SwimFinsSF

Scared yet?

Is it just me or is this idea more than a little scary:

U.S. Mulling How to Delay Nov. Vote in Case of Attack

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A senior House Democratic lawmaker was skeptical on Sunday of a Bush administration idea to obtain the authority to delay the November presidential election in case of an attack by al Qaeda,

And the sad part is, its not terrorism that I’m afraid of. Its the concept of the administration using a tragedy to manipulate the most fundamental aspect of our form of government. I’m sure the rationale for this is move is based, at least in part, on what happened in Spain’s election after the train bombing. What the administration seems to overlook whenever they mention that however is that the election results were due in no small part to the people of spain reminding their administration that when they say they don’t want to go to war they mean it.

Anyone wanna make a point to THIS administration? 😉

Confused

I’m sorry but I just don’t understand how this

Qaeda’s Muqrin Killed Disposing U.S. Hostage Body -TV

helps stop future instances of this

Al Qaeda beheads American in Saudi

Is the goal to just see who can kill the most until no one is left standing?

Uggg.. Barbaric behavior on both sides are just cobblestones on the road toward human extinction. And, frankly, if this is part of human makeup then perhaps that’s not a bad thing. I just have a hard time believing that we can’t be better than that.

Frustrated..

Regan Dies at age 93

When I got to Patrick’s house this afternoon they told me that Ronald Regan died today and since then I’ve been reading posts about it which ultimately gives me pause. There are a lot of things that can be attributed to the Regan administration. The escalation and ultimate demise of the Cold War. The Challenger disaster. The rebirth of the republican party. And any number of other important milestones in those 8 years of American history.

However, probably the thing that he’ll be most remembered for in my community here in San Francisco is his handling of the start of the AIDS epidemic, or, more accurately, his complete and utter lack of handling it. As thousands and tens of thousands of people became infected and died he did nothing. He did nothing to acknowledge the issue. He did nothing to fund education. He did nothing to fund medical research. Rather he bowed to and supported the conservative bigots in his party that were happy to see something was killing off homosexuals.

So, quite understandably, there are more than a few people walking around today that were thrilled to hear that he died.. Many who believe that that his Alzheimer’s afforded him and easier death than he deserved and than he gave to the thousands that died due to his inaction.

However I can’t say as I’m one of him. I do believe he has a lot to account for. I don’t count him as the hero that so many believe he is. I do hold him very personally responsible for the progression epidemic that has effected the lives of so many people I know. I do hold him responsible for the deaths of a great many people. However I can’t be happy for the death of another person – no matter who they are. The loss of any life is tragic and sad and, no matter their crime, it isn’t something to revel in. I only hope that, in death, he is afforded the compassion and clarity that he lacked in life.

Rather than celebrate yet another death, perhaps this is an opportunity to remember those who have gone before him.

Prisoner Abuse

Just found this thanks to Josh Marshall via Toddo.

ICRC report on prisoner abuse

This is well worth the read. The report includes information on initial apprehension of prisoners, documentation and reporting of detention to families (or lack there of), methods of ill-treatment after initial capture, specifics of behavior at individual prisons, as well as other information relating to attempts made by the IIRC to correct the situation before issuing the report.

Sadly, none of this really surprises me and is consistent with what we’ve been seeing on the news of late. What it DOES tell me is that the administration’s (and particularly Secretary Rumsfeld’s) assertion that the images we’ve seen lately are isolated incidents by a few individuals is a blatant lie. Clearly the administration has done an unacceptable job of educating our forces on what acceptable behavior is even in times of war. Someone needs to start giving crash courses on the requirements of the Geneva convention as well as reminding them that the Nuremberg trials proved that they can’t use ‘I was given an order’ argument to absolve them of illegal and reprehensible actions. There is clearly something broken at a very high level for this kind of behavior to be going on.

Update: To be fair, there are definitely some sections in the document that, while definitely unfortunate, are potentially reasonable responses from the guards (shots fired during prison uprisings, etc). There are also portions of the requirments of the Geneva convention that, while definitely a goal that should be worked toward, would be difficult to implement (for example, how do you quickly get prisoners from their cells to air raid shelters in the event of shelling while maintaining order… not sure how you would do that).

Infuriating

I just heard this speech that Dubbya gave today from the pentagon

BUSH: Mr. Secretary, thank you for your hospitality, and thank you for your leadership. You are courageously leading our nation in the war against terror. You are doing a superb job. You are a strong secretary of defense. And our nation owes you a debt of gratitude.

I have to say that I find this absoultely infuriating. Granted I’m not surprised at all but it still makes my blood boil.. I can think of a few things this nation owes Rhumsfeld but gratitude isn’t really on the list.

Foreign Policy for a Democratic President

I just read this article in ‘Foreign Affairs‘ and was very impressed:

Foreign Policy for a Democratic President
Samuel R. Berger
From Foreign Affairs, May/June 2004

I’m not sure I agreed with all of his conclusions but regardless he makes a LOT of very good points. Its a little lengthy (OK.. A LOT) but its definitely well worth the read.