ON CARD, CONGRESSIONAL ACTIONS, CANDIDATES AND A PREDICTION

COMMENTARY

RANDOM THOUGHTS ON THE CURRENT POLITICAL LANDSCAPE.

FORGET DONKEYS, ELEPHANTS AND GREENS- BUILD A WORKERS PARTY


WHAT KIND OF MONSTER IS RUMSFELD ANYWAY?

On a couple of occasions over the past several months I have commented on the question of calls for Secretary of War Donald Rumsfeld’s resignation. The first time was when some retired generals were clamoring for his resignation in the spring. The second time was this summer, the summer of 2006, when New York Senator Hillary Clinton, hands trembling, put in her bid for this year’s Profiles in Courage Award after hearings of the Senate Armed Forces Committee.

At that time I noted, tongue in cheek I thought, that my mother a life-long Republican had called for that resignation a couple of years ago. Now comes news that other very influential Republicans had the same thought. According to Bob Woodward’s new book former White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card and apparently the President’s wife, First Lady Laura Bush, also sought to get rid of the bastard. Card has since confirmed the truth of that information. Thus, this begs the question of how much real political courage it took for Congressional Democrats to call for Rumsfeld’s resignation. and just how vile a character the man is if elements in the inner circle of his own Administration wanted his head on a platter. Yes, we are definitely dealing with some kind of monster here. I am republishing my blog from the time of the generals’ armchair revolt in the spring to provide the real solution to the Rumsfeld problem.

IN THE CASE OF ONE DONALD RUMSFELD- RESIGNATION IS NOT ENOUGH!

In the normal course of events leftists, including this writer, have no particular need to comment on, much less advocate or support a call, for the resignation of one of the ministers of a capitalist government. In this case, we are talking about the controversy over the possible resignation of one Mr. Donald Rumsfeld, Minister of War in the Bush Cabinet. Let the capitalist politicians sort it out among themselves is this writer’s usual stance on such matters. Let the beady-eyed “talking head” liberal and conservative media pundits spout forth on behalf of the best interests of “their” system. After all this is not exactly like the summer of 1917 in Russia where the Bolsheviks were agitating around the slogan –“Down with the Ten Capitalist Ministers”- as a stopgap political ploy against the Popular Front Provisional Government on the way to overthrowing that government. This current controversy nevertheless has my interest.


The case of Mr. Rumsfeld is special. Every once in a while a politician comes along in American public life who leftists can use to personalize everything that is wrong with the capitalist system. And epitomize what the rest of the world has come to fear and loathe as the dark side of the American spirit. One Richard M. Nixon, once President of the United and now residing in one of Dante’s circles of hell, comes to mind from an earlier generation. In that sense we need our Donalds. Hell, I have enjoyed politically kicking Mr. Rumsfeld around when he was riding high. And, excuse my manners; I enjoy kicking him around when he is down. (To give credit where credit is due, the late two lines were inspired by the late Dr. Hunter Thompson.) Nevertheless this specimen must go. There will be no tears shed here for Mr. Rumsfeld.

Many liberals , and some not so liberal, in Congress looking to rehabilitate their sorry records on Iraq, including the key question of voting for the war budget, are having a cheap field day on this one. However, in any moderately effective European parliamentary system guys like Rumsfeld would have been long gone. Although I should perhaps qualify that statement since the august members of the British Labor Party could not muster enough votes to vote 'no confidence' in Mr. Rumsfeld’s fellow hawkish crony, Mr. Anthony Blair.

I must admit that I am a little uncomfortable when all manner of retired general are coming out of the woodwork aiming at Mr. Rumsfeld’s head. We militant leftists are after all respectable people and THESE are certainly not our kind of people. Except under normal circumstances these types, despite an occasional candidate for the role of American Napoleon Bonaparte like General Douglas MacArthur, keep quiet and take their consultant fees. Things must be far, far worst than we suspect in Iraq if the chiefs are abandoning ship already. Moreover, the thrust of the former generals’ criticism is that Mr. Rumsfeld did not adequately provision them with enough troops to get the job done. This is a veiled, and maybe not so veiled, call for escalation. There are differences between the Iraq War and the Vietnam War which we need to appreciate but escalation would dramatically close the gap between those differences. We could go from the Big Muddy of Vietnam to the Big Sandy of Iraq. Watch out.

