Are you tired of hearing, viewing and reading about this yet? If you are, then you should skip this post. But let me try a multifaceted approach that may overcome your reluctance. There is legality and there is morality. There is politics and pragmatics. There is truth and there are lies. There are causes and there are consequences (effects). Finally, there is the opportunity for national self-reflection–if one can get beyond the self-protective rationalization. Continue reading The Torture Report
Tag Archives: McCain
What to do about Syria?
John McCain says the US should take the lead, but not unilaterally, in defending Syrian civilians by initiating airstrikes against Assad’s brutal military. From a Buddhist perspective, I normally prefer the pacifistic approach. On the other hand, it is most certainly legitimate to defend innocents by attacking and even killing those who would kill them. The question is whether US led airstrikes is the the way to do that. With the memory of the world failing to stop the bloodshed in Rwanda, it is clear something needs to be done. To assert that eventually Assad will fall, as the Obama administration is publicly stating while no doubt working behind the scenes to make that happen sooner, is not enough. China and Russia prevent UN Security Council action. But stopping Assad doesn’t have to be a UN sponsored activity. What it does need to be is a regionally led, preferably Arab, response. The US can supply arms, planes and especially humanitarian aid. But it can’t take the lead. If it does, it invites Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula to play too large a role in a subsequent government. They are already there, among the rebels, according to many intelligence sources. They may not be the core of rebels, but they are a part of a multifaceted group opposed to Assad.
Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell
A break from health care reform. The Obama administration has apparently finally embarked on the repeal of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy implemented during the first Clinton administration. Reinforcing the conclusion that he was just as much a politician that will say whatever needs saying to be elected (except he didn’t succeed), John McCain has done a 180 degree turn from his previous position and now is “disappointed” in Joint Chief of Staff Admiral Mullen’s opinion that gays in the military pose no problem. It’s difficult to fathom why McCain needs to curry conservative favor at this point in his political career–at his age and his showing in the last election he has no future in politics. Anyway, assuming the gossip is correct, if Alexander the Great was in fact gay, then why should being gay in the 21st century U.S. military pose a problem? With an all-volunteer service having at least some difficulty getting people to enlist when the real likelihood of posting to a combat zone is high, why discourage gays from joining? It is time to end the charade. Let them in and leave them alone.
60th Anniversary of the UN Declaration of Human Rights
I come late to the party, honoring the 60th anniversary of the UN Declaration of Human Rights. I won’t waste space here reinventing what news and commentary you can find elsewhere. I do want to mention the sad irony of the recent report of the Senate Armed Services Committee on detainee abuse under the Bush administration. The senators blame Donald Rumsfeld and the White House for countenancing and actively encouraging the torture of high-level detainees. On this point, among others, John McCain and Barack Obama had no differences during the campaign. January 20th cannot come too soon, to right the wrongs of Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, etc. By denying the humanity and denying the rights all humans should be afforded, we are no better than the criminals, the terrorists or other evildoers we mistreat. But we need to move well beyond self-reflection and correction to stop coddling China, ignoring Darfur, and generally speaking–acting not simply on the basis of our American economic self-interest but on the basis of recognizing and supporting human rights everywhere. As an elective democracy, it is important to remember that the American people are sovereign. Presidents, congressmen and senators are elected to do our bidding. At the same time, we are all equally citizens of the world, with the opportunity to express ourselves and communicate with our fellow human beings wherever they may live around the globe.
From Great Evil Comes Great Good
“Great events never have minor omens. When great evil occurs, great good follows.” So says Nichiren, founder of the largest sect of Buddhism practiced in the United States. While it would be an overstatement to characterize the entirety of the Bush administration years as great evil, there certainly has been plenty of it. Greed, lies, torture, imperialism, etc. At the same time, can there be any doubt that but for those evils (and the collapse of the economy, attributable in part to administration laissez faire policies), Barack Obama would not have been elected this year. Not sure about the “great good”? Consider the response to his election from ordinary citizens here and abroad. Consider the response from leaders around the world. Look at the faces among the thousands of supporters at rallies and celebrations. White, black, brown, yellow. Young, old, rich, poor, gay, straight. Compare those faces to the tiny crowds present at the McCain rallies. A diverse, large tent versus a tiny, exclusive tent. Which is the “real” America–the small-town, small-minded, “your bedroom is my business” members of the GOP (Grumbling Obnoxious Partisans?) or the hope-filled Democrats and Independents that are tolerant of differences, are tired of ideological polemic and are a mix of ethnicities?
Waiting for November 5th
I am getting impatient. I want the election to be over so I can stop watching Anderson Cooper, Rachel Maddow, Chris Matthews, Larry King, Nightline and local news. What else is there to blog about right now but the election? Plenty of stuff; the same stuff that I used to blog about. But I am consumed by the election. Watching Obama’s 30-minute infomercial reminded me how financially fortunate I am. I won’t brag or bore you with the details, other than to mention that my wife and I both were able to retire at 55 and do not have work or worry about income. That is not so for many people in America. I can understand, although not agree with, the choices of some voters to support a political party and candidates that want to dictate the sexual and reproductive habits of Americans. I find it more difficult to understand how the social conservatives, many of whom may not be as well off financially as me or the leaders of their party, can so readily buy the laissez-faire policies of socalled fiscal conservatism. I say socalled because while Republicans continually label Democrats as “tax and spend,” many (if not most) Republicans on the national and local levels spend as much or more than Democrats but they don’t tax–they spend at a deficit. Look at George Bush years as the paradigm. When Democrats brought fiscal order to Congress a number of years ago, it was through “pay as you go” budget programs. At the same time, while the socially conservative Republicans want to regulate what goes on in America’s bedrooms, they care little what goes on in America’s boardrooms. Look at the bailout for the results of that perspective. So I am looking forward to a new day and a new way on November 5th–or perhaps I should say on January 20th, 2009.
Financial Fallout and the Blame Game
Obama will tell you it’s Bush and his buddy McCain that helped make the current money morass happen. He is not entirely wrong but he is not entirely right either. Congress facilitated the mess by repealing the Glass-Steagal Act that kept the insurance, investment and banking businesses firewalled from one another. Institutional investors, including the pension funds that hold our retirement funds, could have exercised more of their clout in the proxy battles and the board rooms to hold management’s feet to the fire and restrained the most egregious excesses–but they didn’t. From a Buddhist perspective, to determine the causes made in the past one has only to look at the effects received today. So if we are suffering financial harm today, what did we do in the past? Well, some of us were also greedy. Some of us have cheated on our taxes, padded our resumes, paid for term papers written by others, goofed off and gotten over at work, etc. OK, so some of us may appear blameless. Nonetheless, we are suffering now. Take it as an opportunity to make the future better and take comfort in knowing that cause effect will work it’s way into the lives of the executives and the politicians who helped create this mess. We may need to help that along–in terms of the November election and the choices we make in investing our money, borrowing, etc.