Global
American Indian activist and political prisoner Leonard Peltier
has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for the sixth consecutive
year. Peltier has been an inmate in the United States federal prison
system since 1976, so the fact that he has earned the distinction of a
Nobel nomination every year since 2004 is especially remarkable.
Peltier's unlawful conviction in the deaths of two FBI agents in South Dakota has long been internationally decried as one of the most blatant injustices in recent United States legal history. In the aftermath of his trial, federal prosecutors were openly excoriated for having manufactured evidence against Peltier, for having withheld exculpatory evidence, and also for having coerced witnesses into giving false testimony.
Lynn Crooks, Assistant Special Prosecutor in Peltier's trial, admitted to a federal judge that 'the government does not know who killed its agents, nor do we know what participation Leonard Peltier may have had in it.'
Peltier's unlawful conviction in the deaths of two FBI agents in South Dakota has long been internationally decried as one of the most blatant injustices in recent United States legal history. In the aftermath of his trial, federal prosecutors were openly excoriated for having manufactured evidence against Peltier, for having withheld exculpatory evidence, and also for having coerced witnesses into giving false testimony.
Lynn Crooks, Assistant Special Prosecutor in Peltier's trial, admitted to a federal judge that 'the government does not know who killed its agents, nor do we know what participation Leonard Peltier may have had in it.'
None dare call it . . . what is that word again?
It’s a word I associate with the McCarthy era and patriotic fanaticism; its commission is the cardinal sin against the nation-state and, as such, not only too easily flung at an ideological opponent but a frayed, simplistic concept, in that humankind ought to be reaching beyond national identities for global allegiance and a security that doesn’t devalue life anywhere on the planet. It’s a word I avoid. Certainly I’ve never accused anyone of it. Till now.
But as I have pondered the recently released torture memos and the sudden, long-delayed trickle of national soul-searching they have provoked over the crimes of the Bush era, I find myself shocked into new emotional territory.
Consider this little item from a McClatchy Newspapers story last week: “The Bush administration applied relentless pressure on interrogators to use harsh methods on detainees” — commonly known as torture — “in part to find evidence of cooperation between al-Qaida and the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s regime, according to a former senior U.S. intelligence official and a former Army psychiatrist.”
It’s a word I associate with the McCarthy era and patriotic fanaticism; its commission is the cardinal sin against the nation-state and, as such, not only too easily flung at an ideological opponent but a frayed, simplistic concept, in that humankind ought to be reaching beyond national identities for global allegiance and a security that doesn’t devalue life anywhere on the planet. It’s a word I avoid. Certainly I’ve never accused anyone of it. Till now.
But as I have pondered the recently released torture memos and the sudden, long-delayed trickle of national soul-searching they have provoked over the crimes of the Bush era, I find myself shocked into new emotional territory.
Consider this little item from a McClatchy Newspapers story last week: “The Bush administration applied relentless pressure on interrogators to use harsh methods on detainees” — commonly known as torture — “in part to find evidence of cooperation between al-Qaida and the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s regime, according to a former senior U.S. intelligence official and a former Army psychiatrist.”
When Americans get "ethical" these days they ponder the great moral mysteries, like "Is public health coverage fair to insurance companies?" or "If we increase the military budget but reduce one section of it, can the whole world still be safe?" or "Would you still oppose torture if it worked?"
Let me suggest a few reasons why I think that last question is the wrong one.
First, torture DID work. It forced false agreement with war lies, helping to launch a long-desired illegal war. And it persuaded many Americans that some very scary and very foreign people were out to get them, people so scary that they had to be tortured in order to talk with them, people whose every false utterance, aimed at stopping the pain, instead generated color-coded horror warnings.
Let me suggest a few reasons why I think that last question is the wrong one.
First, torture DID work. It forced false agreement with war lies, helping to launch a long-desired illegal war. And it persuaded many Americans that some very scary and very foreign people were out to get them, people so scary that they had to be tortured in order to talk with them, people whose every false utterance, aimed at stopping the pain, instead generated color-coded horror warnings.
One of the nation's leading election integrity watchdogs, John Gideon, 62, passed away Monday April 27. Gideon was editor of the very widely distributed "Daily Voting News," featured on Bradblog. Together with Ellen Theisen, he co-founded the prominent election integrity Web site VotersUnite.org. In the early days of Black Box Voting, John Gideon played an important role by corresponding with each and every new member in our forums. He also helped assist VerifiedVoting.org when it was a fledgling organization.
