This Washington Post article details White House policy regarding protesters at Presidential events…
American Fascism
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Category Archives: The Other Side
Death and Support
The death of Jerry Falwell and the ongoing carnage in Iraq has had me meditating on two heavy topics. First, regarding Jerry Falwell. He was a despicable man who used the bully pulpit of radicalized religion to spread a message of intolerance and hate. He happily contributed to the phony culture wars, and as a result has helped polarize the United States. He may or may not have been an evil man, but it is no doubt that his ideology was. Therefore I am glad he has died. Although his power had declined of late, he served as a figurehead for a nasty and un-American movement. We are told never to speak ill of the dead, however I see no reason for this in the case of Jerry Falwell. His blustering against everything outside of his narrow view of reality coupled with the sheer sin of manipulating lonely and desperate people leaves him with no remorse from me; I’m glad to see him go.
Another topic that is weighing heavily on me is the “support the troops” meme. All of the Democratic candidates are espousing how much they support the troops; indeed Edwards, my favorite, is offering a T-shirt which reads “Support the Troops” on the front and “End the War” on the back. While I understand the political expediency of such expressions, I wonder if it is just cover. I wonder if it is okay to not support the troops, and the more I think about it, this is how I feel. Now I realize that joining the Army these days is predicated on many factors, not in the least socioeconomic. But that does not negate the fact that the mission is immoral. I strongly reject the neocon doctrine of foreign affairs, and this war is the showcase of just that. Our troops are in Iraq as an occupying force, and the Iraqis are resisting them as such. This does not mean that I support the killing and maiming of American (or “coalition”) forces, but I do understand why the Iraqis are planting bombs by the roadside.
Although we Americans come from a society that is both free and liberal, we must realize that much of the world does not operate on these terms. Strongmen, however reprehensible, often through their brute force put a lid on nasty, self-destructive tendencies present in any society. Although America is a multi-ethnic society relatively free of violence, we must remember that the American model IS exceptional. Therein lies the dilemma. Most people on the right these days take our special standing as a mandate to bring these values, by any means, to other parts of the world. On the left, however, most are unwilling to acknowledge the privileged situation of the United States and foolishly call for equal justice/rights around the world. Both views are naive, and more so, self-destructive. We must discard both mistaken sets of belief. Not that I’m asking anyone to be a moderate… as many of you know, I am not. But if one is to be radical and campaign for change, then one must have an agenda that has a chance of success. Of the real demons that face the US, radical Islamic terrorism is not even in the top 5; fighting poverty and outsourcing, protecting the environment and our civil liberties all take precedence over the irrational fear of terrorism.
So no, I don’t support the troops because they are engaged in a mission which is damaging our country by the day. Because I do not support them, I want them out of there. How about that?
Litmus Tests
As many of you may know, I am currently knee-deep in the law school application progress. At this point, I’ve received some acceptances, some wait-lists (the most maddening of all,) and of course some rejections. Although a rejection is disappointing, I did aim high, so when Harvard wrote back replying that it would not be reserving a seat for me, I was not terribly shocked. This is not to knock the schools which have accepted me, (indeed I should have a definitive announcement soon,) but just a reflection of fact. There are simply more highly trained applicatants than there is space for them. To get into one of the top three law schools (Harvard, Yale, Stanford – or HYS in the jargon,) you not only need a perfect LSAT score and undergraduate GPA, but also have interned at the UN, started your own business and successfully managed the subsequent IPO. So, while I’m not Harvard material (sorry Mom,) I am confident in my abilities to do well wherever I attend and create a distinguished career.
One of my interests is environmental law, and I sometimes think about working for the EPA or other governmental agencies. This said, I realize that the competition for such important jobs will be fierce and that I will have to contend with the likes of those who graduated from HYS. Or at least I did before reading this article in the Boston Globe. The article discusses Monica Goodling (the former top aid to Alberto Gonzales who has resigned and pled the 5th) and the law school from which she graduated, Regent University School of Law.
This little known law school was founded by Pat Robertson, the Christian Dominionist who wishes to turn the United States into a theocracy. In the law school’s about us page, it claims: “The mission of Regent Law School is to bring to bear the will of our Creator, Almighty God, upon legal education and the legal profession.” Digging further, the student handbook (PDF) turns up some interesting details:
1. The Equal Opportunity Policy professes not to discriminate in regards to: disability, veteran status, age, geneder, race, color, national or ethnic origin. From this list, we can assume against whom they do reserve the right to discriminate.
2. In addition to the usual exhortations against drugs, alcohol and tobacco is prohibited. The motivation for this is stated as thus: “The Apostle Paul exhorts the body of Christ that, if they truly loved their fellow man, they would set aside their personal freedom by refraining from behavior that might be a stumbling block to their weaker brother.”
