Executive Privilege, And Why It Should Matter To You.

I started writing this a few days ago, when Susan Taylor and Harriet Miers were subpoenaed to testify before the House panel investigating the US Attorney General firings (be warned, this might be the longest, angriest, most-hyperlink-ridden email I've ever spammed you with).

That same day I was told by a friend that the main problem Democrats seem to have is that they're not on message. That is, in the face of repeated wrongdoing and illegality by the Bush Administration, the best they can seem to muster is a hopeless sort of spluttering protest. People just don't understand what's going on, and they're too tired or puzzled to care. Disheartening news, since this came from a fellow Dem, and in 2008 this perception will probably matter more than ever.

My own take on it is that there are quite a few Democrats AND Republicans who would like nothing better than to take the President and his administration to task, but that some of the issues have become so muddled and confusing that the average layperson's eyes roll up into his or her head at the mere mention of any of these topics. It's hard for these issues to get much traction in the MSM, since they require some in-depth analysis, and can't be summed up in a sound bite.

"Democrats need to break it down," is what I was told.

And you know what? I think my friend is right.

And then I started breaking it down, making it understandable, especially this whole bit about "executive privilege." And in the course of one week, so much other stuff happened that I am now writing this goddamn post again, for the fourth time.

So here's my attempt at breaking it down. Here's why I am so perpetually worked up. Here is what a great many people are not seeing, or are turning away from because it's "too complicated" or because they believe that the President is Emperor, as opposed to a temporary (and replaceable) head of one of three branches of government, and bound by checks and balances outlined in the Constitution. *

Anyway, the affront to the laws of our land (and which spurred me to write this diatribe) that no one noticed happened when Harriet Miers and Susan Taylor were subpoenaed by Congress to appear.

And our President ordered them not to appear. He cited "executive privilege." **

Sounds logical enough, right? I mean, he can do that, can't he?

No, he can't. Executive privilege does NOT extend to preventing any private individual, even a White House senior official, from testifying before Congress. They must appear. They do not have to answer all questions put before them. But ignoring the subpoena is contempt of Congress. It's similar to not showing up to court when you've been subpoenaed.

The administration is banking on the fact that there is not a clear majority in Congress to press that charge; that no one in the House or Senate has the stomach for this kind of fight right now. So once again, they hope the Law will not apply to the Guy In Charge. And the administration is BANKING ON YOUR IGNORANCE. It wants no uproar over this. Nancy Pelosi reads the prevailing winds well.

If you think this is an isolated incident, not worth dwelling upon, let me help you remember a few points. This President and his senior staff have made some remarkable moves lately:

1. Way back a few years Dick Cheney laid claim to executive privilege to keep all sorts of things out of the media, including discussions on energy policy with representatives from energy companies. It was his right to keep dealings private.

2. Then a few weeks ago he abruptly changed course and asserted that the Office of the Vice President occupies a singular and unique position in the government, and is not a part of either the Executive Branch or the Legislative Branch. It is both, and therefore neither. And so therefore it is exempt from publicizing what constitutes torture, whether the Geneva Conventions should cover anyone captured in Iraq, whether American citizens can be held without charge or trial, "extraordinary rendition," the redacted commentary of complaints by prisoners at Guantanamo, or their names, or...

2a. (this deserves its own bullet point, even though it's not parallel) that they've mostly been cleared (420 out of 775 have been released without being charged so far. Out of the remaining group, a fifth are slated to be released soon), except for a bunch of underage kids. Those scary terrorists being held in secret to keep you safe? There may be a few terrorists in there, but regardless of guilt or innocence, they're all being held illegally. ***


3. This administration outed Valerie Plame for her husband's work in investigating claims that Iraq was attempting to procure nuclear material in Africa (the impudent upstart!), then tried to cover it up. Then when another guy (Scooter Libby) was convicted of perjury for covering up the administration's role in the fiasco, the President pardoned him out of fear that he'd let loose everything he knew about the coverup. So to wit: they selectively removed the legal anonymity of a CIA agent for political retribution on her husband , then pardoned the guy who was their biggest risk when Congress and the courts cried foul.

