Leaders favoring waterboarding and torture have lost their minds

image by Eileen McFall, under a Creative Commons licenseI am really surprised that we are even having this discussion right now about whether waterboarding — the practice of causing a person to experience the feeling they are about to drown — is legal or not.

The idea is to induce panic and fear of such magnitude so that the survival instinct compels a prisoner or suspected criminal "to confess" their guilt in order to bring immediate relief and preserve the life they believe they are about to lose.

If the practice were described to any normal human being who knew nothing of the justifcation for such a practice (or even if they did), and they were asked whether it was torture, it is highly doubtful they would say "It depends."  Yet, some of our leaders assert that the need for information outweighs the moral and ethical arguments against torture.

My question is "Have we completely lost our minds?"

While people are arguing back-and-forth about the definition of waterboarding, whether or not it rises to the level of torture, whether the United States’ CIA is justified in using the "technique," and whether it is legal or not under national and international law, I say we’re asking entirely the wrong question.

Actually, the question of legality is of little consequence, except if (a very big IF, I might add) those authorizing or engaging in the practice are to be brought to trial for violating the law.

There are many things that are or have been legal that are not humane or right or even wise, in the sense of actually delivering on the outcome for which the practice was intended.

What kind of information would validate the use of torture in order to obtain it?  Aren’t we interested in the truth, not some confession-under-duress?

The survival instinct is very powerful.  If you were being made to feel like you was drowning (which is essentially the same thing, since you wouldn’t know that that you weren’t actually drowning) — or to experience any other type of torture — it would be likely that you’d admit to anything to get relief, whether you were responsible or not.

I think the bigger question has nothing to do with definitions of waterboarding or torture or questions of the is-it-legal-is-it-not variety.   Is anyone asking whether it is right?  Is it good?  Is it moral?

I guess those questions are of little consequence to the powers at be.  They already know what they are allowing and/or condoning is wrong, bad, and immoral, which is why it is carried on in secrecy or prisoners are shuttled off US soil in order to escape the laws of the land to carry out their sadistic practices.

And now when the United States Senate moves to ban waterboarding and other forms of torture (already approved at the end of last year by The House), the President threatens to veto it!

I’m disgusted, indignant, appalled, outraged. . . and deeply pained.

 

Barack Obama promises that together Yes We Can

Today, I attended my first caucus.  I volunteered to serve as secretary of the proceedings, and I even got up to speak — something I was not prepared to do, nor had any idea of what to say.

It was a great experience.  I enjoyed connecting and interacting with my neighbors, some I knew but many others I had never even seen before, let alone had a relationship with.

I cast my vote for Obama today.  A couple of days ago, I sent in my mail-in vote for our state’s primary, which will be February 19.

I have been looking marginally at the democratic candidates for a time, but my ears perked up when Chad’s mom commented that she was intrigued by Obama.  Then, I read Caroline Kennedy’s op-ed piece in The New York Times, A President Like My Father.

Even if you are a supporter of another candidate, read this article.  It’s compelling and inspiring.  Ted Kennedy’s endorsement was also influential in my decision.

I said many things in my little impromptu speech, but I there were two things that I said that were most compelling.

The first was in response to a woman’s comment that we as a nation need to heal our standing in the world, since our reputation has been tarnished.  She spoke in favor of Hilary Clinton because of her political experience.

I said that we cannot solve our problems with the same mentality that got us in the mess in the first place.  Nothing progressive is accomplished by clinging to the status quo.

I consider myself a feminist.  As such, I honor and appreciate strong, assertive women who know who they are.  Still, simply having a seat at the table doesn’t mean the conversation has changed.  Hilary is a strong, assertive woman.  Yet, she seems to be heavily enmeshed in a paradigm that is less than progressive.  It’s the good ol’ boy network, only she’s not a boy.

I realize that being President necessarily means you are automatically Chief of the Armed Forces.  However, I am fundamentally pro-peace.  Hilary is clearly pro-War.  That’s status quo and where we are now.

Obama offers a change.

Which leads me to the second point I made in my remarks at the caucus, and that was Obama’s ability to unite, rather than divide.  He’s clearly a black American, but he somehow transcends race.

I am attracted to his message of inspiration and hope.   Indeed, many are, including myriads of young people formerly disillusioned with politics, previously deciding not to vote at all rather than suffer disappointment yet again.

Someone asked on some online message board I was reading somewhere, "What has Obama done?"  I think this was in response to Hilary Clinton’s repetitive mantra about all the experience she has.

I think experience is important, but we need to ask "Experience in what?" and whether that is the type of experience that we carry us forward to where we want to go.  I also think the hallmark of a leader is his or her ability to create coalitions and to empower others, not to alway beat his own drum.

You remember the Chinese poem, written about 23 B.C., don’t you?

Go to the people,

Learn from them, love them.

Start with what they know,

Build on what they have.

But the best of leaders, when their task is accomplished

and their work is done,

"We have done it ourselves," the people will all remark. 

