Memorial Day

I wanted to write a piece about Memorial Day. I wanted to honor my father, who served in two wars, and acknowledge the unpayable debt that I owe to those who have served. At the same time, I wanted to acknowledge the difficulty I have with those who have taken control of our military, and express my frustration that the blood my father shed is being dishonored by a President who has defiled the military by using it to advance his imperialist adventure - all while thanking those soldiers who are doing their duty honorably in Iraq, Afghanistan, South Korea and other places around the globe.

Thank you, Billmon, for writing what I wanted to write.

Cosby's Comments

Bill Cosby made a speech at Howard University that has people talking. Some African-Americans have reacted defensively, and some white commentators have gleefully jumped on the opportunity to criticize the African-American community. I'm tempted to join in with the people criticizing Cosby, simply because the white commentators who have supported him have done so with thinly veiled tumescence of their natural racist impulses.

But, guess what. I'm not really qualified to speak on this topic. My perspectives on black culture may be slightly more informed than those of Rush Limbaugh or Bill O'Reilly, but they are still an outsider's perspectives filtered through insufficient experience, the media, and a certain amount of unconquerable racism that exists in each of us. In short, I know nothing worth typing into a blog.

The best I can do here is simply shut the fuck up and acknowledge my ignorance. If you want to discuss this topic, go someplace better equipped for the topic.

I've Supported a Terrorist Organization and the Proof is in my Basement

In 1979 or so, Robin and I went to a Festival of Nations at the Schenectady Museum. I remember that we had a great time, and that, while tasting foods from all over the world, we bought two raffle tickets at the Irish booth. A few days later, I got a call, and learned that I had won an Irish wool afghan - nicely done in green, white and orange. The sponsor of the raffle was Noraid, an organization some claim is a financier of terrorists.

Now, I know very, very little about Noraid and whether it, in fact, deserves to be labelled a terrorist organization. The fact remains, though, that it has been labelled as such by others, and, for all I know, has been labelled as such by the unstable John Ashcroft. So, by purchasing a couple raffle tickets in 1979, I may be guilty of having supported a terrorist organization. I just wanted to support the land of my ancestors.

It is, I hope, farfetched that Ashcroft will come after a white-skinned son of Christians like me. But consider what this little anecdote means in the context of a follower of Islam in the United States. What if you want to supply some aid to people in Iraq, and give some dollars to a charity that promises to do so? This is precisely what happened in the case of Brandon Mayfield, where his wife's donation to a charity "with suspected ties to terrorists" was used as one of the reasons to lock him up.

People with ties to terrorists sound scary and far away. Unfortunately, if John Ascroft wants to interpret that term zealously (and there is nobody more zealous than John Ashcroft), you are probably one of them. I might be.

Get Your War On

This is just a sample of the genius to be found at Get Your War On.

Missouri Racial Profiling

While it has received some media coverage, the 2003 Missouri Annual Report on Traffic Stops is a troubling document worth reading as a primary source.

In a nutshell, black drivers were 40 percent more likely than whites to be stopped, and 80% more likely to be subjected to a search. While Hispanics weren't much more likely to be stopped than whites, they were twice as likely to be subjected to a search. Ironically, when searched, whites were more likely to be found with contraband. 23 percent of whites searched were found with contraband, while only 17 percent of black motorists who were searched were caught with contraband. Less than 15% of Hispanics who were searched had contraband.

How frustrating must it be to be a minority person to have your suspicions of official prejudice confirmed - to be pulled over and be subjected to a time-consuming and intrusive search, while middle-aged white guys like me drive by unmolested?

Database of Bush Administration Lies

Representative Henry Waxman (D-Cal) has created a database of the lies and deceptions employed by the Bush administration to mislead us into the invasion and occupation of Iraq. The Iraq on the Record Database is a "searchable collection of 237 specific misleading statements about the threat posed by Iraq made by the five Administration officials most responsible for providing public information and shaping public opinion on Iraq: President Bush, Vice President Cheney, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Powell, and National Security Advisor Rice."

Art For John Ashcroft

The web is a wonderful thing. Many civic-minded web citizens, alert to our Attorney General's squeamishness about bare breasts, have taken it upon themselves to photoshop some of the world's most famous art in such a manner as to make it acceptable to Ashcroft. The result, a gallery of work even Ashcroft can enjoy!

