"Now the trumpet summons us again -- not as a call to arms though arms we need; not as a call to battle though embattled we are -- but as a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle, year in and year out "rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation"-- a struggle against the common enemies of man, tyranny, poverty, disease and war itself."
A true patriot perserves in this struggle until victory ensues or life expires.
When our would be leaders play tricks with the truth,
What will become of the idealism of youth?
If facts are not honored but subject to choice,
How will we ever speak with one voice?
If those appointed to know raise the alarm in their efforts best
While elected rivals dismiss their concerns as a jest,
What will become of our country, our children and all of the rest?
Any of us with a smidgen of sense see the danger that looms,
However, partisan prevaricate in crowded speech rooms.
As economic catastrophe hurtles our way,
“No need to worry” these mountebanks say.
When we go to the polls and use the franchise,
For the love of our country, don’t be tricked by these lies!
Each time we vote in the spring and the fall,
We vote for our children, for our country, for us and for all.
Despite all the money, clever slogans and endless snake oil,
Too many candidates seek and speak only to foil.
They crave the power and run for office again and again,
Yet they don’t give a damn what danger we’re in!
We’ll have another chance in Two Thousand Twelve,
Let’s return these miscreants to the seventh layer of Hell.
15 May, 2011
Real Americans and True Patriots love their country and see to its need. They challenge it to rise up and live out the full meaning of its creed.
Real Americans and True Patriots pledge to the flag, and even more to the Republic for which it stands. They are bothers in arms with open hearts and helping hands.
Real Americans and True Patriots know the flag consists of cloth, dye, and thread while the Republic grows from the conviction and valor of both living and dead.
Real Americans and True Patriots fight for self-evident truth with the wisdom of age and the passion of youth.
Real Americans and True Patriots risk their fortunes their honor and their lives. They do so freely so their country thrives.
Real Americans and True Patriots cherish the colors of red, white and blue; they accept one another regardless of size, shape or differing skin hue.
Real Americans and True Patriots stand for freedom and serve with fortitude. They want nobody in involuntary servitude.
Real Americans and True Patriots serve the cause of the greatest good from suburban enclaves to the urban hood.
Real Americans and True Patriots fight for the right without question or pause. They will march into Hell for the Republic’s just cause.
Real Americans and True Patriots unite through unbreakable trust. They have no truck with jealous greed or vicious power lust.
Real Americans and True Patriots will win or die in the attempt. They look upon turncoats and traitors with open contempt.
Real Americans and True Patriots love the ideal of America more than the land; for its purpose and promise they make a firm stand.
Real Americans and True Patriots know the home of the brave and the land of the free must keep its words to you and to me.
Real Americans and True Patriots believe united we stand while divided we fall; we must be indivisible, one nation with liberty, equity, and prosperity for all.
It took almost a decade but a mass murderer met a merited fate at the order of the duly elected President of the United States and our courageous warriors.
On May Day 2011, President Obama made this announcement –
“Good evening. Tonight, I can report to the American people and to the world that the United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of al Qaeda, and a terrorist who’s responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent men, women, and children.”
He did this with an appropriate demeanor and through well-chosen words. This was a solemn message and it was delivered in a befittingly dignified manner. American citizens watched and listened to their President honorably fulfilling the role and the office. Not only the news, but the delivery of the news is something that should gladden the hearts of all patriotic Americans and swell them with justifiable pride.
As I watched this and enjoyed a strong thrill of admiration for the people who carried out this, dangerous and noble mission as well as the man who gave the order to undertake it. I reflected on something else our President had said before he gained the office. This came in an October 2008 debate with Senator McCain the Republican candidate:
"What I have said is we're going to encourage democracy in Pakistan, expand our non-military aid to Pakistan so that they have more of a stake in working with us, but insisting that they go after these militants. And if we have Osama bin Laden in our sights and the Pakistani government is unable or unwilling to take them out, then I think that we have to act, and we will take them out.” A promise made and a promise kept.