3. Sexual Misconduct. Disorderly conduct or lewd, indedent or obscene conduct or expression, involvement with pornography, premarital sex, adultry, homosexual conduct or any other conduct, which violates Biblical standards, is prohibited.
Not to belabor the obvious, but I also found out that John Ashcroft often teaches courses at the law school, although he is listed as a faculty member for Regent University’s Robertson School of Government. He taught a class titled “Human Rights, Civil Liberties, and National Security.” Regent is a Tier 4 school with a median LSAT score of 153.
The Boston Globe article outlines the history of the school and why over 150 Regent University alumni have been hired to Federal Government positions since the beginning of the Bush administration. One of the most blatant reasons for this alarmingly high number is the fact that Bush nominated the Dean of Regent’s School of Government as director of the Office of Personnel Management; the OPM is responsible for hiring civilians for Federal jobs. Regent Law boasts that 1 out of 6 of its alumni work for for the Government. Since those with law degrees tend to end up in the Department of Justice, it should come as no surprise the Goodling ended up in a senior position there. The article further describes that Ashcroft, while AG, changed the hiring rules for the DOJ: “Conservative credentials rose, while prior experience in civil rights law and the average ranking of the law school attended by the applicant dropped.” As Paul Krugman notes, this is but one example of the, “infiltration of the federal government by large numbers of people seeking to impose a religious agenda.”
The United States has never been perfect, but an important ideal it embodies is meritocracy, rule based on demonstrated ability. As a 162 LSAT recipient, I realize that Harvard isn’t interested in me. But in my rejection, I rest assured that those who were accepted did better than me on the test, and thus, supposedly, are more prepared for certain endeavors. I accept this without bitterness and understand that there is a class of people smarter than I am; I hope that these people put their skills to good use in the form of public service.
If an unexperienced graduate of a 4th tier law school established only to further a narrow-minded and undemocratic agenda is promoted to great heights in the DOJ, I can only wonder how many more such individuals are crafting policy within our Federal Government. Although it seems that the Bush house of cards is starting to tumble (see banner, top right) the damage that has been done will take years if not decades to reverse. When qualified candidates are passed over for at best partisan hacks, or at worst fascists bearing flag draped crosses, the peril to our democracy can not be over-stated. This, and Iraq, and Katrina, and Walter Reed, this is the face of compassionate conservatism, this is the revolution started by Regan and re-awakened by Bush post-9/11. This is what our country has become under Bush and these are the “values” to which roughly 1/4 of our own citizens apparently adhere. If we do not all do our part to stop this, the world will have lost a beacon for enlightened government.
American Crisis: Part I
This week in my American History class we have been studying the the New Deal. As we deciphered all the alphabet agencies and reached the late 1930’s, we were able to conclude that while all those programs did help get America back to work, it was ultimately the massive armament for the Second World War which truly brought the country back from the brink of massive social and economic ruin. As a precursor to next week’s lesson, World War II, we looked briefly at the situation in Weimar Germany during the 1930s.
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As Germany had been destroyed during the first World War and the Treaty of Versailes imposed extremely harsh punishments on the nation, its economy was never able to regain footing. As a result, the tenuous ability of the Weimar government to maintain control and win the confidence of the populace was destroyed as the depression’s effects were felt worldwide. In this void, Hitler was able to gain a following among the German people by presenting himself as savior of the nation and architect of a great German revival. Just one month after he was sworn in as Chancellor, the Reichstag was destroyed by fire. Blaming the fire on Communists, Hitler and President von Hindenburg were able to pass a sweeping decree suspending many constitutional liberties. This decree was predicated on the assumption that Communist violence against the state posed a danger to public safety, and thus appropriate measures needed to be taken to counter this threat. The decree abolished: habeas corpus, freedom of speech, press and the right to protest, and privacy rights for postal and electronic communications. Legislation following soon thereafter granted expanded powers to the executive (Hitler,) allowing it to create new laws and amend the Constitution as it saw fit, without the approval of the Reichstag. Though these powers, granted in response to a specific Communist threat, were to last for only four years, they continued until the end of the Second World War.
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The American economy had been destroyed by globalization, and as a result, people began to lose faith in the ability of government to protect their interests. In this time of uncertainty, George W. Bush was able to strike a chord in many Americans by promising a great cultural and spiritual revival. Just half a year after his election as President, the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were attacked. Blaming the attacks on terrorists, Bush and a compliant Congress passed the Patriot Act, curtailing many of Americans’ constitutional rights. Habeas Corpus was denied to individuals held on terrorism charges, a massive extra-judicial wiretapping effort against the American people was undertaken, and the executive branch continued to exercise powers in contravention of Congress’ wishes through signing statements. Although many of the key components of the Patriot Act were written to expire in four years, it has since been twice renewed and remains the law of the land…
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Next Post – PNAC, 9/11, and the New Pearl Harbor