Favorite Poem Project

I encourage you to visit the Favorite Poem Project, where Americans from all over identify their favorite poem, read it, and provide some background. For example, Steve Conte-Aguero of Quantico, Virginia, writes: "Yeats' 'Politics,' which he requested be placed as the last piece in any collection of his poems, is my favorite poem simply because it struck me, in its brevity and style as a finer distillation of a fundamental truth that was already inside me.

In my childhood and adolescence, being at my father's side imprinted in me the significance of things political, first as they motivated his work as a voice for exiled Cubans and later as I tried to find my place in his personal history and our own American history. I thought that joining the military out of high school and traveling would disconnect me from the politics of home, but of course I was wrong. When I returned from my tour as an infantryman in the Gulf War, I was possessed of a clearer notion of my small role in history, and this clarity increased my desire to go back home and join the political debate surrounding my own country's attitude toward my father's country.

But this process of political familiarization and the accompanying feelings would seem like nothing compared to the flood of emotions that came with leaving the people whom I loved and with whom I was in love. When I read Thomas Mann's grandiose assertion shackling our destiny to politics followed by Yeats' very human and personal response, I felt for a moment as if I knew what Truth really was and how it lay inside of each of us and far away from politics."

Here is the poem he chose:

Politics
by William Butler Yeats

'In our time the destiny of man presents its meanings in political terms.' -Thomas Mann

How can I, that girl standing there,
My attention fix
On Roman or on Russian
Or on Spanish politics?
Yet here's a travelled man that knows
What he talks about,
And there's a politician
That has both read and thought,
And maybe what they say is true
Of war and war's alarms,
But O that I were young again
And held her in my arms.

Gore Nails It

Just as Jimmy Carter has achieved more respect and admiration as an ex-President than as President, Al Gore is doing more to galvanize an alternative to Bush as an ex-candidate than he did as a candidate. His speech, is a lengthy, thoughtful, substantive rumination on how far down this administration has dragged us. It is impossible to draw a comparison to Bush's light-weight plea for excusing the inexcusable.

Some excerpts:

Private Lynndie England did not make the decision that the United States would not observe the Geneva Convention. Specialist Charles Graner was not the one who approved a policy of establishing an American Gulag of dark rooms with naked prisoners to be "stressed" and even - we must use the word - tortured - to force them to say things that legal procedures might not induce them to say.

These policies were designed and insisted upon by the Bush White House. Indeed, the President's own legal counsel advised him specifically on the subject. His secretary of defense and his assistants pushed these cruel departures from historic American standards over the objections of the uniformed military, just as the Judge Advocates General within the Defense Department were so upset and opposed that they took the unprecedented step of seeking help from a private lawyer in this city who specializes in human rights and said to him, "There is a calculated effort to create an atmosphere of legal ambiguity" where the mistreatment of prisoners is concerned."

Indeed, the secrecy of the program indicates an understanding that the regular military culture and mores would not support these activities and neither would the American public or the world community. Another implicit acknowledgement of violations of accepted standards of behavior is the process of farming out prisoners to countries less averse to torture and giving assignments to private contractors.
. . .
How dare the incompetent and willful members of this Bush/Cheney Administration humiliate our nation and our people in the eyes of the world and in the conscience of our own people. How dare they subject us to such dishonor and disgrace. How dare they drag the good name of the United States of America through the mud of Saddam Hussein's torture prison.
. . .
In December of 2000, even though I strongly disagreed with the decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to order a halt to the counting of legally cast ballots, I saw it as my duty to reaffirm my own strong belief that we are a nation of laws and not only accept the decision, but do what I could to prevent efforts to delegitimize George Bush as he took the oath of office as president.

I did not at that moment imagine that Bush would, in the presidency that ensued, demonstrate utter contempt for the rule of law and work at every turn to frustrate accountability...

So today, I want to speak on behalf of those Americans who feel that President Bush has betrayed our nation's trust, those who are horrified at what has been done in our name, and all those who want the rest of the world to know that we Americans see the abuses that occurred in the prisons of Iraq, Afghanistan, Guantanamo and secret locations as yet undisclosed as completely out of keeping with the character and basic nature of the American people and at odds with the principles on which America stands.

I believe we have a duty to hold President Bush accountable - and I believe we will. As Lincoln said at our time of greatest trial, "We - even we here - hold the power, and bear the responsibility."

