The President's praise of fair trials and the rule of law

Irony of ironies. Now the President is for fair trials and the rule of law for his chief terrorist target, Saddam. What about all the little guys? Glenn Greenwald in Unclaimed Territory spells it out.

The President's praise of fair trials and the rule of law

By Glenn Greenwald - President Bush today hailed the critical importance of fair trials and the rule of law . . . . in Iraq:

Today, Saddam Hussein was executed after receiving a fair trial -- the kind of justice he denied the victims of his brutal regime.

Fair trials were unimaginable under Saddam Hussein's tyrannical rule. It is a testament to the Iraqi people's resolve to move forward after decades of oppression that, despite his terrible crimes against his own people, Saddam Hussein received a fair trial. This would not have been possible without the Iraqi people's determination to create a society governed by the rule of law.

The President is certainly right that it is is a good thing that Saddam Hussein was given a trial, represented by lawyers, with an opportunity to contest his guilt, before being deemed to be guilty. That is how civilized countries function, by definition. In fact, allowing people fair trials before treating them as Guilty is one of the handful of defining attributes -- one could even say (as the American Founders did) a prerequisite -- for countries to avoid tyranny.

That is why it is so reprehensible and inexpressibly tragic that the Bush administration continues to claim -- and aggressively exercise -- the power to imprison and punish people without even a pretense or fraction of the due process that Saddam Hussein enjoyed. The Bush administration believes that it has the power to imprison whomever it wants, for as long as it wants, without even giving them access to the outside world, let alone "a fair trial." The power which it claims -- which it has seized -- extends not only to foreign nationals but legal residents and even its own citizens.

George Bush ordered U.S. citizen Jose Padilla abducted and shoved into a black hole for almost four years, all the while torturing him and refusing him any contact with the outside world, let alone any due process. He did the same to U.S. citizen Yaser Hamdi and legal resident Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri. In all of those cases, he claimed -- and still claims -- the power to hold them in that manner forever, and claims they are not entitled to any process of any kind.

The President -- the American President -- has also ordered foreign nationals abducted both inside the U.S. and from other countries, including our own allies, and sent to Syria and Egypt with the knowledge, with the intent, that they be tortured. None were given any trials, "fair" or otherwise. In fact, some were unquestionably innocent.

For the Bush apologists who require them, help yourselves to all the meaningless caveats you want. Saddam Hussein was far more brutal, more tyrannical, more liberty-abridging than George Bush. When it comes to internal repression, the two should not be compared.

Those who take comfort in comparisons like that, who think that these sorts of rationalizations constitute some kind of mitigating argument -- "hey, American behavioral standards still hover above those of Saddam's Baathist Iraq, so only deranged Bush-haters would object to America's treatment of its detainees!" -- are precisely the people who have no understanding of what kind of country America is supposed to be.

It is truly vile to listen to George Bush anoint himself the Arbiter of Due Process and Human Rights by praising the Iraqis for giving a "fair trial" to Saddam when we are currently holding 14,000 individuals (at least) around the world in our custody -- many of whom we have been holding for years and in the most inhumane conditions imaginable -- who have been desperately, and unsuccessfully, seeking some forum, any forum, in which to prove their innocence. This lawlessly imprisoned group includes journalists, political activists, and entirely innocent people.

The Bush administration has been steadfastly refusing to grant the very "fair trials" which served today as the basis for the President's pious, patronizing praise for the Iraqis (which, in reality, is intended as self-praise). The President and his followers -- including the majority of the 109th Congress, which just enacted the Military Commissions Act -- have made unmistakably clear that they do not actually believe in fair trials, literally.

The President's unreviewed and unreviewable accusation of guilt is sufficient to justify imprisoning anyone -- including for life -- and no process at all, let alone a "fair" one, is necessary. After all, allowing "fair trials" for those whom we consign to Guantanamo and similar hellholes might "swamp" our busy court system, an administrative concern which, by itself, easily outweighs the imperative of proving someone's guilt before deeming them to be Guilty.

