What
You're Missing in Our Subscriber-only CounterPunch Newsletter
Special Investigation: Why Did the
World Trade Towers Fall?
A scientific explanation
at last, from a physicist and mechanical engineer. P. Sainath recalls
Gandhi's 9/11, one hundred years ago; Chris Sands reports from Afghanistan on the rise
of the Taliban.What you just missed, but can still get, in our
last newsletter: Paul Craig Roberts on the Collapse of America. CounterPunch Online is read by millions of viewers
each month! But
remember, we are funded solely by the subscribers to the
print edition of CounterPunch. Please support this website by buying a subscription
to our newsletter, which contains fresh material you won't find
anywhere else, or by making a donation towards the cost of this
online edition.
Remember contributions are tax-deductible.Click
here to make a donation. If you find our site useful please:Subscribe
Now!
Do you remember the claim made by Republicans
asking people to vote for their party in 2000? The claim was
that they were going to restore a moral White House. Bill Clinton
had diminished the stature of the Presidency. The Republicans
would start a new era. Bush swept into office--many people still
believe, illegitimately, unlawfully . . . and immorally--and
fired all Clinton's White House staff. Republicans (and we are
made to believe, Americans) were heartened.
Considering the amount of tax-payer
millions spent on cleansing America of a philandering president,
one would think Republicans would have some consistency with
their own.
But what now? Do we have to
ask what Foley was up to as he "aggressively" pursued
boy pages down the halls of Congress? What about Scooter Libby,
writing erotic novels?
What about all the people Rumsfeld
took down by accusing them of sexual improprieties? Like Guantanamo
chaplain Captain James Yee. Or General Kevin Byrnes.
And let's go back a bit to
Abramoff. No sexual shenanigans there, right? Nope. I guess
it is no longer considered obscene to defraud others of millions
of dollars, including one's own Native American constituents.
Nor is it considered immoral
for the President to reserve the right to torture, when he feels
like it. Now--as one of my colleagues has frequently said--he
can roast babies over a fire in order to gain what he deems necessary
intelligence. But he wouldn't do that, would he? I wonder who
is on record saying it was time to "take the gloves off"?
(Hint: He's the VP.)
Who authorized the extraordinary renditions? The CIA black sites?
The sexual torture at Abu Ghraib? Wasn't it Rumsfeld? Or was
it Gonzales? Or was it Bush? Oh, I forgot: despite the fact
that they have gone on the record repeatedly, authorizing extreme
procedures, they're not responsible for what their underlings
do.
Ever hear of "command
responsibility" or the Nuremburg Principles?
And let's take a look back
for a moment at the time when this moral White House was bucking
to get into office. What about the outrageous and immoral tactics
used in that election? Intimidating voters, threatening recounters.
Or, for that matter, the legal
strategies used by the Republicans to bring suit before the Supreme
Court of the United States to stop a recount on completely frivolous
grounds. Oh, the irony. A court that had repeatedly refused
to consider an equal protection claim that did not prove discriminatory
intent now was perfectly happy to decide that the Emperor-to-Be-with-no-Clothes
really DID have clothes on, really did have an equal protection
claim, even though he could not prove ANY discriminatory intent
whatsoever. In fact, the laws Bush challenged were nearly identical
to those he had signed into law in his home state of Texas while
governor.
But the Supreme Court was perfectly
willing to let him make the frivolous and insulting equal protection
argument to their faces despite the fact that Bush didn't even
have any standing to make the claim. He was, after all, bringing
the claim for his voters, who couldn't be expected to speak for
themselves, so the High Court decided that the naked Emperor-to-Be
had a legitimate claim to challenge the laws that affected those
he didn't yet electorally represent.
Naked, yes, and already clothed
with illegality and impropriety. And astonishingly, nobody noticed
a thing!
Now, fast forward to Abu Ghraib.
Isn't it immoral to torture? Isn't it immoral to sexually humiliate
someone? What would Jesus do? This is compassionate conservatism?
But this IS what the President wants the freedom to do, isn't
it? Isn't that what the Detainee Treatment Act (DTA), just passed
by Congress, about?
No, I forgot. Torture is only
part of what the DTA allows. It also allows Bush to declare
anyone he pleases an unlawful enemy combatant and detain him
for as long as he wants. It also suspends habeas corpus for
aliens, although the Constitution says habeas corpus may only
be suspended during insurrections or rebellions. Habeas corpus.
Remember that thing? It's also been called the Great Writ of
Liberty.
Now the President has succeeded
in garnering exemptions from the War Crimes Act for his torturers
and extraordinary renderers, as well as for himself and his Cabinet.
That's real moral, isn't it?
And what about Iraq? Was it
moral to invade Iraq on the basis of lies?
And where are the moral standard
bearers now? Hiding their heads in the sand? Where are your
morals now? How could you let this happen to your country?
Jennifer Van Bergen, a journalist with a law degree, is
the author of THE
TWILIGHT OF DEMOCRACY: THE BUSH PLAN FOR AMERICA (Common
Courage Press, 2004). She writes frequently on civil liberties,
human rights, and international law. Her book, ARCHETYPES FOR
WRITERS, about the characterization method she developed and
taught at the New School University, will be out in 2006. She
can be reached at jvbxyz@earthlink.net.
Now
Available
from CounterPunch Books!
The Case
Against Israel
By Michael Neumann
CounterPunch
Speakers Bureau Sick of sit-on-the-Fence speakers, tongue-tied and timid?
CounterPunch Editors Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St Clair
are available to speak forcefully on ALL the burning issues,
as are other CounterPunchers seasoned in stump oratory. Call
CounterPunch Speakers Bureau, 1-800-840-3683. Or email beckyg@counterpunch.org.