The Kitsap Pundit

Most voters do not respect this [negative] approach, but may not perceive it during the heat of a campaign. But it has happened enough, at local and national levels, that a wonk like me has identified its salient points. Therefore, I hereby publish my Handbook for Spotting the Step-by-Step Destruction of Informed Democracy, the condensed version:

1) The Beginning: A well-intended candidate/official takes a position, call it the Cause.

2) Fault cultivation: Unable to refute its logic, the antagonist breaks out the microscope to find any fault(s) in his opponent's Cause. Faults become the new campaign mantra.

3) Perfect embellishment: Since there is no alternative proposed, the Cause with faults is unassailably compared to "no-fault" or perfection. In that light, only the faults matter.

4) Victim analysis: A search is conducted for any real, or potential, victims of the faulty Cause. Once one potential victim is found, the faults become dangerous.

5) New righteous transformation: The singular victim becomes "everyman." Be afraid, it is now a matter of your "rights", or worse, our "morals."

6) The Word: The attack is dressed up by attaching a phrase from our most fundamental documents — like the U.S. Constitution or the Bible. Never mind if the quote doesn't quite fit.

7) Bring it Home: Now wave the flag and thump the Book. This raises the original dirt above the fray. Words like "freedom, nation, democracy, Christian, right" — in any particular order — roll off the tongue.

8) Humble outrage: When a response is finally made, it is characterized as an attack on the very foundation of our civilization. Antagonists are appalled. And saddened. And ahead.

One of the beauties of this approach is that it also obviates accountability of the antagonist. The issues are lost. Reason is no longer important. We don't question it, we're just glad to be on the right side.

Trouble is, these things have a way of catching up with us. Here at home, we are legitimately concerned about future population growth — but stuck due to the apparent requirement to satisfy a group which seems in the business of never expressing satisfaction.

# posted by Al Hedstrom @ 14:12

What went wrong? A lot, but the biggest turning point was the Abu Ghraib scandal. Since April 2004 the liberation of Iraq has become a desperate exercise in damage control. The abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib alienated a broad swath of the Iraqi public. On top of that, it didn't work. There is no evidence that all the mistreatment and humiliation saved a single American life or led to the capture of any major terrorist, despite claims by the military that the prison produced "actionable intelligence."

The most shocking thing about Abu Ghraib was not the behavior of U.S. troops, but the incompetence of their leaders. ... A few soldiers will always do bad things. That's why you need competent officers, who know what the men and women under their command are capable of—and make sure it doesn't happen.

... Basic services like electricity, water and sewers still aren't up to prewar levels. Electricity is especially vital in a country where summer temperatures commonly reach 125 degrees Fahrenheit. Yet only 15 percent of Iraqis have reliable electrical service. In the capital, where it counts most, it's only 4 percent.

The most powerful army in human history can't even protect a two-mile stretch of road.

The four-square-mile Green Zone, the one place in Baghdad where foreigners are reasonably safe, could be a showcase of American values and abilities. Instead the American enclave is a trash-strewn wasteland of Mad Max-style fortifications.

... There's no real choice but to stay, probably for many years to come. The question isn't "When will America pull out?"; it's "How bad a mess can we afford to leave behind?" All I can say is this: last one out, please turn on the lights.

This disaster is directly attributable to the incompetence at the top - Rumsfeld, Rice, Powell, and Bush - and it flowed downhill from there. It was all based on lies that they believed no one would uncover. They thought it would be so easy, "a cakewalk" with their propaganda juggernaut using the WMD-imminent-danger red herring.

Incompetents.

# posted by Al Hedstrom @ 16:51

The larger point is that, just because a once respected international human rights organization goes off the deep end, we are not absolved from our own actions. Amnesty International should be responsible for holding all nations to the same standard, a responsibility they have shirked (more on that in Part III). However, we should be--and for the most part are--holding ourselves to a higher standard. We're the ones calling for change in the world. We're the ones encouraging the world to be more like us, i.e., free and democratic. Therefore, we're the ones that must set the example. That means we have to walk the walk. We have to set the tone. We have to lead.