And all of this is to say nothing of the President's grotesque praise for what he called "a society governed by the rule of law," praise issuing from the same person whose presidency has been centrally predicated on his claim to be larger and more powerful than the petty constraints imposed by "law" -- something which is, at best, a theoretical luxury to be enjoyed during peacetime but not during our Eternal War.

Apparently, "fair trials" and the "rule of law" are requirements for the Iraqis if, in the President's moving words, their "young democracy [is to] continue to progress." But for our older democracy, such concepts are quaint and obsolete relics which must not interfere with the Leader's Will and with his Glorious, Endless War.

Students are wonderful. They give you the opportunity to fill their hunger for knowledge. They trust you to to tell them something significant. And when they learn, there is this visible joy. There is nothing quite like having a bunch of students who put their trust in you. It's the only reason teachers teach.

The stock market is closing on January as part of a day of mourning for President Gerald Ford--the unelected president. Who woulda thunk it? Agnew was out because he was going to jail. Ford was a hard to notice worker bee type of guy. When he was nominated/inaugurated he seemed harmless enough, a neutral figure, we thought. Then just like that, Nixon stepped down (I was in Indiana as I remember) on August 9, and then Ford was president, and turn around again and on September 8, Nixon is pardoned. We headed straight into hard economic times and tremendous skepticism about the government. The time of Nixon and his aftermath was at least the beginning of my awareness of the country's deep distrust of government. Any government that would cover up Nixon and tell us it was for our own good was bad. We were spared the ordeal of justice. It was the advice of a kindly district attorney talking to the young rape victim saying, there, there, now. Let's just put this behind you. What purpose could be served by investigating this further? We just need to move on to a positive future. Mrs. G doesn't like the analogy because it was a white collar crime, but when you steal someone's money, you steal their life. When you take their freedom, you take everything. The thing was a conspiracy. Many were involved. Ford sheltered them all. Ford was either a dupe or another bad guy.

Who was Gerald Ford's chief of staff, his most trusted advisor? Dick Cheney. His secretary of defense? Donald Rumsfeld. Who benefited most from the cover up? The Republican party certainly in a general way. Their officers escaped implication. But specifically, Dick Cheney may have benefitted most. Look at him now. It's all still going on.

Christmas memories:

The pine tree at Grandmothers. Drawing names for presents. The basketball game from Aunt Belle and Uncle Neal. Playing rummy with cousins for hours in front of the fireplace. The dangling bulb that hung in the living room. Kittens on the porch. Dragonflies on the phone line. License plates nailed to the garage door. The grinding stone. The pump on the back porch. The well in the yard. Herman the hog. Pigs in the yard. The unpainted picket fence and the cedar tree in the corner of the yard. Riding in the car at night going to Grandmother's. Singing with the Symphony Chorus and Mr. Shaw. Listening to Morehouse sing Betelehemu. Rick Clement singing Comfort Ye. Christmas eve services. Carter's solo in front of 2000. Lessons and carols. O Holy Night. Many Moods of Christmas. Bach Christmas Oratorio. The first tree in Louisville, with painted ornaments and candycane stockings and ribbon. Opening presents on Christmas eve with families gathered from afar to Mama's house. The smell of wassail on the stove. Poinsettias. Going to sleep with the sound of aunts and uncles talking in another room.

Time out. It is nice to visit and eat rich food. To laugh and play games. Isn't it odd that we all agree to take time at once. Our need for peace and calm occasionally overwhelms our need for commerce. We give gifts--some needed, like socks; some useless, like another Christmas decoration; some fattening, cookies and pies; some beautiful and emotional, diamonds and other sparklers. A hug, a smile, and a laugh with a friend is about as good as it gets. A nap is a nice bonus too. Don't get enough naps. I bought myself a treasure back in the summer, a hundred years old and beautiful, and it sits under the tree enwrapped, waiting a Christmas opening. Then it will take a place on the mantel for me to look at every day. Mrs. G got a new techno toy that was too cool to put under the tree and it has already fallen into use.