The preceding administration made relentless use of bellicose language and bravado. They exploited the 9-11 tragedy for partisan advantage at every opportunity. They and their Congressional henchmen enacted the grossly misnamed “Patriot Act”; they launched a preemptive war against a nation for whom they held a grudge. They prematurely celebrated “Mission Accomplished” before they coherently stipulated what the mission was. They lied the nation into war and refused to commit the forces necessary to capture or kill bin Laden a month and a half after 9-11 in the battle of Tora Bora. United States Central Command refused to commit the troops requested by the CIA team leader as necessary to prevent the escape of bin Laden through snow covered mountains in the area of Parachinar, Pakistan. The CENTCOM commander was Tommy Franks; the Secretary of Defense was Donald Rumsfeld; the Commander in Chief was George W. Bush.
Neither Franks, Rumsfeld, nor Bush ordered U.S. troops into Tora Bora to capture Osama Bin Laden right after the Afghanistan invasion. Instead, they relied on warlords who were of dubious loyalty and ability to find Osama bin Laden and other members of Al Qaeda in that mountainous region. Later, when Iraq became this administration's priority, it shifted Special Forces from Afghanistan to Iraq.
What Bush said about bin Laden at varied, depending on how he was trying to spin things: First, capturing Osama Bin Laden is the number one priority - :
"The most important thing is for us to find Osama bin Laden. It is our number one priority and we will not rest until we find him." G.W. Bush, 9/13/01 and UPI: Bush said he wants accused terrorist leader Osama bin Laden "dead or alive.” Washington Post, 9/17/01, “I want justice...There's an old poster out West, as I recall, that said, 'Wanted: Dead or Alive,'"- G.W. Bush, 9/17/01, UPI
A few months later the Decider commented on bin Laden "I truly am not that concerned about him. It's not that important. It's not our priority." "...Secondly, he is not escaping us. This is a guy, who, three months ago, was in control of a county [sic]. Now he's maybe in control of a cave. He's on the run. Listen, a while ago I said to the American people, our objective is more than bin Laden. But one of the things for certain is we're going to get him running and keep him running, and bring him to justice. And that's what's happening. He's on the run, if he's running at all. So we don't know whether he's in cave with the door shut, or a cave with the door open -- we just don't know...." - Bush, in remarks in a Press Availability with the Press Travel Pool, The Prairie Chapel Ranch, Crawford TX, 12/28/01, as reported on official White House site.
"I don't know where bin Laden is. I have no idea and really don't care. It's not that important. It's not our priority." - G.W. Bush, 3/13/02
"I am truly not that concerned about him." - G.W. Bush, responding to a question about bin Laden's whereabouts, 3/13/02.
The cowboy president had flipped from ‘I want justice” to “I have no idea and really don't care” in the space of six months.
Over a period of 31 months, the current president had held steady to a solemn promise made as he sought the highest office in the Republic. There is something to laudable about intelligence and diligence and true Patriotism. In 1789, a group of wise and daring men, founded a truly novel form of government for six purposes, among them to establish justice. On May 1, 2011, our President gave us another example of what fulfilling this purpose looks like in practice.
There was a welcome, but all too brief, out pouring of unity among Americans. Partisanship receded and citizenship surged to the fore. Unfortunately, the news cycle had hardly completed a full turn when the scrambling for credit began.