The Gray Lady Eats Crow

One of the most frustrating aspects of the run-up to war for those of us opposing the attack was the complicity of the mainstream press. It seemed as though the press had blinders on, going happily along with whatever misinformation the Bush administration was putting forward. Finally, the New York Times has apologized: Over the last year this newspaper has shone the bright light of hindsight on decisions that led the United States into Iraq. We have examined the failings of American and allied intelligence, especially on the issue of Iraq's weapons and possible Iraqi connections to international terrorists. We have studied the allegations of official gullibility and hype. It is past time we turned the same light on ourselves.

Yes, indeed.

I hope this article becomes required reading in journalism schools. By not doing their duty as journalists, the Times reporters became part of the drum beat that allowed this country to enter this war. By not questioning the WMD claims more closely, they participated in the deception of the Bush administration. Ultimately, the press bears some of the responsibility for our misguided policies, and a few contrite column inches will not bring anybody back to life, or restore our nation's credibility.

Incompetence

A fellow lawyer was treated to two weeks of imprisonment courtesy of the utter incompetence of the FBI. Misread fingerprints led to the arrest of Brandon Mayfield, despite the fact that Spanish authorities were telling the FBI he was the wrong guy. Instead, the Freaking Bumbling Idiots focused on the fact that he attended a mosque and had dealings with an Islamic charity "with suspected terrorist ties." (Given the irrational level of scrutiny everything Islamic is facing, are there any Islamic charities WITHOUT "suspected terrorist ties?!)

What's particularly galling, though, is that the FBI used the Patriot Act to secretly invade the privacy of Brandon Mayfield's entire family, and screwed up a simple search! "Under a provision of the U.S. Patriot Act, they entered his home without his knowledge — but aroused the family’s suspicion by bolting the wrong lock on their way out and leaving a footprint on the rug that didn’t match any family members.

During a later raid, FBI agents took Mayfield’s computers, modem, safe deposit key, assorted papers, as well as copies of the Quran and what they classified as “Spanish documents” — apparently Spanish homework by one of Mayfield’s sons."

If you think that something like this cannot happen to you, you are wrong. We are living in a time of fear, and our government is eager to "protect" us - no matter the cost.

Update: Upon further reflection, I realize that this post paints the FBI with a broad brush. I want to acknowledge that the vast majority of FBI agents, and particularly the one in my book club, are highly competent people with good judgment - the dunces on the Mayfield case are not typical. I also realized that this post may be unfair to even those individuals, since it points out mistakes made in one secret search. Who knows how many thousands of secret searches they have successfully pulled off in the homes of innocent people? They may have already been in your home, and you just don't know it.

Big Picture - Economics

I recently happened upon a blog devoted to macroeconomics. Macroeconomics is one of those topics where people feel free to form strong opinions without a sufficient basis of information or theory. Boneheads like me will argue with absolute certainty what the impact of deficits or minimum wage hikes will be. Some will even switch sides depending on the times - witness the support Bush enjoys within the Republican party for his binge spending.

The Big Picture is the work of Barry Ritholtz, the Chief Market Strategist for Maxim Group, a money management firm. He certainly seems to know what he's talking about, and does not appear to be partisan. I look forward to using his site to increase my knowledge.

For an introduction to his work, I'll recommend What is Wealth?, in which he critiques a fellow economist for faulty reasoning.

Beautiful Work

My friend Mike McMullen is a throwback. In a day of wonderful digital images and vibrant colors, Mike labors in his darkroom, producing his powerful black and white prints by hand. Mike is a successful lawyer, a great father, and a wonderful person. Take a few moments to visit his homepage, read his artist's statement, and browse his portfolios.

My Kids

I have a 17 year-old daughter, and an 18 year-old son. I know that most of my posts on this blog are about politics, arts, culture, religion, or other topics of normal adult conversation, but this one is going to be a little more personal.

Ali, my daughter, is a happy enigma to me. She loves horseback riding - not just like so many other teenage girls do. For her, it isn't just a hobby and a topic for a few posters on the wall. It is an area where she is growing in strength and skill. I went and saw her practice a couple weeks ago, and she looks so controlled and accomplished on her horse. (Well, not "her" horse. She rides one of the horses at the stable - I wish I could afford the cost of a horse and its maintenance. She deserves it, but chose her parents unwisely.) Horses are likely to be a constant in her life, if not in her career.

She is incredibly kind to children - always the favorite baby-sitter of her customers. Ali has a warm and accepting smile - kids can sense that she enjoys their company without patronizing them. Coloring, watching cartoons, or giggling over something silly, they know she is happy to be there in the moment with them - she surrenders her teen distance and becomes a big little girl with them.