It’s not about "Yes, I can."  It’s reaching out and saying "Yes, we can."

That’s why I was so moved by this incredible video that a Facebook colleague of mine turned me on to.  It is obviously pro-Obama, but hey, I’m pro-Obama.

I was held spell-bound, enraptured, moved.  We are long overdue for a massive wave of inspiration to sweep this country and the world.

Here’s that video (followed by the words to the song/speech): 

 

It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation.

Yes we can.

It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail toward freedom.

Yes we can.

It was sung by immigrants as they struck out from distant shores and pioneers who pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness.

Yes we can.

It was the call of workers who organized; women who reached for the ballots; a President who chose the moon as our new frontier; and a King who took us to the mountaintop and pointed the way to the Promised Land.

Yes we can to justice and equality.

Yes we can to opportunity and prosperity.

Yes we can heal this nation.

Yes we can repair this world.

Yes we can.

We know the battle ahead will be long, but always remember that no matter what obstacles stand in our way, nothing can stand in the way of the power of millions of voices calling for change.

We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics…they will only grow louder and more dissonant ……….. We’ve been asked to pause for a reality check. We’ve been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope.

But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope.

Now the hopes of the little girl who goes to a crumbling school in Dillon are the same as the dreams of the boy who learns on the streets of LA; we will remember that there is something happening in America; that we are not as divided as our politics suggests; that we are one people; we are one nation; and together, we will begin the next great chapter in the American story with three words that will ring from coast to coast; from sea to shining sea —

Yes. We. Can.

 

Jesse Jackson encourages us to stay focussed rather than distracted by petty nonsense

The other day, I found myself opening up the Cascadia Weekly, a free Bellingham weekly independent newspaper and noticing an opinion piece authored by the Reverend Jesse Jackson, entitled "Eyes On The Prize:  Civil Rights deserves civil response."

(By the way, you can download specific issue — the Jan 15 – Jan 23 issue — and read the short article yourself by clicking HERE.  The opinion piece is on page 6.) 

I read it with rapt attention.

I think it is brilliant.  So brilliant, that I quickly penned an email to Jesse Jackson to inquire if I might have permission to reprint the article here on this blog.

I haven’t heard back from them.  Of course, it’s only been a day or two, and I’m sure they at RainbowPush.org receive hundreds of inquiries a day.

There were many great points Jesse Jackson made.  I appreciate how he opened his article commenting that Martin Luther King, Jr., were he alive today, would be both please and troubled by the current state of affairs in America today.

Undoubtedly, it would bring him joy to know that among those seeking the Democratic nomination to become President of the United States include "an African America, a woman, a white male populist and a Hispanic."  This reality today would be unheard of during Martin Luther King’s lifetime.

The disappointment he would feel, Jackson asserts, is the disappointment most of us lovers of freedom, human dignity, and equal civil rights likewise feel.  Says Jackson "Poverty is up; hunger spreading. Millions of children go without adequate health care.  Affordable housing is lacking…the recession has been going on long before the economists woke up to it."

Last month we remembered the legacy of Dr. King on the anniversary of his birth.  "I have a dream!" are perhaps the four most famous words the fallen leader is known for.

Yet, Jesse Jackson noted "King had a dream, but he was not a dreamer."  He realized that changing laws is not the same as changing hearts.  He knew that there was much work to do in the word to raise consciousness and bring humankind together as the brother- and sisterhood they are.

All of this Jesse pointed out to address the current distraction from the all-important work of uniting America that is dangerously close to dwelling on what divides.  The media and others blow little, innocent things completely out of proportion, rather than creating constructive, meaningful dialogue.

Jesse Jackson explains what he means (referencing the two front runners, Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Hussein Obama) in the following two paragraphs I have extracted from his opinion piece:

When Obama said that Hillary was "likeable enough," it was not a gender insult; it was a gentle compliment.  These two were friends; they have compaigned together.  To turn it into anythin else is simply silly.  When Hillary said Lyndon Johnson was necessary to get the Voting Rights Act passed, of course she’s right.  It took years of demonstrations, litigation and legislation to challenge segregation.  King appreciated what Johnson helped achieve, even as he continued to challenge him.  Hillary’s statement is not a racial insult.  When surrogates state demeaning Obama’s experience as an organizer or insinuating garbage about his past, that degrades all of us, not just him.

The problem with this stuff is that it can easily get out of hand, embittering supporters on both sides.  We’re having a vital competition inside the team about who should be the first-string quarterback.  And it’s great that the competition is stiff and the competitors all highly skilled.  But the battle for position shouldn’t be so bitter that it divides the team . . . 

 Yes, we live in exciting times.  The truth is, we all want essentially the same things.  So rather than be at each other’s throats and taking cheap, mean-spirited shots, I think Jesse hits the nail on the head when he concludes, "Let’s appeal to people’s hopes, not their fears, and give them someone to vote *for*, not against."