It has now been one year since the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and it is my sad duty to report that racism is alive and well within the United States. It is not enough to note that the response of aid to the mostly black city of New Orleans was not only slow in coming, but inadequate to boot. While I am not saying that Kanye West was correct in his assertion that, "George Bush doesn't care about black people", I will note that government response to subsequent emergencies in predominately white areas seemed to be a little faster.
How quickly would rescue boats arrive at Martha's Vineyard after a hurricane? Would Bush allow the residents of Nantucket Island to spend a week in a filthy, disease ridden building without fresh water, food and medical supplies? Of course not.
And while this doesn't provide proof of racism, it does point in that direction. The previous year has also allowed many members of the far right to speak openly about their contempt of all people of Arab parentage. Some have called for racial profiling at airports, some even going as far as suggesting a separate security and check-in line for Arabs or Muslims.
One must wonder why there wasn't separate lines for blonde men after Timothy McVeigh blew up the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in 1995. Pretty simple really, not all blonde men blow up buildings - just as not all Arabs fly planes into buildings.
Americans have a long history of racial overreaction to national crises. The detention of Japanese Americans during World War II was perhaps one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in the 20th Century. During the American Revolution, some states refused to allow slaves to join the militia due to a fear of putting arms into the hands of blacks, and it wasn't until the second half of the 20th Century that Whites and Blacks were allowed to fight together in the same military units.
There will of course be some who will claim it is not racism, but fear that drives the current calls for profiling, but that is simply a lame excuse to ease their own embittered souls. Others will say that Arabs are racists toward Americans, but point of fact, American is not a race, it is a nationality. But with Americans, their racism stems toward a fear of all Arabs.
Oddly enough, nationality plays a somewhat minor role in the current theater of fear. Americans seem to be happy about us killing Iraqis and many, including George W. Bush and his administration, will continue to point to 9/11 for justification.
But the men who were responsible for that great tragedy hailed from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates - two countries that still conduct a lot of commerce with the United States. I would be willing to bet that some of the people who claim we need racial profiling have at some point in their lives done business with one or both of those nations.
It appears that racists attitudes toward the Arab world isn't strictly an American thing.
Over the week-end, a flight from Spain to Manchester, England was halted because the passengers refused to fly on a plane with Arab passengers.
I'm sure there will be some who say I am only writing this because I want the terrorists to win. This is still such an asinine idea, that I won't even bother to debate the feeble minded people who would make such claims.
I write this because I believe in the real spirit of America. A nation made up of ideas and cultures from throughout the world. We are not a "white" country - we are a diverse people - and it is still our diversity and not our divisiveness that should dictate the sort of country we should be.
I can't say that I feel sorry for them. Bush, in particular, took an oath where he promised to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States of America. I'm fairly certain that the oath didn't include the words, "unless I don't feel like it.
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In her decision, U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor said, "It was never the intent of the framers to give the President such unfettered control, particularly where his actions blatantly disregard the parameters clearly enumerated in the Bill of Rights.
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Now, before anyone starts in on the "you must be for the terrorists" crap, let me remind you that I have nothing against the wiretaps - as long as they are used while following the letter and the spirit of the law. Come on folks, it is pretty simple; all they need to do is get a warrant. I still don't understand their reluctance to go to a judge and get a warrant.
As long as they have a reasonable reason, a judge will grant their request and they can go back to their business of listening in on private conversations. What's the big deal?
The only reason I can think of where they might not want to go to a judge would be if they didn't have a good reason for the wiretaps.
"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."And while the telephone and wiretaps are not specifically mentioned in the amendment, the courts have long upheld that wiretaps apply. You might also want to know that there actually are times when a president can order a wiretap without a warrant.
The Federal Intelligence Surveillance Act allows it under certain circumstances.
The President may authorize, through the Attorney General, electronic surveillance without a court order for the period of one year provided it is only for foreign intelligence information; targeting foreign powers as defined by 50 U.S.
C. §1801(a)(1),(2),(3) or their agents; and there is no substantial likelihood that the surveillance will acquire the contents of any communication to which a United States person is a party.
The Attorney General is required to make a certification of these conditions under seal to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, and report on their compliance to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.
Since 50 U.S.C § 1802 (a)(1)(A) of this act specifically limits warrantless surveillance to foreign powers as defined by 50 U.
S.C. §1801(a) (1),(2), (3) and omits the definitions contained in 50 U.
S.C. §1801(a) (4),(5),(6) the act does not authorize the use of warrantless surveillance on: groups engaged in international terrorism or activities in preparation therefore; foreign-based political organizations, not substantially composed of United States persons; or entities that are directed and controlled by a foreign government or governments.
Under the FISA act, anyone who engages in electronic surveillance except as authorized by statute is subject to both criminal penalties and civil liabilities.
You will note that the law specifically makes sure that no US Citizen can be wiretapped without a warrant.
If you ask me, the law is pretty clear and straight forward.
Bush has said, "I would say that those who herald this decision simply do not understand the nature of the world in which we live."
That's right, George, the rest of us are idiots compared to your all-powerful brain. Had it not been for you, we would have never considered that men and fish could coexist peacefully.
I understand the several different reasons for thinking we should "stay the course". Some erroneously believe that fighting in Iraq is a way to get back at the terrorists who attacked us on 9/11. This, of course, is way off the mark.
We were doing the right thing by going after al Qaeda in Afghanistan. But that has become secondary to Iraq. There are are those who, even though they now believe it was wrong for us to go into Iraq, believe we should stay and clean up our mess.
Others think we should force democracy down the throats of people and try to make them act more like "us". And then again, there are the racists who are simply happy to see us killing Muslims.
Should we be doing everything we can, under the restraints of laws and the Constitution, to keep our citizens safe from terrorism?
