No Harm, No Foul. Or is There?
So, I’m on this other listserve with a lot of other writers, and one person made the point that George Bush will be gone is less then two years so it’s “no big”. At first I just sighed and rolled my eyes, but the more I’ve thought about it the angrier I have become. _No big_? When we have a federal court system that has been filled with extremists. One man on the federal bench doesn’t accept the concept of separation of church and state, most feel that any environmental standards represent an unfair burden on business. Bush had put in place a man at the FDA who opposes all forms of birth control, and believes that a woman should deal with cramps or other reproductive issues by prayer. A recess appointment of a man at the Social Security Administration believes that the entire system should be dismantled and privatized. We have a federal prosecutor in NM who was targeted because he refused to prosecute a group that registered poor and minority voters. He was pushed by Rove and the RNC to investigate. He did, found no illegal action that would constitute voter fraud, and was fired. No Big??
And let’s talk about our civil liberties. Starting with the most terrifying action taken to date, and one in which Congress is complicit. The destruction of Habeus Corpus. No one, citizen or not, in this country is safe. Upon the word of the president anyone can be declared and enemy combatant and held indefinitely without access to a lawyer and the courts. Wire taps, the opening of your mail, being placed under survellience because you attend a peace rally. Declaring the Genevea Convention to be “quaint”. Rendition. Torture. NO BIG???
What this man seems unable to grasp is that once power has been aggrandized by a particular branch of government that branch is loath to give it up. I don’t care who is in the White House — Democratic or Republica — this kind of dictatorial power should not rest in the pen stroke any single man or woman. It’s going to be a long hard fight to restore balance, and as Jonathan Turley, Constitutional scholar said, once a liberty is eroded it is almost impossible to restore.
So ends my rant for the day.
Melinda
April 6th, 2007 at 9:35 am
I’m in violent agreement, though one can hope that as political balance is restored to the federal level, liberty can be restored to the behavior of the federal level.
April 18th, 2007 at 2:02 pm
Amen. No other comment, except that you’re not alone.