One odious aspect of this struggle to grab credit for this accomplishment was the drive to justify torture due to its alleged productivity in gathering information that put the intelligence community on the right track. This claim stems from the apparent fact that a Pakistani-born detainee named Hassan Ghul provided the first hint in the long chain of evidence that led to bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Mr. Ghul reportedly revealed the nom de guerre of an al-Qaeda courier, Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti. A phone call by this courier to a person monitored by U. S. Intelligence launched the chain of events and actions that ended with a SEAL team raiding the compound and killing bin Laden. Based on this sequence, apologists for torture are saying, “See, it worked. But the truth is that there’s no proof — and not even any legitimate evidence — that torture cracked the case.” [http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/torture-wasnt-the-key-to-finding-bin-laden/2011/05/05/AFsacD2F_story.html]
Problems abound with this assertion. First, expert interrogators generally assert that torture produces so many fabrications and unreliable claims that it often makes finding the truth a proverbial “needle in a hay stack” endeavor. Second, the experts contend the19 techniques permitted by law specified in the Army Field Manual [AMF] are not only effective, but also more effective than those methods euphemistically called “enhanced interrogation techniques.” [http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1873897,00.html#ixzz1LZtZjwvF] The AMF does not require subjects to be treated with kid gloves, but it does prohibit torture. Interrogators are encouraged to use clever and manipulative methods to get terrorist suspects to reveal their plans, objectives, associates and other useful information. Because matters of life and death are at issue, this seems reasonable and reasonably humane.
The real problem with this retrograde action to rehabilitate torture is that is fails to do justice to the people and procedures that genuinely worked. Furthermore, “torture is a violation of U.S. and international law — and a betrayal of everything this country stands for. The killing of bin Laden resulted from brilliant intelligence work, for which both the Bush and Obama administrations deserve our thanks and praise.” However, It does not justify torture. http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/torture-wasnt-the-key-to-finding-bin-laden/2011/05/05/AFsacD2F_story.html.
For the better part of a decade, the Republican leaders of the federal government had violated all our traditions of spy craft; they had authorized a betrayal of solemn international commitments we had taken the lead to forge; and they started wars that had nothing to do with the core of the quest. Then, in two years, three months and eleven days the target was located and eliminated once a Democratic administration restored the old rules and sound procedures. This serves to remind us that real world intelligence gathering and operations usually are not those portrayed by the dashing James Bond, but those depicted by the dumpy George Smiley. In other words, intelligence work consists of hours, days, month and years of tedious effort culminating in a few moments of frenzy.
Now that the 9-11 mastermind is dead, justice demands that American citizens and politicians celebrate the victory of hallowed ideals and honorable efforts rather than contend for prestige and grapple for partisan advantage. Our President gave his CIA Director explicit instructions to make this achievement the Agency’s top priority in the early days of his first year in office. The Secretaries of State and Defense and the Vice President refrained from dictating to the diplomatic, military, and intelligence professionals what they wanted to hear and gave them the room and the resources to do their jobs to the limit of their capabilities. All of these people played a proper role in bring this fortunate result about and they deserve full faith and credit for doing so.
One final aspect of the denial of justice at work after SEAL Team Six found and killed bin Laden is the quibbling about why he was not taken into custody rather than killed. It is hard to take this seriously, but the President’s detractors will take any opening to besmirch everything he and those working with him do. Mr. bin Laden was killed because he had planned and ordered the cold-blooded murder of nearly 3,000 non-combatants. If it were next to impossible to try lower level al-Qaeda operatives in American courts, how would there have been a trial for Mr. bin Laden? In addition, this was happening in the midst of hostile territory. The members of SEAL Team Six were at risk for death and capture. Therefore, they found the archenemy of the United States, a mass murder of thousands globally and they executed him. “Justice is a certain rectitude of mind whereby men do what they ought to do in the circumstances confronting them.” In these circumstances, these men did justice.
Now is no time to bicker about the relevance of methods and measures that were never in line with America’s best traditions, ideals, and practices. Justice was delayed. Now justice has been done. In the aftermath of this victory, we must not deny justice to the people and procedures that brought it about. We must “Render therefore to all their dues” as the members of SEAL Team Six rendered to bin Laden his due on behalf of the people and the Republic of the United States.
"America is a glorious promise and a passionate ideal or it is a sham. America will not be the best place for any to live in until and unless we resolve to make it a good place for all to live in."
