of perpetual war.

I am no one. Punkassblog is still pretty small. But people close to me are deeply hated and feared for their uncompromising work and popularity. Every day, I get a little more worried they’ll be taken away. If you are one of the outspoken pillars of the radical left — not people like Kos who stick to the political rules, but someone really agitating for deep change** — I think you should be worried, too.

*Note: this is not true. Please do not kidnap me or frame me or torture me. Thank you.

**Non-violent change! Honest!

27.09.2006 Torture 29 Comments

Jihad Bowl ’06

Friday, July 14th, 2006

There’s been alot of talk during Jihad Bowl ’06, as there always is during the Jihad Bowl, about how Palestians – or whatever other populace gets caught in the middle of the whole eternal war between different colored Godzillas that is Jihad Bowl – should just deal with the trouble makers in their midst, like HAMAS or Hizbollah are some pissant street punks who just need a good talking to and Palestine is an actual fairly governed democracy.

HAMAS is a very powerful, highly opportunistic and well funded militant organisation, and expecting the palestinian people – who HAMAS has occasionally kidnapped, tortured, sent to syrian torture camps, and killed for pissing them off politically – to deal with them is stupid, especially when it makes much more sense for the Isreali populace, who are not, as a general rule, under the constant fear of HAMAS stormtroopers (as in the Nazi SA stormtroopers who they most accurately resemble politicaly) kidnapping them in the night for anti-HAMAS dissent and actions, to deal with the politicians, who’s reaction to anything done by anyone else in the middle east is to start these bullshit dickmeasuring contests that form the meat and potatos of Jihad Bowl.

And that’s before you even start to deal with who’s actually in charge in Lebanon, Syria is not just a place we send the occasionaly spare torture victim, oh no, it also basically rules Lebanon by proxy, and again, blaming the Lebanese or Palestianian people for Syria or hizbollah or HAMAS, especially given that the last two groups are more like organised crime syndicates than actual political or revolutionary groups, is unfair and unjust.

Isreal, as a democratic nation, on the other hand has no one but itself to blame for its actions, and it is one of the few countries on earth that should really be held to the high standard of moral behavior its constant use of the holocaust canard calls for. (more…)

14.07.2006 Imperialism for Dummies, This Vicious Cabaret, Torture, War 2 Comments

Unreported in America: US returning Gitmo corpses without brains, hearts

Thursday, June 22nd, 2006

According to news outlets in two Arabic countries, corpses of Guantanamo Bay detainees are being returned home missing several major organs.

The Yemen Observer quotes a top state medical official:

Dr. Najib Ghanem, the chairman of the Health Committee in the Parliament said the corpse of Salahu al-Din was handed over to Yemen but was missing major bodily organs such as the heart, the kidneys, livers and the blood vessels.

This makes it difficult to know the main cause of death.

Also in that article, Mohammed Naji Allaw, president of the Yemeni National Organization for Defense of Rights and Freedoms (HOOD), asserted:

“All indications are that Salahu al-Din didn’t kill himself. The Americans dissected the body in a way that makes it very hard to trace any signs of torture or cause of death. There should have been international experts dissecting him or at least a dissection in the presence of Yemeni experts. Besides, the Guantanamo jail is designed in a way that doesn’t allow the prisoners to be able to inflict any physical harm to themselves in any way.”

While al-Din’s actual cause of death may never be known, doubts about the legitimacy of the official suicide report jive with Raw Story‘s exclusive interview with Ruhal Ahmed, a former Gitmo detainee:

US personnel actively attempt to prevent suicide on the base but with methods he believes to be counter-productive to improving detainee well-being.

“If the soldiers knew that you had attempted, or were going to attempt [suicide], they would take away your towels, your clothes. Basically, you would be naked in your cell.”

Meanwhile, a nearly identical story to al-Din’s has emerged from Saudi Arabia, as reported by the UAE’s gulfnews.com:

The US authorities had allegedly taken out the brain, heart, liver and kidney from the body of Manie Bin Shaman Al Otaibi, who died at the US prison camp in Guantanamo Bay.

“This was presumably to hide the real cause of the death,” said Mohammad Al Otaibi, Manie’s cousin, whose body underwent medical tests and an autopsy at the Riyadh Central Hospital after being brought home recently. Speaking to reporters yesterday, Al Otaibi said his family had refused to receive the body of Manie before knowing the real cause of death.

The United States is treating the bodies of its torture victims like documents reluctantly released under the Freedom of Information Act: officials have stricken from the record anything that might implicate them in illegal or unethical behavior. Unfortunately, in this case, they cannot hide behind the false shield of “classified information.”

(more…)

22.06.2006 Governmental Failures, Torture 4 Comments

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