Bad Sleep

For the first time in recent memory, I actually woke up from a bad dream. I don't recall the specifics, but thats not what is important as to why I write this now. What woke me up was the disquieting feeling that my country was unraveling and the world didn't care. In fact, it seemed like the world welcomed it.

Now dreams, direful or otherwise, are seemingly the subconscious mind's attempt to catalog the days events. Mrs. Deviant and BFD went out to see the Grands and left me to my own devices for the weekend. So, what's a 30 something father to do on a Friday night? Go on a news binge of course.

I watched and read a great deal of news content. The News Hour, Washington Week, NOW, TDS, and Bill Moyers. In addition, I read some news from the Times and Post. What stuck with me were George Tenet's book release and the ever brewing Attorney Generals' scandal. The latter was of particular interest to me as I was privy to a private email exchange earlier in the week that left deep impression on me. Though I have no permission to do so, I feel compelled to reprint a few excerpts. The identity of its generator(s) shall remain anonymous. What I viewed last night and the following are responsible for the dreams that woke me.

It is difficult for anyone who believes in truth, facts and government to make sense of this crowd [The Bush Administration] because they do not believe in any of those things. They believe in an ideology; and they have faith in that ideology. You know well the dangers of faith, in anything. Nothing else matters. Anything that does not conform to the ideology either gets warped until it does or ignored.

They are also arrogant: and were allowed to remain so during the 6 years the Republicans controlled Congress. There were no - understand what I said, NO - oversight hearings during all that time. Now, however, there are lots of oversight hearings. Now, the Constitutional system of checks and balances is starting to work. And now it is hard for this crowd to adjust their ideological world to a world where truth, facts and government are valued...

... Yes, it is sad and serious what has happened to the Justice Department. What kind of a statement is it when the President says that he has renewed confidence in the Attorney General "...because he has not committed any crime...."? What kind of a lesson is it when the Attorney General not only uses but abuses the time honored tactic for avoiding a perjury charge, i.e., " I don't remember/I have no recollection, etc."?

The Justice Department leadership has been captured by politicians who surround themselves with young, inexperienced, like-minded, :"baby ideologues", who graduated from Christian focused law schools. And [Gonzales] is right when he says he doesn't know who made various decisions. That is because no ONE person in that circle makes a decision. The circle does: and circles don't leave fingerprints or records. Why should they? It's not just to avoid indictment/impeachment. It's mostly about Group Think according to the ideology. If you are 'with us' fine: if not, you and your views don't count.

The career lawyers at the Department are just waiting it out. What else can they do? If they raise a public protest, they loose their jobs. They are not paid enough to be able to afford that.

On the decision to go to war that Tenet was, seemingly, an integral part of despite his recent and perhaps flaccid disavowal...

... No one in the Executive Branch - or their advisers - had any blood that would be exposed if we went to war. No one ( with one or two exceptions ) in the Congress did, either. Nor did most Americans. The fighting and dying would be done by those in our society who did not know how to register their views. Most of them had enough to do to make ends meet. Their lives, like those of their parents and grandparents, were ones in which they learned how to make the best of what happened TO them. They don't know how to make something ELSE happen to - much less FOR - them.

And why did the decision-makers in both active branches of our government let themselves decide to start a war based on a lie? Because it was the easy thing to do. People were still scared because of 9/11. And no one had the guts to tell the American people that there is no such thing as a risk free society: and that bad things happen not only elsewhere, but also here...

In closing and a statement I wholeheartedly believe to be true:

... Unless we start investing our own well being more closely with our political decisions, we are going to continue to decline as a Nation.

Other people should realize this and quickly.

Bill Moyers asked Jon Stewart if all of his work in examining and parodying the media has made him lose his innocence. His response was that he thought a person lost their innocence the day their first child is born. Not that I was unaware, uncaring or even innocent before, but since becoming a father nine months ago, the depth of my concern and worry about where our country is headed, the nation where my son will grow up, has increased many fold. By necessity, my innocence has become a thing of the past.

The Paks Are In The Lead

From Friday's (9/15/06) press conference w/ President Bush.

QUESTION: ... Mr. President.Earlier this week, you told a group of journalists that you thought the idea of sending special forces to Pakistan to hunt down bin Laden was a strategy that would not work.

BUSH: Yes.

QUESTION: Now recently, you've also...

BUSH: Because, first of all, Pakistan is a sovereign nation.

QUESTION: Well, recently, you've also described bin Laden as a sort of modern day Hitler or Mussolini. And I'm wondering why, if you can explain, why you think it's a bad idea to send more resources to hunt down bin Laden wherever he is.