4. Now executive privilege is being held up again, to help keep potentially damaging testimony from reaching Congress, and ultimately the ears of the public. This time it's being done so blatantly it's hard to believe, but as usual, the stupider, more illegal, and generally wrong an idea is, the faster the Bush administration jumps on it. And the thing that has made me rewrite this email, now? Pat Tillman.

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2007/07/14/tillman/index.html

You guys remember Pat Tillman, right? Safety for the Arizona Cardinals, turned down a $9 contract to serve in Afghanistan with the Army Rangers? Got killed, in all likelihood by friendly fire? That he was awarded the Purple Heart and Silver Star by senior Army brass for a battle that never happened? I'm not saying Tillman doesn't deserve much honor and respect! He gave up all sorts of opportunities to serve his country, and his country repaid him and his family for the death of their son with some medals offered up hastily to cover up the embarassment of having a high profile soldier die in a friendly-fire incident. As Tillman's own father put it, "After it happened, all the people in positions of authority went out of their way to script this. They purposely interfered with the investigation; they covered it up. I think they thought they could control it, and they realized that their recruiting efforts were going to go to hell in a handbasket if the truth about his death got out. They blew up their poster boy."

And what's this got to do with "executive privilege?"

They're doing it again. That's what. The White House has blocked all investigation into Tillman's death, citing (go ahead, guess...I'll wait...wow, that didn't take long, did it?) executive privilege yet again. Yes. The death of a single soldier in Afghanistan would be covered by executive privilege because...uh...right. IT WOULDN'T! THERE'S ABSOLUTELY NO WAY THIS COULD BE COVERED UNDER EXECUTIVE PRIVILEGE!

No. That's not what's going on here. As it turns out, the committee investigating Tillman's death already has documents that reference communication between the White House and the DoD after Tillman's death. The White House directed the DoD to do something after Tillman was shot. You can probably guess what it was. I know I can. Unfortunately, Congress needs some kind of prima facie evidence, no matter how damning the supporting evidence may be, and the White House has played its tired, stupid, meaningless trump card yet again.

"Executive privilege," my ass.

Well. You've read this far, and either you think I'm just another "worked-up liberal" who should settle down so the fucknuts can go back to work disassembling 231 years of hard-won freedoms and replacing them with their own self-serving brand of total bullshit...or else you've maybe entertained a thought or two like this, yourself.

If you're in the latter category, I'm going to demand that you do something. It's not very big. Here's what you can do:

Call your Congressman! Don't know who they are? Don't have the phone number? Follow this link, and now you do. Really, do it. It's a good exercise, for those of you who are citizens and can claim representation.

This time, think it over a little more carefully before casting that ballot. If you're a Dem, give some money to the Democrats. If you're a Rebpublican, for the love of God, at least support a non-retarded Republican for a change. In 2008, don't vote on something so vague as "he seems trustworthy," or "he seems decisive," or "he sure does look like he'd be fun to get wasted with." This time, do some analysis. Look at voting records, look at a candidate's background, at his or her history on health-care, the military, arts, social reforms, economic policy, welfare, whatever it is that makes you get up in the morning. Vote on that. Figure out what being a leader really means, because it's not about "staying the course" when the course you've chosen has gone so ridiculously wrong that you can't find your way back anymore, and the best option is to hand it off to another administration to figure out as best as it can. When does the impact of an illegal war; hundreds of thousands of dead people; complete incompetance ; a total lack of accountability or transparency; blatantly ignoring, overriding and removing systemic checks and balances declared in the Constitution, and protecting his cronies in the face of criminal prosecution while cowering behind weak-ass excuses like "executive privilege" finally raise the collective ire of America to the point that the House Minority leader doesn't mind raising impeachment charges, too? It's time for a change. And the earlier this ball gets rolling, the better.

Get to work. Forward this on (or write your own and forward that on, I don't care). Get on people's nerves. This government is supposed to be by the people, for the people...not by the rich, for the crazy people who don't care. That means you and I get to have a say, no matter if the people in power don't want us to. So even if we don't agree on things like religion or abortion rights or immigration policy, we should at least be able to agree that the President and his underlings should still be held accountable by the law, and by the workings of the government. That's why I'm saying, send this on to someone who normally wouldn't do anything, and then do something yourself!