My country bears malice toward none My country shows charity for the weak and the small My country hopes that all will give some My country gives thanks to those who gave all
My country strives to create true freedom from fear My country seeks to be the real land of the free My country welcomes many from far and from near My country belongs to you and to me
My country is known as the home of the brave My country’s flag waves and may it never fall My country once housed both master and slave My country must strive for justice for all
My country has colors of red, white and blue My country was born in a fight for a theme My country has made many mistakes it is true My country will rise and realize the dream!
During the 2010 mid-term election campaign, Republicans rarely missed an opportunity to boast of their patriotism and broadcast their devotion to the Constitution. When they regained the majority in the House of Representatives, they began the session by reading an edited version of the Constitution and requiring that any bill introduced stipulate the precise section of the Constitution that supports it. Unfortunately the patriotism of which the Republicans boast and the Constitution they profess to adore, are not the same ones non-ideological Americans honor.
Few Republicans demonstrate the twisted nature of their brand of patriotism and their warped view of the Constitution better the Representative Peter King of New York. In an interview with the Daily News, King denied he was on a witch-hunt and cited recent homegrown plots to bomb the subways and Times Square, saying the threat of terrorism "is now more from within" than from abroad. [http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-03-07/local/28681172_1_radicalization-witch-hunt-muslim-community] This statement is disturbingly reminiscent of Joe McCarthy who used to ask those summoned before his sub-committee, “Are you now or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party?” In contrast to Representative King, Denis McDonough, the White House deputy national security adviser, speaking at a Virginia mosque known for cooperating with the FBI asserted, "We must resolve that, in our determination to protect our nation, we will not stigmatize or demonize entire communities because of the actions of a few," McDonough said. "In the United States of America, we don't practice guilt by association."
Mr. McDonough is right and Representative King is wrong. Unfortunately, as the New Pittsburgh Courier states in a guest editorial of the March 23-29, 2011 edition, “There’s something in the DNA of American culture that is blind to the fact that racism, sexism, homophobia, and all stereotypes persist whenever someone other than a White man does something wrong.” The fact that men professing the Islamic faith crashed planes into American buildings and killed innocent, non-combatant individuals does not justify placing all Americans who profess the same faith under suspicion. It most emphatically does not justify Congressional hearings investigating the purported radicalization of this same subset of the American populace.
If the Republicans are authentically patriotic and genuinely revere the Constitution, they would heed the advice of the Father of the Constitution in this context. James Madison said at least two things that are directly relevant to proper patriotic, Constitutional treatment of American Muslims. First, “Among the features peculiar to the political system of the United States, is the perfect equality of rights which it secures to every religious sect.” Reactionary politicians are famous for both their professed piety and their intolerance of less conventional varieties of religious preference. Despite this predilection on the part of the right wing, the Founder and the Framer’s admonition must be the standard and American Muslims must be accorded “the perfect equality of rights” to which they are entitled by the letter and spirit of the Constitution. Any true patriot would know the thinking behind the Constitution and adhere to it in his use of political authority. It is not sufficient to gain political office. One must reflect credit on the office as well.
Mr. Madison further advises, “Equal laws protecting equal rights the best guarantee of loyalty and love of country.” We forget this at our peril. Representative King is making a mockery of the document and principles he is sworn to preserve, protect, and defend. There is no evidence that American Muslims are in league with terrorists. There is no evidence that American Muslims are disloyal. Such evidence as there is suggests precisely the opposite. The overwhelming majority of American Muslims are loyal citizens who do not sympathize with al-Qaida or its imitators. They would and have denounced terrorists’ plots and actions. More importantly, they are Americans and by solemn bond of Constitutional provision and civic value; they are entitled to full equality before the law and all the privileges and immunities of citizenship. Any infringement of their rights as citizens endangers the rights of us all.