BUSH: We are, Richard. Thank you. Thanks for asking the question. They were asking me about -- somebody report -- well, you know, your special forces here. Pakistan -- if he is in Pakistan, which this person thought he might be who was asking me the question -- Pakistan's a sovereign nation. In order for us to send thousands of troops into a sovereign nation, we've got to be invited by the government of Pakistan. Secondly, the best way to find somebody who is hiding is to enhance your intelligence and to spend the resources necessary to do that. And then when you find him, you bring him to justice. And, you know, there is a kind of an urban myth here in Washington about how this administration hasn't stayed focused on Osama bin Laden. Forget it. It's convenient throw-away lines, you know, when people say that. We have been on the hunt, and we'll stay on the hunt until we bring him to justice. And we're doing it in a smart fashion, Richard, we are. And I'll look forward to talking to President Musharraf. Look, he doesn't like Al Qaida. They tried to kill him. And we've had a good record of bringing people to justice inside of Pakistan, because the Paks are in the lead. They know the stakes about dealing with a, you know, a violent form of ideological extremists. So we will continue on the hunt, and we've been effective about bringing to justice most of those who planned and plotted the 9/11 attacks, and we still got a lot of pressure on them. The best way to protect the homeland is to stay on the offense and keep pressure on them.

How is an answer like this acceptable from a sitting President of the United States? The only urban myths in Washington are President Bush's competency, that his administration sees actual reality as the rest of us do and that America is actually on the offensive in the war on terror.

If you haven't seen it or read it, watch it.

This is excellent and right on the mark. I have never paid much, if any attention to the network sanctioned pundits, but Olbermann has earned my admiration and respect with this speech.



Transcript and original post here. [hoffmania.com]

Update: DCeiver has another great post in a similar but more positive light.

Yes, Mind the Man Behind the Curtain

This is a piece written by Nancy Young that warrants reposting given current events. Worth the time spent.

In light of the action this week by the President and in the Senate to divert attention from certain issues to again consider a Constitutional Amendment banning gay marriage, I felt compelled to write the following editorial commentary. The views expressed are purely my own, and I share them to provide food for thought.

Yes, Mind the Man Behind the Curtain

In a defining moment in the 1939 movie “The Wizard of Oz,” the Great and Powerful Oz is revealed to be none other than a regular-old man, one who had blown off course in his hot-air balloon and landed in the Emerald City. As with many children who have seen the movie, this scene brought me great relief, for up to that point I had been almost as afraid of the Wizard as I was of the Wicked Witch and her horrifying flying monkeys. Indeed, until Toto pulled away the curtain, the Great and Powerful Oz had used his tricks to terrify and bully Dorothy and her merry band (not to mention the citizenry of the Emerald City) into doing his bidding.

In reading of President Bush’s latest tricks, I could not help but think of the Wizard revealed. Simply put, our President fosters an atmosphere of fear to lead Congress and the American people where he wants them to go. It seems obvious now that one of the lessons of 9/11 was that the United States needed to focus more on security measures to address the tactics of a new breed of terrorists. But the primary way that the President has chosen to define this mission has been through fear – remember all the orange alerts? – and division – the “Axis of Evil” and “you’re either with us, or against us.”

So, not unlike the Wizard sending Dorothy and company out to challenge the Wicked Witch, President Bush has sent us to Afghanistan and Iraq. But although we have toppled Saddam Hussein, we have not been able to convert his soldiers as Dorothy did those of the Witch. And Osama Bin Laden is still on the run. And our national debt has skyrocketed. And there were those damn hurricanes where “Brownie” did a “heck of a job.” And there are questions about the Vice President’s role in the politically-motivated release of classified information on a CIA agent. And gas prices. And why are we in Iraq and not Darfur? And so on.

So what is the Wizard to do? If you are President Bush, you stay behind the curtain and try the sleight of hand. You spool up your supporters and the Senate to go after yet another “evil,” another group that can be defined as “other” – this time (and once again) homosexuals. But you have to be more careful here. You can’t actually use the word “evil,” because most people know someone who is gay or even have a gay family member and those people know their friends and relatives not to be “evil.” So you speak in terms of protecting society – protecting values – protecting the institution of marriage.

Apparently, what President Bush wants to protect us from is me. A gay American, who believes in God, who loves her partner, who loves her friends and family, who loves her country, who pays her taxes, who works hard, who respects others, who likes to laugh a good laugh, and who believes herself to be morally centered.

But regardless of what you may think about gays – and regardless of what you may think about gay marriage, please do not forget about the critical issues this country faces. Issues like people who need homes in hurricane-ravaged areas. Issues like the highest national debt ever. Issues like making sure our troops have the equipment they need. Issues like health care coverage. And so on. Yes, please mind the man behind the curtain.

Nancy N. Young
Beveridge & Diamond, P.C.