That's pretty much it. It's July 15th, it's two weeks after our nation's 231st birthday. It's not the anniversary of anything special today. It's just another day in America, except that it's another day in America where more disturbing stuff is coming to life than I can quietly stomach without saying something, and without getting very angry about. I've simmered and stewed over this for almost 7 years now, in one form or fashion. And it's a beautiful Sunday afternoon outside. I'm going to hit the pool.

Y'all have a good one.

-Salil




**Well, that was how it was supposed to work, anyway. You guys remember the Constitution, right? If not, you can find it here .The great thing about viewing it and reading it online is that none of the tatters or shredding that have happened to it over the last 7 years are visible at all. Who's still got the hottest Constitution? America, baby! Anyway, it's got all kinds of stuff in it that you should read up on from time to time.


**For those of you who still care, Executive Privilege means that the President has broad sweeping authority over matters internal to the running of his office, and can obfuscate or simply not reveal discussions or advice that relate to Presidential decision-making. Nixon tried to use Executive Privilege to cover up tapes that contained discussions of Watergate; ultimately it went before the Supreme Court, which found against him, and he resigned in disgrace. If you think I'm being too partisan or left-leaning in this, consider that in 1997, the Supreme Court rejected President Clinton's claim of executive immunity from a sexual harassment suit by Paula Jones, too. Fair is fair. Executive privilege has its place in government, but it's not to keep the daily workings of the government away from the eyes of the public.

***For further reading, just hit Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guantanamo_Bay_detention_camp What you haven't read may shock you. If you dig deeper at all, you will probably wind up very disturbed, both by what's going on right under our noses, and how easy it is to conceal stuff from the American public and the MSM.

Insignificance.

Is there anything worse than knowing that you are one of six billion people on this planet? I suppose next year, when it's seven billion, of course.

The one thing, the universal, that everyone wants, is to be significant. We live in a world where we are increasingly aware of our personal insignificance at every turn. To remain sane is to acknowledge it and accept it, but even hyper-individualistic Americans know this: none of us really matters all that much. The Donald Trumps, the Dubyas, the stupid-ass celebrities, the mundane-ass neighbors, our friends, our enemies, our families, our heroes...it all has its place, and its meaning, but sometime's it's just a lot of noise.

That's how it is to me lately, anyway.

Overlaying all this is this feeling of personal success coupled with a complete lack of caring. I'm doing fine. I don't really give a shit. It's probably why I'm doing fine, because when I do give a shit, I generally tend to fuck up in seriously major ways. This holds true with jobs (especially jobs) relationships (especially those, too), family (just put "especially" in front of everything I list, okay?), friends, money, and personal possessions, even.

So lately I'm insomniac as all hell, mainly when I'm in Wilkesboro. I lie in my bed in my hotel room in the Hampton Inn or the Holiday Inn Express and I can't shut down, even though I'm so tired I have circles under my eyes. I sleep for maybe three or four hours, and exist during the day purely by the good graces of caffeine. I return to DC on the weekends, and I just crash. Fridays I usually sleep until noon. Things seem brighter when I wake up, and the world is normal. I feel coherent, and I know that the feeling will only last until Sunday evening, when I leave again.

Christ, it's only been two months since I started this. And I'm actually happy with the work and the coworkers and the projects! I don't want it to end. I want it to be easier.

So here I am. Feeling rather insignificant, and kind of irritable, and also very very sleep-deprived, and thus kind of delirious.

Something's gotta give, right?

Don't Let Your Pet Look Like A Pet In Public.

"The worry is that the more Maliki is seen as our puppet, because he is abiding by our timelines and deadlines, the internal political dynamics will become so fragile that the whole government would collapse," said one senior official participating in the internal review. "That would set us back a year."


How is it possible that the White House and the State Department can issue statements about their strategy to prevent Nouri Al-Maliki from being viewed as a U.S. stooge? Wouldn't that, by definition, imply that he's their boy? That he's owned from the balls up?

Is it not clear that this administration's goal is now to saddle the next administration with a morass? It seems (from my perspective, anyway) likely that a Democrat will win the next election. Would it serve Republicans to allow a Democrat to figure out the actual "exit strategy" for the U.S. from Iraq? It seems likely, doesn't it?