She's struggling with the fact she hasn't figured out exactly what she wants to do with her life - not a big sin in a 17 year-old, but I know it weighs on her. She is an incredibly smart generalist. She scores in the 99th percentile on standardized tests, but she doesn't present herself as a genius in any particular topic. Meeting her, you'd think she is just a bright, average teen girl. You wouldn't know that she has the intellectual horsepower to change the world. But she does, and someday she's going to find out how she wants to direct that power. I hope, in the meantime, she enjoys being the person she is, and doesn't force herself into being who she thinks will make others, myself included, happy.

Sam, on the other hand, has chosen a direction, and is sprinting into the world. Next fall, he will start in the Dramatic Writing program at NYU. If anybody can make it in the world of screen writing and dramatic writing, I think it's Sam. He's written several plays already that have been produced locally, and his writing keeps on maturing. He's read everything from Nabokov to Hemingway to Chabon, and he simply "gets it" at a level I'm not sure I ever achieved, even when I was totally immersed in literature. He's funny, incredibly bright, and a hard worker. A nerdy non-athlete, he was elected class president and homecoming king in a school where he had every opportunity to be a self-pitying outsider. His record bristles with achievements, and he is a joyful presence in the house.

They are both joyful presences in the house, with their outrageous senses of humor, strong opinions, uncanny wits and fascinating ideas. And I suppose that fact is what has caused me to do this post - in a short while, our house will lose their splendid noise. Sam will be gone in a couple months, never to really return as a resident. He'll be changed by New York City, and I'll never know him as well as I do now, nor will I get to see him every morning and night.

And his sister will depart a year after that - no idea where yet, but almost certainly someplace far away and wonderful. I count myself fortunate that I have another year with Ali - time to bridge the distance between a father too quick to tease or fail to notice the important things in her life, and a daughter who doesn't quite know what to make of her father. She and I are not as much alike in tastes and obsessiveness as Sam and I are. I'm grateful for another year to find a way to let her know how much I love, enjoy and admire her for being who she is.

They are both leaving this house for adventures I cannot wait to hear about. I'll miss them horribly, but I'm thrilled for them both, and I would hate for them not to seize their opportunities for change and growth. They're both going to leave marks on this world.

Last night we had a graduation party for Sam, and it was wonderful to see the village that came out to congratulate him. Old family friends, current school friends, former and current teachers, neighbors, relatives - it was proof of the adage that it takes a village to raise a child. We have been blessed by the people who have gotten involved in the lives of Sam and Ali, and helped make them who they are. They are better than I could have hoped when I first held them as infants. Nothing I will ever do in life will compare to being their parents.

Putting Soldiers at Risk?

Nancy Pelosi, the House Minority leader, showed some spine this week when she called Bush "incompetent". I can accept the fact that some partisans prefer not to face up to this obvious truth, depite the overwhelming evidence that Bush doesn't read, doesn't care, and doesn't pay attention to the neo-con opportunists he fronts for.

The only thing that makes such an obvious statement from a political opponent at all worthy of comment is the blustery outrage it has provoked from the attack dogs on the right. Tom DeLay (perhaps on his way to prison for his corruption) did not defend Bush (perhaps that would be too difficult) - instead, he demanded that she apologize (you first, Tom) and claimed that "She apparently is so caught up in partisan hatred for President Bush that her words are putting American lives at risk."

WHAT?!?!

Nancy Pelosi is putting American lives at risk?!

DeLay is either intentionally trying to use the troops as political human shields for the incompetent president, or he is off his medications.

When given the opportunity to judge the motivations of others when they do bad things, it is kind and generous to assume that stupidity, not malevolence, is at the root. Indeed, Pelosi was, in a way, gentle in calling Bush merely incompetent, where others in his administration have pointed out that he may be a war criminal.

So - what does DeLay think is going on in Iraq and in terrorist circles? Does he think that terrorist cells are more likely to act upon their outrage because a woman from San Francisco questions the president's competence? Does he think that fundamentalists are finding inspiration not in their twisted views of religion and God's will, but in news reports about a member of Congress? Does he think that democracy is more likely to take root in Iraq if he is able to silence any voice that speaks against The Great Leader? Does he think that American lives are more at risk because of Nancy Pelosi than because of the prison abuses authorized by Rumsfeld (or perhaps the supremely incompetent Bush)?

