Torture is legal now

In memoriam of the ideals that Congress has just discarded.

"No freeman shall be seized, imprisoned, dispossessed, outlawed, or exiled,... nor will we proceed against or prosecute him except by the lawful judgment of his peers, or by the law of the land." ~ Magna Carta

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with inherent and inalienable rights; that among these, are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." ~ Declaration of Independence

"the land of the free and the home of the brave" ~ National Anthem

"with liberty and justice for all" ~ Pledge of Allegiance

"give me liberty or give me death!" ~ Patrick Henry

"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." ~ Benjamin Franklin

"It is better to live on your feet, than to die on your knees" ~ Catch-22

"truth, justice, and the American way” ~ opener for the 1950s television show Superman

"There is no greater power in the universe than the need for freedom. Against that power, governments and tyrants and armies cannot stand." ~ G’Kar, Babylon 5

And then, I found a number of quotes from a more recent speaker:

"our gains are not measured in the losses of others. They are counted in the conflicts we avert, the prosperity we share and the peace we extend."

"We know that dictators are quick to choose aggression, while free nations strive to resolve differences in peace."

"Free societies are hopeful societies. And free societies will be allies against these hateful few who have no conscience, who kill at the whim of a hat."

"Free nations are peaceful nations. Free nations don't attack each other. Free nations don't develop weapons of mass destruction."

"This young century will be liberty's century. By promoting liberty abroad, we will build a safer world. By encouraging liberty at home, we will build a more hopeful America. Like generations before us, we have a calling from beyond the stars to stand for freedom. This is the everlasting dream of America.".

The last few quotes are from some guy named George W Bush.

Warrantless wiretaps

Warrantless wiretaps have been defended by citing wartime security measures used by previous presidents, such as Lincoln and Roosevelt. This argument is worthless.

The first problem with this argument is familiar to any child who has tried the “but everybody is doing it" ploy. If Lincoln and Roosevelt jumped off a bridge, would you jump too? During this country’s history we have gradually gotten closer to the ideal of our Founding Fathers. Should we quit improving?

The next problem is that we are not at war. Only Congress can declare war, and they haven’t done so.

Finally, if we are in some kind of undeclared war, when will it end? This War on Terrorism is also called The Long War. Estimates on its length range from years, to decades, to forever. For the duration is effectively forever.

Secure Fence Act of 2006

An excerpt from the Secure Fence Act of 2006 that just passed the House.

H. R. 6061
To establish operational control over the international land and maritime borders of the United States.

SEC. 2. ACHIEVING OPERATIONAL CONTROL ON THE BORDER.
(a) In General- Not later than 18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall take all actions the Secretary determines necessary and appropriate to achieve and maintain operational control
over the entire international land and maritime borders of the United States, to include the following--
...
(b) Operational Control Defined- In this section, the term `operational control' means the prevention of all unlawful entries into the United States, including entries by terrorists, other unlawful aliens, instruments of terrorism, narcotics, and other contraband.

Does Rep. King realize what he’s said in this bill? This bill is so open-ended; it can be used to do almost anything. Here’s a quick list of some of the uses of this bill.

unlawful entry of food – Food that doesn’t comply with our safety regulations is unlawful. This bill requires all food entering the country to be inspected for compliance.

unlawful entry of merchandise – This country has labor and environmental laws. Merchandise that is not made following our laws is unlawful. This bill denies the entry of merchandise that does not follow our laws.

unlawful entry of nuclear materials – We could scan every person, transport, bird, and fish entering the country for nuclear materials. But, it would be much more efficient to just cooperate with the former Soviet Union to secure their nuclear weapons.

unlawful entry of the oceans – This one is a stretch, but look at it this way. When sea levels rise, we lose coastal areas. When we lose coastal areas, our country gets smaller. The oceans are seizing U.S. territory. To reclaim our sovereign territory, we need to stop global warming.

unlawful export of tax dollars – Why stop at unlawful entries, unlawful exits are a problem too. A simple “and exits” addition can be used to stop overseas tax shelters.

National Security & Outsourcing

We've had a good look lately at the problems of being dependant on an unstable part of the world. If we didn’t need their oil, we wouldn’t be sending billions of dollars their way. If they weren’t drowning in money, they wouldn’t be able to fund the terrorists.

We have a similar problem coming up. We are sending our manufacturing capabilities to other countries. When a factory leaves the country, we don’t just lose jobs. We lose the ability to make something. What would happen if China decided to stop selling us components for our cars? Our cars would be useless, no matter what the price of oil is. What good is a weapons system if vital components are made by our rivals?

Not only are we exporting the ability to make things, we are also exporting the ability to design new things.

We are funding governments that are as corrupt as the ones in the Middle East. We give them our factories. We give them our technology. We stop buying our own products because theirs are cheaper. Then we borrow money from them in order to buy their products. If they decide to limit supply, or raise prices, we won’t be able to stop importing products any quicker than we have been able to stop importing oil.

We export raw products such as timber and cotton. We import manufactured goods. We are on our way to becoming a colony again.

Lessons from History

"Progress, far from consisting in change, depends on retentiveness. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." -- George Santayana

This has been a popular reference in recent political speeches. There's been a lot of comparisons between appeasing Hitler and the Iraq occupation.

I have a few might have beens of my own.

At the beginning of the 20th century, there were a series of escalating provocations between countries. World leaders used them to try out their new toys and started WWI. If the tension had been used to create a world organization for arbitration, we might not have had the war.

Germany lost the war so it got the blame. The winning countries were determined to punish Germany as ruthlessly as possible. If a more reasonable settlement had been found, Germany might not have been plunged into economic troubles.

When Germany was in the depths of depression, the rest of the world considered it just punishment. If there had been a change in policy, or some direct aid, Hitler might not have risen to power.

When Germany invaded Poland, world leaders tried appeasement. Hitler might have been stopped. We could have pounded Germany back into the ground. If that had happened, Germany might have been spurred to an even stronger sense of pride and nationalism. Someone worse than Hitler might have been created.

There are many lessons to be learned from history. The tricky part is understanding what the lesson is, and how to apply it to today.

Santayana has another quote that is worth remembering.

"Fanaticism consists in redoubling your efforts when you have forgotten your aim."

Terrorists and stray puppies

The Iraq talking points have changed recently from "We're fighting them over there, so we don't have to fight them over here", to "If we leave, they will follow us."

Sounds like they're admitting an oops to me. When we invaded Iraq, we aided terrorist recruiting and training. Now we can't leave because they will follow us home. Invading Iraq is being compared to feeding a stray puppy.

This also admits that the armchair generals are willing to continue sending soldiers to die in order to keep their nice cushy lifestyle. It's about time they finally owned up to the cowards that they are.