The Last Refuge
It seems that most of the time, I blog about how terrible everything is getting, all the political scandals, environmental damage, the violence and destruction of war. You'd think all the doomsayers are correct, that we're going to experience the Rapture any minute now. Armageddon is come!
(For the record, we've had "The end is nigh" doomsayers consistently for about two hundred years now. Some have been vague, others have actually pinpointed the moment we're all going to die. Thus far, they've been wrong. VERY wrong. I don't believe that anyone is going to vanish a few minutes from now, just leaving a tidy pile of clothes. A friend sent me a link to a letter published in the San Francisco Chronicle, from a man who thought Bush was just the best thing there was since sliced bread, predicted we'd see lil' bro Jebby in the White House come 2008, and that it would be lovely to anticipate Neil Bush ascending to the throne, oops, I mean appointed to the throne... oops again, did I mean to say "elected"? But that we shouldn't expect it, since the Rapture would happen by then. I guess he's got 2016 marked on a calendar. I should take out a credit card and max it out, since I won't have to worry come 2016. But something tells me that man is going to be mighty disappointed come New Year's Eve, 2017... )
But on occasion, I see an article or news item here and there that gives me reason to hope. One such tidbit is this.
I've seen individual cities like Berkeley denounce the Patriot Act, and groups and individuals, including most of the usual suspects, come out against this terrifying piece of legislation, but it's heartening when a state like Montana issues a proclamation condemning the Patriot Act. It doesn't carry legal weight or consequences, and Montana is far from the first state to criticize this intrusive law, but it's notable because Montana is a fairly conservative state that has been a pretty reliable tally in the GOP column in national and statewide elections. It's also nice to know that people are aware their freedoms and liberties are being infringed upon, and that if they don't wake up, we're going to have a theocratic police state before you know it. Checking people's library records without their knowledge, conducting "sneak and peek" searches of their records and files (including medical and financial!) without their consent, and broadened investigative powers without judicial oversight, are just a few aspects of this far-reaching legislation. The Patriot Act was ostensibly passed to combat terrorism, but nearly all the invocations of the Patriot Act thus far have been in non-terrorist cases and crimes. The Patriot Act has united members of the left and the right in an unusual alliance, because it is a affront to civil liberties, including the right to privacy. Some of the elements are due to sunset at the end of this year. I'll definitely be lobbying my representatives NOT to renew any of the expiring provisions.
What's quite troubling is that the Patriot Act allows our gummint to detain and deport any non-citizens without due process. Oh, sure, you say-- these are just those troublesome terrorists and foreigners. No problem. But at what point do we start going down the slippery slope into the province of the rights of citizens? It isn't a very long slope, believe me. A poignant reminder of this is the death this past week, overshadowed by Terri Schiavo and John Paul II, of Fred Korematsu. Korematsu was one of a few Japanese who attempted to challenge the internment of Japanese-Americans in concentration camps in the U.S. West during World War II. The roundup and imprisonment of Japanese-Americans was ostensibly based on the need to protect the country, and to deter possible espionage. In reality, this reprehensible chapter in our history was based on a very simple rationale: racism. There was in truth no real military threat, and Korematsu's conviction was overturned in the 1980s after it was discovered DOJ and the Pentagon had concealed the truth from the Supreme Court. Whatever else you may think, the detentions of Hamdi and Padilla, among others, echoed the shameful treatment of the 1940s.
The really sad fact about the Patriot Act is that most members of Congress passed it without reading it, without realizing what was in it, simply because there was a feeling of a need to be united in the wake of 9/11, and because something called the "Patriot Act" sounded like it was something you shouldn't vote against. It's troubling that our politicians aren't responsible enough to safeguard the Constitution and carry out their duties effectively, and it's positively frightening that a handful of people within the gummint could wield such power to radically alter our system to their liking.
A lot of what has happened in the last four years has been justified through the mantra of "9/11" and quite a few politicians, pundits, and officials on the right have wrapped themselves in the flag, questioned the loyalty of dissenters, and generally invoked patriotism and subservience to the gummint at any hint of disagreement or questioning of questionable acts, thoughts, and speech. I for one am getting sick of it, and I think the first act to accomplish in restoring an America we love and respect is to toss the Patriot Act, and the scoundrels for whom patriotism is a refuge, whether first or last.
"Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel." - Samuel Johnson, 1775.
(For the record, we've had "The end is nigh" doomsayers consistently for about two hundred years now. Some have been vague, others have actually pinpointed the moment we're all going to die. Thus far, they've been wrong. VERY wrong. I don't believe that anyone is going to vanish a few minutes from now, just leaving a tidy pile of clothes. A friend sent me a link to a letter published in the San Francisco Chronicle, from a man who thought Bush was just the best thing there was since sliced bread, predicted we'd see lil' bro Jebby in the White House come 2008, and that it would be lovely to anticipate Neil Bush ascending to the throne, oops, I mean appointed to the throne... oops again, did I mean to say "elected"? But that we shouldn't expect it, since the Rapture would happen by then. I guess he's got 2016 marked on a calendar. I should take out a credit card and max it out, since I won't have to worry come 2016. But something tells me that man is going to be mighty disappointed come New Year's Eve, 2017... )
But on occasion, I see an article or news item here and there that gives me reason to hope. One such tidbit is this.
I've seen individual cities like Berkeley denounce the Patriot Act, and groups and individuals, including most of the usual suspects, come out against this terrifying piece of legislation, but it's heartening when a state like Montana issues a proclamation condemning the Patriot Act. It doesn't carry legal weight or consequences, and Montana is far from the first state to criticize this intrusive law, but it's notable because Montana is a fairly conservative state that has been a pretty reliable tally in the GOP column in national and statewide elections. It's also nice to know that people are aware their freedoms and liberties are being infringed upon, and that if they don't wake up, we're going to have a theocratic police state before you know it. Checking people's library records without their knowledge, conducting "sneak and peek" searches of their records and files (including medical and financial!) without their consent, and broadened investigative powers without judicial oversight, are just a few aspects of this far-reaching legislation. The Patriot Act was ostensibly passed to combat terrorism, but nearly all the invocations of the Patriot Act thus far have been in non-terrorist cases and crimes. The Patriot Act has united members of the left and the right in an unusual alliance, because it is a affront to civil liberties, including the right to privacy. Some of the elements are due to sunset at the end of this year. I'll definitely be lobbying my representatives NOT to renew any of the expiring provisions.
What's quite troubling is that the Patriot Act allows our gummint to detain and deport any non-citizens without due process. Oh, sure, you say-- these are just those troublesome terrorists and foreigners. No problem. But at what point do we start going down the slippery slope into the province of the rights of citizens? It isn't a very long slope, believe me. A poignant reminder of this is the death this past week, overshadowed by Terri Schiavo and John Paul II, of Fred Korematsu. Korematsu was one of a few Japanese who attempted to challenge the internment of Japanese-Americans in concentration camps in the U.S. West during World War II. The roundup and imprisonment of Japanese-Americans was ostensibly based on the need to protect the country, and to deter possible espionage. In reality, this reprehensible chapter in our history was based on a very simple rationale: racism. There was in truth no real military threat, and Korematsu's conviction was overturned in the 1980s after it was discovered DOJ and the Pentagon had concealed the truth from the Supreme Court. Whatever else you may think, the detentions of Hamdi and Padilla, among others, echoed the shameful treatment of the 1940s.
The really sad fact about the Patriot Act is that most members of Congress passed it without reading it, without realizing what was in it, simply because there was a feeling of a need to be united in the wake of 9/11, and because something called the "Patriot Act" sounded like it was something you shouldn't vote against. It's troubling that our politicians aren't responsible enough to safeguard the Constitution and carry out their duties effectively, and it's positively frightening that a handful of people within the gummint could wield such power to radically alter our system to their liking.
A lot of what has happened in the last four years has been justified through the mantra of "9/11" and quite a few politicians, pundits, and officials on the right have wrapped themselves in the flag, questioned the loyalty of dissenters, and generally invoked patriotism and subservience to the gummint at any hint of disagreement or questioning of questionable acts, thoughts, and speech. I for one am getting sick of it, and I think the first act to accomplish in restoring an America we love and respect is to toss the Patriot Act, and the scoundrels for whom patriotism is a refuge, whether first or last.
"Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel." - Samuel Johnson, 1775.
posted by Mr. Sandman | 6:52 PM
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