The art of dissent

This blog was birthed due to my frustration with the last eight years under the Bush Administration. That is no secret.

With the selection of a new administration, one which I actively supported here and around the
Midwest. Many friends asked what I would talk about during this new age. And for the most part, I just said, "There will always something for me to argue about.".

I support the Obama administration when they do things I agree with, and try to call them to task when they do things I do not agree with them. So much so, I sent this letter (via http://www.whitehouse.gov/) to the president to be ignored:

Dear Mr. President and White House Staff,

I am concerned that it has now become formal United States policy, that we have a bifurcated legal system. If crimes were committed and authorized by members of the CIA and/or the DoJ then investigations are necessary.

We have tried individuals for water-boarding in our past. It has the force of legal precedence behind it.

I have heard you speak eloquently on the subject, sir. But rhetorical eloquence is not enough here. Paeans 'to moving forward' and 'retribution' while nice as a salve for conscience, do not follow the rule of law. That you, yourself have spoken of on many occasions, and more importantly in your previous profession. You are uniquely aware of that foundation.

This is not a matter of pragmatism or partisan retribution. This is about returning to the stance that we are a nation of laws. Not of men.I hope you will encourage the DoJ to pursue investigations.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,
x

I was moved to comment on this, but also realized, it is much harder to proofread in the little posting box they give. So I am sure I will have to do it again.

The 'rule of law' is important to me. That there be no bifurcation of laws between those with power and those without is a cornerstone of our republic. However, at every turn the governing authority and more importantly the media seek to shield its members from anything of the sort.

That is why I always seem to come back to issues such as NSA wire-tapping, torture, and over-reach in the Executive.

I just want it to be clear, due to a previous conversation I had with a friend on some tea-party related, that I do not have a problem with dissent. I think dissent is natural and a necessary component in a functioning democracy. However, I do have a problem with disingenuous or specious arguments. And that was all I was pointing to.

Concern for our legal system and our personal civil liberties, is what motivated the creation of this blog in the first place, and that is my dissent. That is why you will see lots of links to Glenn Greenwald and the Anonymous Liberal. Lawyers who have an eye toward civil liberties.

Mainly because, in my estimation, without freedom and liberty nothing else matters. If you are not free from unwarranted persecution, what does it matter if the government taxes you are not your gains are not your's. What you have is irrelevant. Because those rights can be suspend on a whim, or abridged, or outright abrogated. It is the adherence to the rule of law that keeps that at bay.

So at times it is unpopular. But the law is there to protect the just and the unjust alike. Common man and King, farmer and President are protected by its embrace.

That is why I harp on torture. If you strip away the moral arguments, it is simply against the law. We signed treaties as such. We have prosecuted people for its practice. That is why it is wrong. Not a political decision. However if you read, the actual memos, it is hard not to wonder (to paraphrase Ezra Klein) when we became the kind of country which would put a person in a small box covered in insects.

That is why the NSA wire-tapping sticks in my craw. Not out of some partisan revenge scheme against former President Bush and his cronies, but out of the fear. Because once freedoms are surrendered they are not easily regained.

That is why I am for prosecutions in these cases. If not investigations at the very least. If it is truly felt that these acts were justifiable then a court of law is where that case should be made.

So yeah. I will engage in active dissent for the rest of my days. It is patriotic. We must always watch those who are in positions of power. Trust is for friends not for any politician ever.

The other day I was trying explain my world view to someone. Trying to articulate what I hoped to accomplish in my life, as far as, moving our dialog forward. And I was reaching. The words weren't really there. It was hard to combine what I was going for. Because I don't wish for world peace or some sort of existential harmony. So it was difficult to settle on what I wanted to convey. Finally I managed to pull some pieces together from various divergent sources. From Serenity, Planetary, and The Story of B it finally gelled.

And it went something like this.

I want a world that I do not belong in. I want a world that is so much beyond what I can imagine that it seems strange to my eyes. I want my children and grandchildren to have such a different frame of reference that my views will seem quaint. Like an archaeologist looking at hieroglyphics in the pyramids.

I want a better world. But I know that I have no place there.

And that is good, and that is my hope, and that is why I blog.

-Cheers