DeLay, I'll extend to you the same courtesy that Pelosi extended to the President. Perhaps you are not an evil, corrupt opportunist trying to use our troops to protect your own vile interests. You may be simply incompetent.

Serious word games

It's fun to laugh at Bush over some of his difficulties with the language, but there is a more serious abuse of the language by the administration. Erica Verrillo has a letter in the Boston Globe calling for a little plain English:

Let's have a little plain English here. "Having sex" with a prisoner is known as "rape." Systematic beatings are called "torture." Excesses that lead to death are called "murder." The hundreds of women and children in mass graves in Fallujah are the product of a "massacre." Taken together, all of these add up to "atrocities."

The dissemination of "incomplete information" from "imperfect intelligence" is called "lies." The billions of dollars that Halliburton and Bechtel have reaped in profits are called "war profiteering." The invasion of Iraq is called "illegal." The destruction of America's international standing is called "permanent." And Texaco/Phillips's high bid for Iraqi oil is called "why we are in Iraq."

Civil Rights - A Matter of History?

Apparently charged up from his speech invoking the history of civil rights on the fiftieth anniversary of Brown v. Board in Topeka, Kansas, President Bush yesterday issued a press release "criticizing the Massachusetts court that legalized gay marriage," reaffirming his opposition to "activist judges," and pronouncing the "urgent" need for an amendment "protecting marriage as a union of a man and a woman as husband and wife." Ironically, on the same day the president touted the civil rights triumphs of the past, he proposed the only constitutional amendment in American history that would explicitly deny a group of Americans equal rights and privileges. As American Progress President John Podesta has written, "The Constitution has been amended to eliminate slavery, to give women the right to vote, and to secure for every person the equal protection of the laws. It has never been amended to mandate discrimination. Nor should it be."
Forwarded to me by a woman who tends toward the conservative side of the aisle, but sees the problems of our current president.

RNC Agenda

A friend forwarded me an advance copy of a schedule of highlights for the Republican National Convention, and I share it with you here for those of you who need a little extra time to program your VCRs.

Tentative Schedule of Highlights of the Republican National Convention
New York, New York, August 29-September 2, 2004



Catering Service: Halliburton
Chauffeur Service: Blackwater

Opening Night

8:00 pm Presentation of the Confederate Colors, Rush Limbaugh

8:15 pm Blessing of the Republican Party and Curse on Satanic Democrats, Reverend Franklin Graham

8:30 pm Keynote Address, Ahmed Chalabi

9:30 pm Benediction and Call to Holy War, General William Boykin

Second Night

8:00 pm Presentation of the Confederate Colors, Judge Charles Pickering

8:15 pm Pledge of Allegiance and Anointment with Crisco Oil, Attorney General John Ashcroft

8:30 pm Quadrennial Compassionate Conservatism Musical Offering of Minstrel Songs and Cakewalk

9:00 pm Speech, Condoleezza Rice

9:30 pm Speech, Colin Powell, cancelled

9:30 pm Video Tribute, Strom Thurmond

10:00 pm Presentation of Party Platform and No-Bid Contracts: Ahmed Chalabi

Third Night

8:00 pm Presentation of the Confederate Colors, Tom DeLay

8:15 pm Bush Family Tribute:
Neil Bush on Family Values
Marvin Bush on Saudi Investment Opportunities for Family Members
Jeb Bush on Fair Drug Sentencing Guidelines and Election Laws for Family Members

9:00 pm Nomination speech for George W. Bush, Ahmed Chalabi

9:30 pm Seconding speech, Brent Scowcroft, cancelled

9:35 pm Seconding speech, Paul O'Neill, cancelled

9:40 pm Seconding speech, Christie Todd Whitman, cancelled

10:00 pm Roll call of the states and counting of votes, Antonin Scalia

Closing Night

8:00 pm Presentation of the Confederate Colors Karl Rove

8:15 pm Incantation from the Platform to Open Witchcraft Trial of 9/11 Widows at Ground Zero: Richard Perle, William Kristol, Scooter Libby, Paul Wolfowitz

9:00 pm Acceptance Speech of Presidential Nominee (Joint Appearance, Not Under Oath): George W. Bush and Dick Cheney

9:30 pm Acceptance Speech of Nominee (Iraq): Ahmed Chalabi

10:00 pm Closing Prayer, Last Round and Final Bet, William Bennett