Hell yes! Do I have the right as an American citizen to say this? Of course I do.
It's called freedom of speech. Here is the irony. There are people who would tell me to "get out of the United States".
Huh? Yeah, that's the neo-con version of America. With them it's the "our way or the highway" mode of thinking.
They think people who speak out against their beloved leader are disloyal Americans. They don't think it is right to criticize the President of the United States - at least not the current one. Most, if not all, of these people were the same ones who were constantly criticizing Bill Clinton.
Of course, that was different, they didn't vote for Bill. He interrupted their agenda after only twelve years of Republican rule. And they went after him, tooth and nail.
They finally were able to have him impeached over lying about a blow job. Yet every single time George W. Bush lies and gets caught, they don't see anything wrong with it.
What they fail to understand - what they can't get through their hate filled minds - is that people like me can see both sides. I was a harsh critic of Bill Clinton when he lied. I thought he should have come clean a lot sooner.
That, my friends is the difference between the Left and the Right. We believe in rights for all - they only believe in rights for those who think like them. They are particularly prevalent in my neck of the woods.
I watched the documentary "Outfoxed" again last night, and was reminded that people who get their news from Fox are not really getting news so much as getting opinion from an ad hoc press secretary for the Right-Wing. I suppose that accounts for the low numbers who still support the war. Perhaps this is where the Right-Wingers in Fort Wayne get their news.
Here, there is a group of Right-Wing political bloggers who troll around the liberal blogs attacking the bloggers. The sad part is, some of them, one in particular, act like they are still in high school. Instead of simply stating their opinion, they go into attack mode - not only attacking the bloggers opinions, but also the bloggers themselves, name-calling and other forms of personal attacks.
I will not give them the satisfaction of naming them - I have decided to stay away from their dribble. If they choose to post a comment on my blog, I let them - unless they use foul or inappropriate language. Some ask me why I let these guys continue to post.
Because I still believe in the American way of life. A little dissent is a good thing and I have pretty thick skin - you need a thick skin to allow thick-heads to post. What I don't understand is why - one in particular - feels the need to bring everything down to a personal level.
This man is always mad. Don't get me wrong, he's probably a pretty nice guy as long as no one disagrees with his politics. He and I have similar feelings about child molesters.
We both despise them. But he can't have a simple discourse without being mean-spirited and belligerent. I hate to disappoint them, but from this point forward, I will be taking the high ground.
I will not engage in a back and forth with their BS - as far as I'm concerned, they can post comments and have the last word. Like Martin Luther King, Jr. told his brother when he wanted to flash his high-beams at everyone who flashed their high-beams at him, "Wait a minute, don't do that.
Somebody has to have some sense on this highway." I will not go tit-for-tat. I will simply agree to disagree.
But, I'm getting away from the point.
Some of the people who back Bush - like Bush himself - did whatever they could to stay out of Vietnam. Locally, or Congressman, Mark Souder, claimed to be a conscientious objector.
So a guy who claimed he was against war to stay out of the military - is now backing an illegal and immoral war. My opinion is that he was simply a coward. I enlisted in the military right out of high school.
I wonder how many of the people who snipe at me and other bloggers actually served in the military. A lot of the people I met at Camp Casey down in Crawford were former military people - some had actually served in Iraq, so people who claim that the peace movement is anti-military don't know what they're talking about. We support the troops.
We want them home safe. We will welcome them back into this country as the valiant men and women they are. The current peace movement is nothing like the movement in the '60s.
You won't catch us spitting on the troops or jeering them.
Yes, I belong in the camp that thinks we should get out of Iraq. Invading a sovereign nation that has not attacked us is simply not the American thing to do.
We should be concentrating our efforts on protecting this country instead of destroying Iraq. The sad part about Iraq is we are no closer to finding a solution than in May 2003 when Bush tried to say that major combat operations in Iraq had ended - if anything, it is getting worse day by day. Since January of this year, the number of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) has nearly doubled.
In January, there were 1, 454 bombs (exploded or found) in Iraq. The number for July was 2,625. New assessments by the military and intelligence communities provide evidence that violence in Iraq is at its highest level yet.
A senior Defense Department official told news organizations that, "the insurgency has gotten worse by almost all measures, with insurgent attacks at historically high levels. The insurgency has more public support and is demonstrably more capable in numbers of people active and in its ability to direct violence than at any point in time."
So much for winning the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people.
In a rambling sort of way, I've stated my opinions and a few facts, but like Bush has said in the past, he doesn't rely on many facts, he goes with his gut.
The world is changing right before our eyes
Conflicting messages that blur the lines
The answer’s out there, But it’s just out of sight
The right is wrong, but the left isn’t right
I’m just a man, a man among men
I make my own time
I see your logic, but with twist in the end,
I make up my own mind
Conflicting messages that blur the lines
The answer’s out there, But it’s just out of sight
The right is wrong, but the left isn’t right
I’m just a man, a man on the street
I bide my own time
I hear your drummer but I walk my own beat
I make up my own mind
The propaganda docs and commentators
I read opinions and I scan the by-lines
The press releases and the bold-faced headlines
The upcoming Fest For Beatles Fans in
In fact it has already been named as "The Top Beatles Blog on The Net" by the
To celebrate the launch the site owners are sponsoring a competition open to readers of the blog and attendees at the Chicago Fest. A competition keyword has been posted on the site and visitors can either e-mail the keyword to the address given or, if they are attending the Chicago event can approach a member of the Blog, Blog Me Do staff to have their name entered into the draw for a selection of Beatles and "Blog, Blog Me Do" themed items.
early '90s. Since May is Race Month in Indiana, I thought I would pull it out of mothballs.
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