Good Morning America
Here it is, two thirty in the morning on the east coast. I should be asleep. I haven''t really slept in a couple days now and I have to work tomorrow. Instead, like a fool, I decided to read the news. Now I''m sitting here in front of my computer openly weeping because I just don''t know what else to do.
Here''s a recap of the day.
We lost soldiers today in Iraq... no big surprise. But one of them I guess draw a little more attention. Not to say that this one is more important than the others... just that it catches my eye.
"2nd Lt. Emily Perez, 23, was leading a platoon when a roadside bomb exploded Sept. 12 south of Baghdad. She was the first female West Point graduate to die in Iraq and the highest-ranking black and Hispanic woman cadet in the academy''s history." http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nation/4217221.html
God rest.
While we''re on the topic of death, an innocent sixteen year old girl was killed today in a high school in Colorado. This wasn''t another columbine. A man placed between the ages of 35 and 50 (exact age probably hindered by the bullet to the face he took) walked into a high school, took six girls hostage and had a standoff. He eventually let four of them go and at 3:30 pm gave an ultimatum and a deadline of 4:00 pm. His demands have yet to be released.
At 3:45 the SWAT team breached the room and the gunman fired on the SWAT team, then one of the remaining hostages and then himself. That''s the story. True or not doesn''t even really matter to me. I''m not going to armchair command this and say what the cops should have done because I don''t know. Its not my job to know and I''m pretty sure I would have @!$%#ed it up worse than they did. God rest.
And what really got me started tonight was that the house approved a bill on terrorist detainees giving the Bush administration the ability to interrogate and punish any suspected terrorist. It takes away any rights given by civilian and military courts. These "criminals" (and I use quotes because most of them are being held on little to no evidence) are still being treated like animals, and congress is pushing to make it legal. They are not being given basic human rights. It gives Bush the right to decide what interrogation tactics are legal and protects CIA agents from being able to be prosecuted as war criminals. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060927/ap_on_go_co/congress_terrorism
This is gives the administration effectively infinite power to do to suspected terrorists anything they damn well please. They''re making the definitions.
So good @!$%#ing morning. I just don''t know what to do anymore. I''m writing all of this because I have to vent this poison somehow, and this is what I have to do it. There''s a lot of people out there who say "@!$%# the terrorists... if it saves one American life, who cares what happens to the bad guys." and "They''re not protected by the Geneva convention because they''re not actually military" or "They''re not protected by the constitution because they''re not Americans."
@!$%# you.
First off, the Declaration of Independence, which is a piece of paper that some of us around here still think is important starts out with, "We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their CREATOR, with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed..."
It says, "all Men." It doesn''t say "Americans" or "White Men" or "White Anglo-Saxon" men... it says "ALL Men." That means that our founding fathers believed that all people should be treated as just that... people; equal and whole.
And in the constitution, and this is really kind of interesting, there are a few amendments that keep getting brought up in the discussion. The fourth is one of them. Here''s what it says. "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."
No where in that does it specify "American Citizens" it says "people."
Or how about the fifth amendment. " No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation." No person, eh?
and while I''m on a roll here lets try the sixth. "In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense." In all mother@!$%#ing criminal prosecutions. It doesn''t say "involving American citizens." It says all.
Now some of you might be thinking that it is implied. But wait... I was ready for that one.
Here is section one of the fourteenth amendment. "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." Look at that... they specified citizenship there. The fourteenth amendment was written quite logically after the eighth. So why didn''t they specify it sooner? Perhaps because all men are created equal. That we are all supposed to be protected under the law. Perhaps it''s because life is more important that where you @!$%#ing live? Just @!$%#ing maybe.
And then there''s the Geneva convention. I''ll tell you the truth... Its late and I don''t have the energy to go reading through that, so I''m even going to go ahead and say yes... we are under no legal obligation to follow it because they''re not technically protected. Fine... I don''t think it matters the slightest @!$%#ing bit. Even if we don''t have a legal obligation to treat people as human beings, do we not have a moral... an ethical obligation? If we take a person who is, admittedly a terrible human being out to do unspeakable things and then strip away their every right and treat them as they would treat us, who are we? Why is it better for us to torture them than for them to torture us? Is it because we''re better than them? Because we hold the high ground morally? Do we still hold it if we do what they do? How can you say we''re better than them when we do the same bull@!$%# evil that they do?
Call me a bleeding liberal; a damned hippy; an enemy of the state and I''m fine with it. But shut your @!$%#ing mouth if you want to call me or my kind anti-american. I love this country and everything it stands for. I love the ideals set forth by its creators. I love what this country is supposed to be but we aren''t @!$%#ing that anymore. We have lost sight of the very things that make us Americans. Where is the moral outrage? Where are the riots in the streets; the peaceful protests to balance them? Where are all the people who were pissed that Clinton got a blowjob as our rights are being systematically torn away?
But hey, if you don''t have anything to hide, what are you worried about? You''re not a terrorist so it doesn''t effect you. Wake the @!$%# up. My writing this could put me on a damn list. You reading it could do the same. Watch out what you comment, you never know who''s looking over your shoulder. And what happens when they change the definition of terrorist just like they''re changing the definition of torture? I work at a restaurant, and every Tuesday we have lobsters. I''ve learned a thing or two from this. When you put a lobster in boiling water it thrashes around until its dead. However, if you put it in cool water and gradually bring it to a boil, it sits still.
Things are starting to get hot here, and I"m not talking about global warming.
one last bit to kick you when you''re down.
A man set his car on fire and drove it into what he believed was an abortion clinic in an attempt to burn it down to please his God. This good christian soul is facing a maximum punishment of twenty years for 2nd degree arson. http://www.qctimes.com/articles/2006/09/26/news/local/doc45184a4d50b64214860149.txt
What would have happened if he was Muslim?