Who would think we'd buy time in minutes, give gifts on cards, text message, email Christmas cards, watch homemade video on the computer, emailing audio, bank online (my son says he only needs cash for the barbershop), tivo, buy everything from amazon.com, wireless tools, bluetooth, cook dinner in 4 minutes, have global positioning devices in our children's phones so we can locate them 24/7. My fireplace alights with the flip of a switch. My aquarium is on my computer screen and the fish are immortal.

Merry Christmas to all.

Perhaps in another age people kept families closer together and gathered on a more regular basis. I don't know if that is true. But once in awhile people come to our house. Our children, our brothers, sisters, spouses and their children. Occasionally an aunt or two and cousins. A gathering of 25 to 30 brings laughter, singing, job reports, presents, amazing children full of wonder and surprise, and perspective. We miss those who for various reasons cannot be present, but all in all, it is a celebration. We'd do this more often if we weren't scattered so. We made a recording of the singing last night and got a treat, a solo version of Hard Hearted Hannah, by our favorite 90-year-old Dean of Students. For his birthday had went flying in a WWII fighter plane. He actually flew the plane. He was a fighter pilot in the war, but it had been 50 years since he had flown one. I had no idea that he was shot down three times and survived.

For those who are wondering about the repast: Yes the sweet potato souffle, mama's pineapple casserole, baked ham, turkey, green bean casserole with bacon, corn, stuffing, deviled eggs, lots of appetizers, key-lime pie, caramel cake, coconut cake, pecan pie. It was something. Wish you had been here.

Comments of the right about the bi-partisan Commission on Iraq's 79 recommendations:

Richard Perle (“absurd”), Rush Limbaugh (“stupid”), Kenneth R. Weinstein/ Hudson Institute ("preposterous"), Michael Rubin, former Pentagon aide/former Iraq Study Group panel member ("Cliff Notes high school paper"), Richard Perle ("monumental disappointment"), John McCain ("recipe for defeat").

It is as though the commission's suggestions are going to push the war over the cliff and bring about defeat in Iraq. Oh yeah, right. We are being so successful over there now. Everything is coming up roses. It's time to hook up the tow truck and pull Bush's policies out of the ditch, and take his driver's liscense.

Can anyone figure out why the United States (population 300,000,000) has 700,000 more people in prison (2.2 million) than China (population 1.? billion with 1.5 million inmates) ? More details here.

Can you say "drugs and guns?"

"What truly is logic? Who decides reason?"

While searching for solutions in Iraq, the time for name calling has past. You can't take exception to the work of 10 elder statemen and women and taunt them as "Surrender Monkeys." The election is past. This type of journalism is irresponsible and bad for the country. We need to give our all to find a solution. We remember seeing that sign in little shops that carry lots of glass knick-nacks. "You break it. You bought it." We have certainly broken Iraq. We should do our all to fix it back, not for the 3000 Americans who have died, not even for the 25,000 wounded Americans, but for the 650,000 dead Iraqis that have died as a result of our blundering into their lives with no plans for the future.

It is time to listen to reason and not to shout inflammatory rhetoric.

On a side note to Rachel and Carter, I saw the end of my book today. In just a few seconds I imagined it all. Of course. Now only the work of finishing.