... We need to address this issue better. Why? First, because our mistreatment of prisoners/detainees is wrong. Second and less importantly, because it's bad politics. We're suffering damage by thousands of small political cuts, seemingly daily. By insufficiently addressing the problem, we are exposed politically and it opens the door to outrageous charges and overexaggerations and dissembling made by our detractors, both domestic and international. The anti-Bush crowd has seized the issue and they're not going to let go. The liberal agenda is to damage, neutralize or impeach Bush. Why give the left this kind of ammunition?

of law. The administration's above-the-law arrogance has resulted in murder, maiming, and torture. These are facts that AI documents - as it likewise documents inhumane policies and practices committed by governments of other countries. So Bush dismisses the report as "absurd", thereby keeping his ignorant head firmly planted in the sand.

Impeachment? Compare violations of U.S. and international law resulting in loss of lives against lying about a personal sexual tryst. And that doesn't even address the Downing Street Memo.

Oh, yeah, one other item: The grownups have taken over. That's real comforting.

# posted by Al Hedstrom @ 10:48

The Take Back America Conference brings thousands of progressive activists, thinkers and leaders together to discuss our vision, unite our groups and train our campaign organizers.

I've never been to an event like this and I'd love to go. But ...

# posted by Al Hedstrom @ 15:56

In short, tolerance is a precondition to a successful democracy. If you arrive at a place in your thinking where your political opponents are not simply mistaken, but evil, treasonous, or in opposition to divine principles, then the rights and privileges one accords to them under a democratic system become not just irrelevant but positively diabolical. If there is one Right, one Truth, and one way to accomplish God’s will, why engage in any discussion? Why extend the least respect to views that are in error?

Those who claim their political views emanate from higher truth rather than resulting from the fallible (and correctable) process of human reasoning don’t see themselves as an interest group in a pluralist society, engaging in a give-and-take of democratic process. They don’t see the rules governing civility and respect for minorities as applying to them, because they’re Right, and their rightness suspends the obligation to entertain dissenting views. In the worst cases, the failure of anyone to subscribe to the fundamental belief set (or signify those beliefs in public) inherently renders any opinion they may have illegitimate and irrelevant. Tribal, religious or ideological identity comes to supersede common citizenship – in opposition to the basic precepts of Constitutionalism – and civil society proceeds to fracture along irreconcilable sectarian lines.

And that's just a short highlight. Read the whole thing.

# posted by Al Hedstrom @ 14:32

Seventeen states have now voted to ban the use of MTBE in gasoline, but the battle over phasing it out nationwide has been held up in Congress by disagreements over who should pay for the mess. Companies responsible for MTBE pollution are counting on congressional allies, not least House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, to make sure things stay that way.

... In late 2003, three House Republicans, DeLay, Billy Tauzin, and Joe Barton, introduced a waiver in the House energy bill that would exempt MTBE producers and distributors from the liabilities they were being exposed to in the courts. Not coincidentally, both DeLay and Barton hail from a state, Texas, with six of the nation's largest MTBE producers, which account for over 80 percent of all MTBE produced in the U.S. (Most of the rest is produced in Louisiana, Tauzin's home state.) Also not coincidentally, oil and gas has been a top industry contributor to both representatives for over 15 years, having raised $558,000 for DeLay and $931,000 for Barton since 1989. In the 2004 election, Lyondell and Valero—two of the top MTBE producers—were among their biggest contributors.

Assuming that MTBE will eventually be phased out, Congress has set aside $2 billion to enable oil and gas companies to transition into new fuel sources. But the phase-out date for MTBE—set for December 31st 2014—isn't even assured; the energy bill contains three exemptions that could allow companies to use MTBE indefinitely.

While the Senate has asked that risks of future additives be adequately assessed before they're approved for use, the House has rejected such language.

What is it about the House of Representatives that makes it such a legislative backwater? Why is it that every news report on their latest activities generates among the electorate a collective shaking of heads, a string of expletives, or laughter? It seems a prerequisite for leadership within the Congress is a combination of greed, lies and hypocrisy.

You and I, ladies and gentlemen, have done this to ourselves.

# posted by Al Hedstrom @ 21:37

By the end of the year, more than 500 detainees of around 35 nationalities continued to be held without charge or trial at the US naval base in Guantánamo Bay on grounds of possible links to al-Qa’ida or the former Taleban government of Afghanistan. ... Neither the identities nor the precise numbers of detainees held in Guantánamo were provided by the Department of Defense, fuelling concern that individual detainees could be transferred to and from the base without appearing in official statistics.