Finally, and to get back on the left on this issue, if there is any justice in this world Mr. Rumsfeld, despite his probable cabinet immunity defense, clearly should be tried as a war criminal. He exceeds by orders of magnitude the standards necessary for such an indictment. However, my vision is not to have him tried before some bogus Court of International Criminal Justice. My suggestion is that he be sent, alone (or with a few of his neo-con conspirators), to Baghdad, without armor. There he should be tried by a tribunal of the victims of his war crimes, the impoverished and desperate urban and rural masses of Iraq. Resignation is not enough- Indeed!!

ON THE WILES OF CONSERVATIVE POLITICANS

In a blog posted this summer I commented on the effect of the United States Supreme Court’s ruling on the question of the Executive Branch’s authority to try detainees in military commissions under very much less than even the inadequate conditions of what passes for justice these days. At that time I noted that once the smoke cleared Congress would give the Bush Administration what it wanted. This week, the week of Septemeber 25th, after much wrangling by fellow Republicans apparently solely for effect, the Senate gave the administration pretty much what it wanted, including the virtual suspension of habeas corpus in these cases.

Two points. First, suspension of the writ of habeas corpus, a hard fought for and important right going back centuries, is definitely not a good sign for the rest of us. Some commentators have declared that these provisions will not pass constitutional muster. Grow up. I will take bets at 5 to 2 that the current Supreme Court will defer to the so-called legislative intent and bow before the executive authority on this one. Believe me, I would rather lose this bet.

Second, this legislation shreds the concepts that are embodied in the Geneva Conventions concerning the status of enemy combatants. Without having illusions in the effectiveness of these Conventions and noting the weaknesses of the protections in them, militant leftists fight to keep them in place as a legal avenue of redress. Otherwise someday we might be reduced to dependence on what amounts to the goodwill of governments who wish us nothing but ill-will. No thanks. Below I have republished my comments at the time of the Supreme Court decision.


SUPREME COURT OUTLAWS PRIVATE PRESIDENTIAL MILITARY COURTS-FOR NOW

PRESIDENT MUST BEG CONGRESS REAL HARD FOR MILITARY COMMISSIONS.

Just as I started feeling good about beating up on the United States Supreme Court justices this week, calling them black-robed closet Nazis and Neanderthals (see June archives) the justices vote by 5-4 (oops, 5-3 Chief Justice Roberts recused himself on this one- but WE all know where he stands) to deny President Bush the right to use his own executive-derived and organized private Star Chamber proceedings against detained ‘enemy combatants’.

This decision would seem to negate this writer’s usual uncanny grasp of which way the political winds are blowing. Not so. Without trying to weasel out of this squeamish situation by lawyerly argument I would point out that in The Angels of Death Ride Again (see June archives) that the Court was positioning itself just to the left of the medieval Star Chamber. And I am correct on this. The Court’s decision did not strike down the executive military commissions as the vehicles for show trials that such commissions had become but only that the President must ask Congress nicely to set them up with all due regard for those shopworn concepts- the rule of law and the constitutional balance of powers. When the Court starts bringing these arguments in it’s definitely time to head for cover. How hard do you think the Bush administration is going to have to fight Congress (presumably in an election year) to get approval for legislation for military commissions to try a bunch of Moslems fanatics. Damn, they live and breathe for these kinds of soft ball votes.

We live in desperate times as the above commentaries for only ONE WEEK make abundantly clear so we have to take even small victories, such as this decision when we can get them. Any limitation, no matter how small, on the Imperial Presidency can only help give us a little breather. Enough said.

WHAT FOURTH AMENDMENT?

I had expected Congress by now to give the Administration its desired open-ended program to wiretap domestic operations to its heart’s context without the niceties of Fourth Amendment protection. The Congress adjourned without taking up a final vote on this legislation. Presumably it will do so in an aptly named “lame duck” session after the November 7th elections. More then. Until then below is a republication of a blog commenting on Judge Diggs Taylor's ruling that such previous practices were unconstitutional.

A VICTORY (IF ONLY TEMPORARY) FOR THE FOURTH AMENDMENT
COMMENTARY
SHOCKING REVELATION: A FEDERAL JUDGE ACTUALLY KNOWS THE 4th AMENDMENT EXISTS. APPARENTLY NOT EVERY LAW SCHOOL TUITION WAS WASTED.

Every once in a while a judge does something right. While militant leftists have no illusions in the bourgeois judicial system, as such, we will grasp in both hands every little minor victory, even if temporary, that comes our way. In this case a federal district court judge, Judge Diggs Taylor, has held that the National Security Agency’s warrantless wiretapping of every piece of information not nailed down and that the agency can get its hands on is unconstitutional. Judge Diggs Taylor will not be getting invited to any Federalist Society seminars or other such cozy affairs any time soon.