Regards
Here''s a recap of the day.
We lost soldiers today in Iraq... no big surprise. But one of them I guess draw a little more attention. Not to say that this one is more important than the others... just that it catches my eye.
"2nd Lt. Emily Perez, 23, was leading a platoon when a roadside bomb exploded Sept. 12 south of Baghdad. She was the first female West Point graduate to die in Iraq and the highest-ranking black and Hispanic woman cadet in the academy''s history." http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nation/4217221.html
God rest.
While we''re on the topic of death, an innocent sixteen year old girl was killed today in a high school in Colorado. This wasn''t another columbine. A man placed between the ages of 35 and 50 (exact age probably hindered by the bullet to the face he took) walked into a high school, took six girls hostage and had a standoff. He eventually let four of them go and at 3:30 pm gave an ultimatum and a deadline of 4:00 pm. His demands have yet to be released.
At 3:45 the SWAT team breached the room and the gunman fired on the SWAT team, then one of the remaining hostages and then himself. That''s the story. True or not doesn''t even really matter to me. I''m not going to armchair command this and say what the cops should have done because I don''t know. Its not my job to know and I''m pretty sure I would have @!$%#ed it up worse than they did. God rest.
And what really got me started tonight was that the house approved a bill on terrorist detainees giving the Bush administration the ability to interrogate and punish any suspected terrorist. It takes away any rights given by civilian and military courts. These "criminals" (and I use quotes because most of them are being held on little to no evidence) are still being treated like animals, and congress is pushing to make it legal. They are not being given basic human rights. It gives Bush the right to decide what interrogation tactics are legal and protects CIA agents from being able to be prosecuted as war criminals. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060927/ap_on_go_co/congress_terrorism
This is gives the administration effectively infinite power to do to suspected terrorists anything they damn well please. They''re making the definitions.
So good @!$%#ing morning. I just don''t know what to do anymore. I''m writing all of this because I have to vent this poison somehow, and this is what I have to do it. There''s a lot of people out there who say "@!$%# the terrorists... if it saves one American life, who cares what happens to the bad guys." and "They''re not protected by the Geneva convention because they''re not actually military" or "They''re not protected by the constitution because they''re not Americans."
@!$%# you.
First off, the Declaration of Independence, which is a piece of paper that some of us around here still think is important starts out with, "We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their CREATOR, with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed..."
It says, "all Men." It doesn''t say "Americans" or "White Men" or "White Anglo-Saxon" men... it says "ALL Men." That means that our founding fathers believed that all people should be treated as just that... people; equal and whole.
And in the constitution, and this is really kind of interesting, there are a few amendments that keep getting brought up in the discussion. The fourth is one of them. Here''s what it says. "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."
No where in that does it specify "American Citizens" it says "people."
Or how about the fifth amendment. " No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation." No person, eh?
and while I''m on a roll here lets try the sixth. "In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense." In all mother@!$%#ing criminal prosecutions. It doesn''t say "involving American citizens." It says all.
Now some of you might be thinking that it is implied. But wait... I was ready for that one.
Here is section one of the fourteenth amendment. "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." Look at that... they specified citizenship there. The fourteenth amendment was written quite logically after the eighth. So why didn''t they specify it sooner? Perhaps because all men are created equal. That we are all supposed to be protected under the law. Perhaps it''s because life is more important that where you @!$%#ing live? Just @!$%#ing maybe.
And then there''s the Geneva convention. I''ll tell you the truth... Its late and I don''t have the energy to go reading through that, so I''m even going to go ahead and say yes... we are under no legal obligation to follow it because they''re not technically protected. Fine... I don''t think it matters the slightest @!$%#ing bit. Even if we don''t have a legal obligation to treat people as human beings, do we not have a moral... an ethical obligation? If we take a person who is, admittedly a terrible human being out to do unspeakable things and then strip away their every right and treat them as they would treat us, who are we? Why is it better for us to torture them than for them to torture us? Is it because we''re better than them? Because we hold the high ground morally? Do we still hold it if we do what they do? How can you say we''re better than them when we do the same bull@!$%# evil that they do?
Call me a bleeding liberal; a damned hippy; an enemy of the state and I''m fine with it. But shut your @!$%#ing mouth if you want to call me or my kind anti-american. I love this country and everything it stands for. I love the ideals set forth by its creators. I love what this country is supposed to be but we aren''t @!$%#ing that anymore. We have lost sight of the very things that make us Americans. Where is the moral outrage? Where are the riots in the streets; the peaceful protests to balance them? Where are all the people who were pissed that Clinton got a blowjob as our rights are being systematically torn away?
But hey, if you don''t have anything to hide, what are you worried about? You''re not a terrorist so it doesn''t effect you. Wake the @!$%# up. My writing this could put me on a damn list. You reading it could do the same. Watch out what you comment, you never know who''s looking over your shoulder. And what happens when they change the definition of terrorist just like they''re changing the definition of torture? I work at a restaurant, and every Tuesday we have lobsters. I''ve learned a thing or two from this. When you put a lobster in boiling water it thrashes around until its dead. However, if you put it in cool water and gradually bring it to a boil, it sits still.
Things are starting to get hot here, and I"m not talking about global warming.
one last bit to kick you when you''re down.
A man set his car on fire and drove it into what he believed was an abortion clinic in an attempt to burn it down to please his God. This good christian soul is facing a maximum punishment of twenty years for 2nd degree arson. http://www.qctimes.com/articles/2006/09/26/news/local/doc45184a4d50b64214860149.txt
What would have happened if he was Muslim?
Regards