When I was a boy, my room was roughly 9 feet square. That seems small now, but I hardly noticed at the time. It was pine paneled in that 50's style of rippled boards and had an oak floor. The pine panelling had a certain appeal. Right over my bed was a place where the knot holes came together from several board to make a gorilla face with two arms raised in a scarey way. He didn't scare me, but I always saw him there. Our house was a 1200 square foot, two-bedroom home with a bath and a half and it had a den. My dad bought it in 1956 with a Veterans Administration loan, a benefit of his service in World War II and he lived there about 40 years before moving to warmer climes in south Georgia. The den was my room for most of my years from age 5 to 21, when I married and moved away. My mother asked me how I wanted it decorated and then made me red curtains that shut out all the light from my big window that looked into the backyard. I also had a red bedspread and a blanket with deer on it across the foot of the bed at times. I had a black and white metal desk with a map of the United States on the desk top, and we painted my chest of drawers white with black drawers to match. So it looked like a boy's room. At 8:00 on Sunday mornings the door would open slightly to my room and Mama would tug at the foot of my bed clothes and say "Time to get up." Breakfast was making in the kitchen and it didn't take much prodding to be roused for bacon, eggs, toast, grits, and a glass of milk or orange juice. There was the smell of coffee too, for the adults. My room had a walk-in closet. It seemed huge and held all my clothes and extra clothes, coats and things that belonged to others. On it's big shelves up above the fat wooden dowels that held my hang up clothes, my nice pants and my button shirts and my brown plaid sport coat for Sunday morning, my ties, and later the gray suit that I wore to college, all manner of things were stored. Suitcases, boxes of mother's things. Below on one side my father had built some shelves that held my games and books, ball glove and bat, and a football. On the floor on the other side was a green metal trunk which had a tray in the top for small things, like decks of cards (my mother went against the Baptists there and let us play card games), sea shells, old coins (a 1914 s penny that Uncle Will gave me and a couple of silver dollars that I got at Aunt Margaret's that had eagles on them, one from 1888, the year my grandfather Charlie and grandmother Cora were both born). I wonder when my great-grandfather Marion was born-- before or after the war? Did my great-great-grandfather serve in the war? He is unknown to me. Underneath the tray the trunk served as my toy chest. Army men of many varieties, a complete civil war set that came from the Sears and Roebuck catalog, and the wooden fort that my dad built for me to play with them. I had so many men and accompanying fortifications that they covered the entire living room floor on some afternoons. I thought I had a lot of men but one day I got challenged by the older boy across the street, Winky Wells (who drove a 1936 Ford Coupe, bright blue and very cool), to a pitched battle in his back yard. I put everyone out there together, even the old cowboys and Indians, all fighting on the same side, but Chuck and Winky easily had four times as many men as me, and in the dirt clod bombing that took place later, my men were routed while he had hundreds still standing. That room was warm. It was right over the furnace and had the short run of pipe into the vent under my window. Everyone used to come to my room to get warm. I've been cold ever since leaving that room and I'm still cold today. Thank goodness for longjohns in winter time.

Obbligato is one of my favorite musical words. The Harvard dictionary of music says "[It.]. Obligatory, usually with reference to instruments (violino obbligato) or parts that must not be omitted; the opposite is ad libitum. Unfortunately, by some queer misunderstanding or thoughtlessness, the term has come to adopt the meaning of a mere accompanying part which may be omitted, if necessary. The consequence is that one has to decide in each single case whether obbligato means "obbligato" or "ad libitum," the chances being in favor of the former meaning in the case of early music; of the latter, in more recent pieces."

So obbligato means either a required or an optional part! I see another word that is taking on the opposite of its real meaning. The word "literally" is often used in conversation, in the media and in print to mean "figuratively." It is such and annoyance that someone has started website to publish instances of "literally" being used incorrectly: for example, from a sportscaster, "The Giants literally put a bullet in the heads of the Eagles." Check out many other examples at www.literally.barelyfitz.com.

President Jimmy Carter is once again in the news. There are so many who go on the attack at the mention of his name. Immediately a din of protest, slander, often profane, arises to attempt to drown out his words before they can be heard. I listen to him. I find that he cuts through political rhetoric with a scapel of truth. His words are shocking, the biggest shock being that the same words are not being said by others. Today he takes on Israel when no one else has the courage. He was so profound on Meet the Press that Tim Russert abandoned his usual tactic of interrupting guests and actually let him answer questions. At one point he gave an impromtu essay about how to work for peace in the middle east. I could only think of the intellect of the man. How could he pull so much together so cogently in answer to a question by a TV commentator? The answer is, he is brilliant, he has studied the problem his whole life, and not needing anyone's approval, he is not afraid to speak the truth. Take every opportunity to read President Carter, to listen to him speak, to contribute to the Carter Center, and to learn from perhaps our most learned leader.

Unlike "obbligato" and "literally" President Carter uses words and they have clear meaning.