In a landmark decision, the US Supreme Court ruled in June that the US federal courts had jurisdiction over the Guantánamo detainees. However, the administration tried to keep any review of the detainees’ cases as far from a judicial process as possible.

... On 22 June, after the leaking of earlier government documents relating to the “war on terror” suggesting that torture and ill-treatment had been envisaged, the administration took the step of declassifying selected documents to “set the record straight”. However, the released documents showed that the administration had sanctioned interrogation techniques that violated the UN Convention against Torture and that the President had stated in a central policy memorandum dated 7 February 2002 that, although the USA’s values “call for us to treat detainees humanely”, there are some “who are not legally entitled to such treatment”. The documents discussed, among other things, ways in which US agents could avoid the international prohibition on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, including by arguing that the President could override international and national laws prohibiting such treatment. These and other documents also indicated that President Bush’s decision not to apply the Geneva Conventions to detainees captured in Afghanistan followed advice from his legal counsel, Alberto Gonzales, that this would free up US interrogators in the “war on terror” and make future prosecutions of US agents for war crimes less likely. Following the presidential elections in November, President Bush nominated Alberto Gonzales to the post of Attorney General in his new administration.

. The Imperial Bush and his neocon retinue have pulled our government down to a level that would have made McCarthy blush - and they're proud of their work.

# posted by Al Hedstrom @ 11:12

We have entered into the stage of imperial decadence in which a clueless inheritor of the throne is a tool of his courtiers, though, like all courtiers, they must occasionally endure an outbreak of petulant self-assertion or manage a tangent of eccentricity by their lord.

...In a blog discussion on the Chronicles website a while back, I was rather severely taken to task by an anonymous correspondent for slighting the accomplishments of President Reagan. For this writer Reagan represents the most valued “presidential legacy” of his lifetime. Set aside that Reagan’s legacy includes a failure to deliver on every promise he made in regard to the internal affairs of the Union. Why do we need a “presidential legacy” to make us feel good? Why should a democratic people have any regard for a president’s legacy other than whether or not he had faithfully executed the laws of the country? My reply was that at this time in our national life it is vitally necessary to desacralize the government by giving up the sentimentality of “presidential legacies.”

How did we get to this state of emperor worship—the need to identify with “our” president, as if he were the father of our one big happy family? It would seem that for millions of Americans now, to criticize “our president” is to commit treason against what they imagine to be a family. Well, the President is not “my president.” He is a rather mediocre and troublesome man who has acheived temporary (let us hope) power through a corrupt and irrational process that required of him neither an admirable character nor proven services to the country. The President is most certainly not “my commander-in-chief.” He is merely during his term of office head of the Armed Forces established by law—that is, he has the responsibility for directing their operations. He is not commander-in-chief of the United States. Constitutionally considered he is not even commander-in-chief of the federal government, which was supposed to be a government of divided powers.

... Beginning certainly with Kennedy, though with intimations at least as early as Teddy Roosevelt, the presidency was absorbed into the corrupt American culture of celebrity. The president is no longer a hero/patriot but a celebrity. When the country was under the most devastating foreign attack in its history, Commander-in-Chief Bush was performing his celebrity routine for elementary school children. The masses today would likely run screaming in fear if confronted with a real hero/patriot as a leader.

Millions of Americans are now unable to make an elementary distinction between society and government. This means that the state apparatus is no longer the servant of society, but that society is merely raw material for the emperor and his retainers.

[Emphasis mine]

Powerful stuff, this. And when coupled with the article to which Goldy linked, it makes for a powerful statement about the American electorate.

Yes, the electorate. We are to blame. You and I.

We put these people - from Bush to Frist to DeLay and all their retinue - into office. We believe the vile and bilious B.S. of Limbaugh, Hannity, Savage/Weiner, O'Reilly, Prager and Wilbur. We keep returning to the lies and delusional rantings found at Free Republic, Little Green Footballs, and Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiller. We accept without question the "institutions", the non-profit (except for it's high-profile directors, executives and consultants that play the revolving-door game with government) "think tanks" that produce lies that are translated into talking points that are repeated endlessly and eventually believed. Personal attacks have supplanted logic and debate. We believe what they say, though suppressed common sense tries to be heard behind the noise.

And we wonder why the federal government doesn't address our pressing needs, but instead tries to figure out how to screw the other side.

You and I are to blame. You and I.

# posted by Al Hedstrom @ 17:12