Some may object that James Madison and his contemporaries did not fully implement the lofty principles they so well articulated. This is true. Nonetheless, this merely demonstrates the humanity of the Founders and the Framers. Their glory is not that they said the last word or took the last step for the realization of the American promise; it is that they said and took the first. Considering the utter novelty of their perspective and pronouncements at the time, their failings do nothing to detract from the veracity of their assertions or the nobility of their insights. Rather it is for us, the living, to summon renewed dedication to the great work lying before us. We will betray our heritage and fail in our duty if we allow bigots and mountebanks like Representative King to abuse his official position to harass and hassle our fellow Americans.
Representative King’s selective outrage and aggression against American Muslims is compatible with a nasty streak that has run through Republican politics at least since the late sixties. This is thinly veiled bigotry. The Republicans previously often and Representative King now feel safe in cynically arousing and callously exploiting the tendency of too many White Americans to be unduly fearful of those caricatured as other. Contemporary examples are the deplorable “papers please” law in Arizona, the lunatic obsessions with President Obama’s place of birth and religion, the ravings about Shania Law, and the somewhat more genteel demands for English as an official language. These are ignoble aspects of contemporary culture and both the right wing media and the Republicans exploit them for partisan gain regardless of the poison they inject into the body politic and the rents they tear in the social fabric.
It is instructive to note that Representative King was once a brash and insistent supporter of the Irish Republican Army [IRA]. Three distinct differences between the IRA and the 9-11 Attackers are [1] their professed religious faith, [2] their complexions, and [3] the site of their atrocities. Representative King clings to number three as a justification for his persecution of American Muslims. This is pure fiction, however, because American Muslims did not attack anyone anywhere. Their difference from those Representative King seeks to court are the faith they profess and [often] the hue of their skin. Actions based on differences in creed and complexion are contrary to the spirit of the Constitution and are generally recognized as instances of bigotry.
Despite the sound advice from the Founders and the Framers, America has not been the unblemished citadel of liberty and justice for all we truly ought to be. From slavery for Americans of African ancestry to slaughter of Native Americans, to subordination of female Americans, to internment of Japanese Americans, the bullying of Joe McCarthy and torture under George W. Bush we have often fallen short of our ideals. The errors of the past are no excuse to persist in error during the present. All American citizens have a Constitutional right to freedom of and freedom from religion. Muslim Americans have this right, as do we all.
CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad who wrote to Representative King provides one indication of the stance of Muslim Americans regarding national security – "The threat of violent extremism to our nation is a profoundly serious issue. We agree with you that political correctness should not interfere in any serious investigation of threats to our nation. However, we do believe that reliable witnesses and verifiable information are crucial to properly evaluating the threat. We therefore respectfully request that you drop Walid Phares* as a witness for your planned hearing and reiterate our request that you meet with national leaders of the American Muslim community to discuss the negative impact your hearings could have on ordinary American Muslims."
These are reasonable remarks and requests by one American citizen to another. They should have been acted upon, but they were ignored. If Representative King were solely concerned about threats to national security and/or domestic tranquility, he would have given Mr. Awad’s statements the response they merited, rather than the silent treatment. Like others before him, Representative King is motivated by other impulses and pursuing other ends.
We must ask – “Where was the investigative frenzy when Timothy McVeigh blew up a federal building in Oklahoma and killed over 100 innocent people including children?” Where was the Congressional outrage when a Christian Fundamentalist killed Dr. George Tiller? Where are the investigations of the Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency that spies on America? The Republicans are silent in these cases because the actors are White. From the reactionary point of view, Tim McVeigh, Christian Fundamentalists, and Mossad agents are not other. Consequently, they are not the objects of investigation.
It is imperative that ordinary Americans step up to their civic responsibilities and demand that Representative King and those who support him cease and desist in this bigoted action toward American Muslims. If we do not do our duty in this regard, we will fail the Republic, our forebears, our children and ourselves. Now is the time to honor the Father of the Constitution and implement his admonition that, “Equal laws protecting equal rights are the best guarantee of loyalty and love of country.” Let us all work together to identify and eliminate all threats and wrongdoing without impugning honorable Americans whatever faith they profess.
