January 12, 2009, Turning tides...
First, we'll start with this news from Candace, to wit, the United States Supreme Court, just as it accepted (though ultimately denied) an original habeas corpus petition on behalf of her client Abdul al-Ghizzawi, now has ordered the government to respond to Candace's petition for certiorari review, a petition to which Candace was kind enough to let me make some suggestions. The current petition seeks the Supreme Court's intervention to compel the Government to turn over al-Ghizzawi's medical records so that an independent medical evaluation may be made, a request that the Bush Administration has vehemently resisted (and the lower courts have denied).
This comes the same day that it seems President-elect Obama wants us to know that he intends to sign an order closing Guantanamo Bay's detention facility early in his presidency, perhaps on the very first day. The devil, of course, will be in the details, as it seems, he will "ask his Administration" what should be done with GTMO's 250 or so prisoners, some of whom (perhaps as many as 5, maybe 10%) are actually guilty of something. Stay tuned...
And the Independent Institute often sends me fascinating articles for possible posting; today, I'm finally going to post some... this from Ivan Eland, noting the immense cost saving from dismantling America's overseas empire that our current financial debacle may bring about sooner rather than later... and that such dismantling would not be a bad thing (a proposition with which I heartily agree), and this from Robert Higgs noting that we have, pre-new-stimulus-package, already incurred an inconceivable $1.2 trillion deficit, roughly 8.3% of the GDP, or as Higgs correctly terms it, "banana republic" numbers. Higgs notes amusingly that America has never been very good at either growing bananas, or at having a republic...
And so we come full circle... the same mindset that lets us arbitrarily lock up people in a tropical dungeon without another thought... is the same mindset that let "our leaders" destroy our economy (that's our life's work boys and girls) because so many people, you know who and where you are, just say "I'll vote for these people and their party because they hate Black gay people just like me, and they hate and fear powerful and independent womenoppose "abortion," just like me and they won't give any of my hard-earned money to Black people will lower taxes on rich people, and after all, I might win the lottery or something and actually benefit from those policies myself..." which is what got us where we are now (to wit, "fucked".)
And while the Democrats aren't exactly good, and are incredibly complicit in where we are right now, let's face it: the Republicans have proven hopelessly worse, to the point that they should never be entrusted with our governance again. Of course, that's just me.
For those who rignt now insist on being too critical of Barack Obama (sometimes, even m'self)... I beg you... please recognize that he didn't cause any of this. He'll have quite a job to do to even begin to clean all of this up. So... let's all get behind him, and give him whatever he needs to get it done. And let's be careful out there.