He succumbed rather suddenly to bacterial meningitis. He passed away with his family by his side.
John Gideon earned a reputation for painstaking accuracy. He developed a breadth of knowledge about certification processes and all major voting machines. Yet more impressive (for some of us middle-aged folk), he had an amazing ability to remember details whenever needed, synthesizing knowledge from thousands of articles, research papers and visits.
He succumbed rather suddenly to bacterial meningitis. He passed away with his family by his side.
John Gideon earned a reputation for painstaking accuracy. He developed a breadth of knowledge about certification processes and all major voting machines. Yet more impressive (for some of us middle-aged folk), he had an amazing ability to remember details whenever needed, synthesizing knowledge from thousands of articles, research papers and visits.
LET'S KEEP CONGRESSIONAL PHONES RINGING ALL DAY LONG!
Both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives are beginning to consider separate legislation that could have an enormous impact on our nation's energy future. It is essential that we all weigh in now, in the strongest possible manner, to help shape that energy future. Let's tell Congress loud and clear to support renewable energy and energy efficiency programs and to stop any more taxpayer support for dirty and dangerous nuclear power and coal technologies. Washington-based groups like NIRS, PSR, FoE, NRDC, NukeFree.org, and others are working hard to stop this legislation from becoming a gift to the nuclear power and coal industries. But the nuclear and coal industries have far more lobbyists and far more money than we do. What those industries don't have is YOU. And YOU can make the difference.
On Thursday, April 30, let's keep the phones in the Senate and House ringing all day long with a simple message: YES to renewable energy and energy efficiency programs, NO to any more taxpayer subsidies for nuclear power and coal.
Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121.
Both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives are beginning to consider separate legislation that could have an enormous impact on our nation's energy future. It is essential that we all weigh in now, in the strongest possible manner, to help shape that energy future. Let's tell Congress loud and clear to support renewable energy and energy efficiency programs and to stop any more taxpayer support for dirty and dangerous nuclear power and coal technologies. Washington-based groups like NIRS, PSR, FoE, NRDC, NukeFree.org, and others are working hard to stop this legislation from becoming a gift to the nuclear power and coal industries. But the nuclear and coal industries have far more lobbyists and far more money than we do. What those industries don't have is YOU. And YOU can make the difference.
On Thursday, April 30, let's keep the phones in the Senate and House ringing all day long with a simple message: YES to renewable energy and energy efficiency programs, NO to any more taxpayer subsidies for nuclear power and coal.
Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121.
There's been a frenzy of activity in the Florida legislature of late. In week seven of this nine-week session, sweeping legislation was introduced in both houses with little fanfare, and Republican lawmakers discouraging debate or public input. A Gainesville Sun editorial summed it up: "Florida's lawmakers should be making voting easier and the elections process more transparent. Instead, they have produced a so-called reform that fails on all counts."
One of the best books published in Canada last year is one of the best books published in the United States thus far this year: "The Sun Climbs Slow: The International Criminal Court and the Struggle for Justice," by Erna Paris.
It's appropriate for this story to come to us from our northern neighbor. This is largely a history of the development of international law, culminating in the surprising success of the creation of an international criminal court (ICC). The ICC now has 108 countries as state parties, and the theoretical power to prosecute war crimes by anyone anywhere on earth. The ICC is currently prosecuting a sitting head of state, the president of Sudan. The ICC's decisions cannot be vetoed by UN Security Council members. It is theoretically independent and loyal only to international law.
It's appropriate for this story to come to us from our northern neighbor. This is largely a history of the development of international law, culminating in the surprising success of the creation of an international criminal court (ICC). The ICC now has 108 countries as state parties, and the theoretical power to prosecute war crimes by anyone anywhere on earth. The ICC is currently prosecuting a sitting head of state, the president of Sudan. The ICC's decisions cannot be vetoed by UN Security Council members. It is theoretically independent and loyal only to international law.
The Columbus Free Press strongly supports prosecution of former President George W. Bush and former Vice President Dick Cheney for their active approval of torture http://www.infoniac.com/news/torture-approved-bush-administration.html. Torture was discussed in White House meetings of the National Security Council's Principals Committee, a selected team of senior officials that were advising president on the matters regarding national security policy. Efforts to prosecute Bush/Cheney and others responsible for attempting to create legal justification for torture are gaining momentum: http://www.impeachbushnow.org/. Bush and Cheney should face prosecution for other high crimes and misdemeanors, detailed here: http://www.groundsforimpeachment.com/.