Lighter-Than-Air: Individualism As An End-Game of Democracy

For the longest time, I've felt that there's got to be a better way. A way that allows more of us to have more, to be happy, and to help us cut away so much of the bullshit that holds us back in our everyday life. I'm not talking about some kind of hippie mumbo-jumbo. I'm talking about concrete things that we can do, that we can adopt, and that will make a difference in how we live. And there's also a big batch of stuff that keeps us from doing it. More on this in a moment, though.

So some of you know, I'm an idea guy. I have tons of ideas. I also (as some of you are painfully aware) share them. The bad ones...well, when I mention them, they get shot down. The better ones tend to get reinforced (especially when beer is being consumed), and so I try and propagate those. And the absolutely crazy ones...ah. See, I have a big fucking basket full of changes I want to make to the world that would...absolutely must...effect huge change. Egotism taken to an extreme, but just hear one of them out, ok?



We'll get back to the point of the first paragraph in a moment.

My first big crazy idea that would impact the entire world economy in a very positive way, overall: get rid of airplanes. Or at least, minimize their use as much as possible.

And...

Replace them with lighter-than-air vehicles.

Ok, ok, this is not exactly MY idea. It's been around for ages, but thanks to a rash of accidents in the 1930's (culminating with the Hindenberg), the airship / dirigible / blimp has gotten a very bad rap, in spite of being far and away the most efficient, luxurious, and yes, safe, mode of air travel.

First, my case against airplanes:

They are horrendously inefficient.

They are not inherently safe. In fact, they are inherently unsafe. It is a testiment to modern engineering, systems, and federal civic effort that they are as safe as they are.

9/11/01. We all know this the hard way now: they are very easy to turn into big guided missiles.

As mass-transit vehicles, they are very uncomfortable.

But then there's this alternative.

Imagine this, if you will: you are flying from DC to San Francisco, but instead of paying $500 for a tiny, cramped seat, with a transfer in Houston and a tiny bag of pretzels to hold you over while the Boeing you're in guzzles thousands of gallons of fuel...instead you cruise to the West Coast in something more akin to a flying resort. The trip takes 24 hours, but you don't have a seat. You have a shopping mall. A movie theater. A food court. A veritable flying city, or at least a small town! And your huge vehicle burns 1/8th the fuel of a comparable jet-engine powered airplane.

Imagine these things serving as freighters, helping developing nations without railroads or road infrastructure ship goods and manufacturing services to remote areas.

Imagine a flying cruise ship, and taking a dive into a glass-bottomed pool over the clear turquoise waters of the Carribean.

Do you like this dream? I do. I am madly, passionately in love with it. I want it so bad I can taste it, sometimes.

And happily for me and people like me, these guys are trying to do it.

There are plenty of cases against airships, but they're technical obstacles. Mountain ranges are a problem, as are high winds. Helium is expensive, and not as efficient for producing lift as hydrogen. But these are minor sticking points, compared to the potential for changing how we move about the planet!

Ok, so there's that. Now, to my first paragraph, which is tied to this very obliquely / obscurely, I know. But bear with me.

I have become used to the notion of ideas changing things, and I am beginning to realize as I get older that I am a horrible individualist. As a for-instance, I want everyone else to drive a hybrid car...except me. I drive a G35 that gets 19mpg in the city. Why? Because it's fun, because I like it. Because I want it.

It is this sense of entitlement, within myself, and then within others, that I am fighting. That I think we should all fight. And it is completely, totally at odds with democracy, or at least the American kind, which I am dubbing Democrazy (thanks, Damon Albarn!). We want, and each of us wants something different. In fact, we frequently want BECAUSE it's different. Or at least it's perceived that way.

(And no, I'm not selling the Infiniti just yet. IT's an EXPRESSION OF WHO I AM! OK? Ha!).

In a Democrazy, we indulge our every whim, because our whims make life worth living. Discipline is unheard of, and frequently attempts to instill it are met with hostility, contempt, or accusations of abuse. We consume too much. We attempt to force happiness into our lives by eating it, drinking it, buying it, killing it, fucking it, marrying it, divorcing it, cheating on it, preaching it to others, or smoking and snorting it. And the harder we try, the more noise we make, and the less we find. Graceless creatures!

We're not quite there yet. Not...quite. But goddamn, we're getting close.

So yes. All this to say, I know my airship dream comes from my sense of entitlement. Without people who came before me, I would never dare to think the way I do. I would never think that ideas, propagated properly, would be enough to shape things, and that my ego should be powerful enough to shape the world.