Naturally, the Bush Administration, normally slow to act when democratic rights are to be enforced, has ordered the Justice Department to appeal this decision- immediately, with all deliberate speed. When the 6th Circuit Appeals Court or the Supremes get this one you know its fate. I will take bets, even up, on a 5-4 quashing of this decision even though I have it on good authority that Justices Scalia, Thomas, Kennedy et. al are all unaware that there IS a Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

Now for the politics. Yes, the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights are pretty faded as working documents for any kind of just society today. But, damn, something like the Fourth Amendment against general searches and seizures even though its parameters are getting narrower and narrower with virtually every new court decision is something every militant leftist must defend. WE WOULD WANT THIS SAFEGUARD UNDER A WORKERS GOVERNMENT- WE DESPERATELY NEED IT NOW.

We are the best defenders of that right against unreasonable searches and seizures if for no other reason that it makes our work easier. Hell, what do you think the original American revolutionaries, particularly those at the base, were fighting against? Yes, that very same prohibition against general writs of assistance that the National Security Agency and the Bush Administration are more than happy to flaunt in our faces. Do we really want to have big brother having the right to look at everything we do. On the other hand we are not Pollyannas. We are not blinded by a mistaken believe in the “sweet” rule of law that gets bandied about in the media when it gets misty-eyed about democracy. Moreover, such rights are honored more in the breech than the observance. If this government wants to get information (even if not usable in court) it will find a way to get it, warrant or no warrant. Notwithstanding that premise we will savor this decision a little for now.

ON THE GOVERNOR’S RACE IN MASSACHUSETTS

The focus of these commentaries under the writer's byline described below generally reflect an interest in the national political scene. However, here in Massachusetts where the writer resides there is a Governor's race that has drawn some media attention due to the fact that it pits a Harvard-trained Republican woman, Kerry Healey, against a Harvard-trained black male Democrat, Deval Patrick. While this contest may be of interest to elitist affirmative action devotees and the like the gist of the campaign has the all to familar ring of a traditional Massachusetts dogfight.

That, in any case, is not what interests me here. What interests me is one question that I would pose to Mr. Patrick (Ms. Healey is beyond the pale on this one) and every militant leftist or anti-war activist should do the same. If you are elected Governor will you as Commander-in-Chief of the Massachusetts National Guard refuse to provide troops to the federal government for service in Iraq? YES OR NO.
Mr. Patrick is the darling of the liberal anti-war element in the state but I do not believe those 'folks' would like his answer. Nevertheless, this question is really the complement, on the state level, to the question of voting on the war budget by Congressmen at federal level. In short, at the state level it is the only real way to stop the war in Iraq. Ask away.


DO I HAVE ANY TAKERS?

Probably the only real fun for a leftist looking at the 2006 elction cycle is taking a bet or two on the results of the elections for the the major parties. In order to bet on such outcomes it is necessary to be, as with all smart bets, detached from the hurly-burly of the campaigns. This writer can affirm his disinterestedness in these campaigns with both hands held high.In any case here is the proposition-the early October line is 3/2 that the Republicans will retain both Houses of Congress. What? If one looked uncritically at the mainstream media one would have thought that 2006 was going to be a sea-change kind of election. And certainly we need a change. However, as we get closer it is apparent that the Republicans can hang on because, for the most part, the Democrats are playing the Republican-lite tune. Even with the Congressman Foley scandal.

Christ, any party that cannot separate itself out from and get outmaneuvered on the national security/Iraq quagmire against a genuinely dingbat Republican party deserves to go the way of the Whigs. Moreover, there was really a lot of wishful thinking by the media about Democratic changes from the get-go. Before the media got a hold of the story last spring there were not that many close races. So to keep the story alive the media conveniently doubled the number of close electoral contests to 50. Looking at the polls recently show that, like last spring, there are really only about 25 real contests in the House and a half dozen in the Senate. Inertia and gerrymandering have struck again. I can hardly wait for the Democratic post-election sniffles about what went wrong. However, at 3/2 I consider it like finding money on the ground. Any takers?

THIS IS PART OF A SERIES OF ARTICLES OF COMMENTARY ON THE 2006-2008 ELECTION CYCLE UNDER THE HEADLINE- FORGET THE DONKEYS, ELEPHANTS, GREENS-BUILD A WORKERS PARTY!