This is what I bring forward to you: it's fine to dream big, and it's fine to change things, but it's time we figure out how to do it so that we are at least respectful about it: of each other, of the planet, and of who came before us and got to this point, where a big enough mind and a big enough lever can move the world.

Did I Do Right?

This is the question that concerns me most frequently, lately. Did I do right? Was that right? As I get older, I seem to take more and more time contemplating any action to see if I can understand all the repercussions, all the potential fallout, and judge whether the end result will be...good.

I'm getting very good at predicting the end results. I'm also generally trying to strike some kind of balance between what I deem "right action" and how I anticipate other people will react emotionally.

It's not fun.

In other news: I am back in DC, bitches. Y'all ready for this? New place, new car, new job. New life? Or old one?

Time will tell, and when it does, I will tell it again here.

Unencumbering

Today I sold my car, my beloved VW Jetta. I've had it for 8 years now. Last week, I sold my motorcycle. I am now totally vehicle-less.

I feel odd about it all. I have become emotionally attached to my vehicles. Seeing them go was painful and also...liberating. I feel loyal to them, because I anthropomorphize them: they've been loyal to me, too. And they've changed over the years (thanks to the few thousand dollars in modifications I've put into each). We're none of us the same as we were when we first met.

This move is so weird. Giving things up, selling them, letting them go. It's a little painful, but each one also engenders this growing sense of freedom. There's that line from Fight Club, which I'll paraphrase: "After a while, the things you own own you."

And much as I liked them, it is nice to not worry about them. No more risk of breakdowns or thefts or door dings and paint chipping that comes from living in a city filled with millions of people who do not know the first thing about driving.

Ow.

I have not been blogging...really blogging...about anything important to me in a great long while. The few of you who read this tiny corner of the Internet know this.

But let me commit this to hypertext: I am so...so...so fucking tired. Not tired because I've been working so hard, or because my life is so hectic. Quite the opposite. I don't get tired when I'm busy or things are hectic. Well, I do. That is, my body does. But my brain catches fire, and so it doesn't matter.

Here and now, though...well. Life's been fairly terrible lately. So rather than heave up some impersonal political rant, or talk about social justice, or think about how cruddy the big picture is getting, I'm going to focus in a bit. Mainly on me. And how I feel, and what I think.

First, I am unhappy. I am mildly unhappy with San Francisco and living in the Bay area. Those of you who know me are not surprised. It's no secret. This city is more foreign to me than the most remote corner of Siberia could ever be. It's foreign because it's so goddamn close to what I want, but it misses so hugely on the things I need. It's like running into your second cousin after 20 years, and finding out that the kid you grew up with is actually a total asshole. He's well-dressed, he does well with the ladies, he has a nice car, and people love him. But the first thing you notice is his stink: his spirit is up to no good.

That's this city to me.

It's so odd because a few of my friends moved to SF from DC at around the same time I did, and their experiences here are so different from mine. They're all off to wonderful fresh starts, and seem to be enjoying themselves immensely. I, on the other hand, got off to a good start--and then that shit promptly ended a few weeks ago. Work, personal life: totally in the shitter.

So yeah, I'm tired.

Then there's this other feeling. This one is hard to describe. I actually let someone matter to me, and didn't even know it. I realized it after she treated me as abyssmally as any person has ever treated me, and I totally wrote her off. It was easy; I've developed that much self-respect that I could walk away and not look back. Well...for a fewweeks. And then I realized I missed her. Because apparently I'm a total wuss. I've stayed away from her, I rationally do not want any contact with her, and I am far far better off without her. But tell that to the part that hurts.

Not that I will ever contact her again. I just don't need that kind of crazy in my life.

The older I get, the more I am able to control how I act. And the more important it is for me that the person I am with be able to control how she acts. But it seems fairly certain that my ability to control how I feel is still...very...very...weak.

And between my work and my personal life, I am doubting myself constantly. The confidence I felt a year ago in my own abilities, in my skills in IT, with people, with my judgement--that's been shaken. I've had worse things happen to me, but somehow, that all this happened in my thirties just makes it so much worse. As if I'm standing still, and the rest of the world is plunging ahead, accomplishing the things it needs to do.

I'm treading water.

And I am very...very...tired.