Dubya's War

[ravencallscrows]

On the interminable drive in to work this morning (it only took three bloody hours and for no apparent reason, either), i got to do something that doesn't happen often- i got to listen to Dave Ross' show on KIRO-AM here in Seattle. His topic wasn't something i'd have chosen, but it is six months after the 11 September terrorist attacks, so it was a sensible and timely topic.

He had a guest on this morning, Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), who had delivered a speech at the Americans for Democratic Action event in Los Angeles on 17 February about the administration overstepping the Congressional mandate for its "War on Terrorism." The speech is cited in its entirety here for anyone who wishes to read the entire piece, but I'm going to excerpt a chunk of it here:

Let us pray that our nation will remember that the unfolding of the promise of democracy in our nation paralleled the striving for civil rights. That is why we must challenge the rationale of the Patriot Act. We must ask why should America put aside guarantees of constitutional justice?

How can we justify in effect canceling the First Amendment and the right of free speech, the right to peaceably assemble?
How can we justify in effect canceling the Fourth Amendment, probable cause, the prohibitions against unreasonable search and seizure?
How can we justify in effect canceling the Fifth Amendment, nullifying due process, and allowing for indefinite incarceration without a trial?
How can we justify in effect canceling the Sixth Amendment, the right to prompt and public trial?
How can we justify in effect canceling the Eighth Amendment which protects against cruel and unusual punishment?

Continuing, leading up to his call for the formation of a Department of Peace, Rep. Kucinich continued:

Let us pray that our country will stop this war. "To promote the common defense" is one of the formational principles of America. Our Congress gave the President the ability to respond to the tragedy of September the Eleventh. We licensed a response to those who helped bring the terror of September the Eleventh. But we the people and our elected representatives must reserve the right to measure the response, to proportion the response, to challenge the response, and to correct the response.

Because we did not authorize the invasion of Iraq.
We did not authorize the invasion of Iran.
We did not authorize the invasion of North Korea.
We did not authorize the bombing of civilians in Afghanistan.
We did not authorize permanent detainees in Guantanamo Bay.
We did not authorize the withdrawal from the Geneva Convention.
We did not authorize military tribunals suspending due process and habeas corpus.
We did not authorize assassination squads.
We did not authorize the resurrection of COINTELPRO.
We did not authorize the repeal of the Bill of Rights.
We did not authorize the revocation of the Constitution.
We did not authorize national identity cards.
We did not authorize the eye of Big Brother to peer from cameras throughout our cities.
We did not authorize an eye for an eye.
Nor did we ask that the blood of innocent people, who perished on September 11, be avenged with the blood of innocent villagers in Afghanistan.
We did not authorize the administration to wage war anytime, anywhere, anyhow it pleases.
We did not authorize war without end.
We did not authorize a permanent war economy.

Pretty impressive, especially coming from a politician. I almost think i'd trust this guy.

Comments

[gwynn-aaron.livejournal.com]

Dennis Kucinich is pretty good ppl, even for a politician. North-Eastern Ohio has got a couple of really good congressmen, namely Dennis Kucnich and Sherrod Brown. They are both exceptional ppl who really care about the ppl they represent. Of course we've got many more asses than angels here, but at least we have those few angels to show us how bad the asses are. I wish Lauren and I lived in one of their districts. Unfortunately we know live in a little Reuplican whore's district. Before we lived in a Democratic district, but the congresswoman was a self-serving self-important bitch. Oh well, such is life. How are the politicians out your way?

[wingedelf.livejournal.com]

Washington has the distinction of being the first state in the Union to have two female Senators serving concurrently- Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, both Democrats. The State has a reputation for being rather liberal, although until recently there was a numerical split in the State government. Cantwell won her seat from long-time Republican incumbent Slade Gordon (a man older than dirt), and financed much of her campaign from her own pockets (fortunately for her, those pockets are rather deep- she's one of the founders of Real Networks). Of the two, though, we've been more impressed by Murray, the senior senator- she's responded to her mail with more celerity that we'd have expected from a politician, and has expressed some opinions which we've really appreciated.

Politics

[gwynn-aaron.livejournal.com]

Both of our senators are SRBs (Smug Republican Bastards) as is the governor and his whole administration. Ohio's three largest cities have Democratic mayors and mostly democratic councils. Unfortunately the greater part of the population lives in the rural areas and they vote Republican. As a result Ohio is almost completely controlled by the GOP and almost always goes to the GOP candidate.

The upcoming gubernatorial race could have a better outcome though. The Democratic candidate is a man by the name of Tim Hagan. He used to be in county government up here in the north. He's a really honest, friendly guy who doesn't come across as a politician at all. His greater distinction (for some of us at least) is that he is married to Kate Mulgrew of Star Trek fame. It's always a treat when the two of them come on the radio together because she picks on him greatly. You can find a bit of information about Tim and see a picture of them together on his web site: http://www.timhaganforgovernor.com/

I can't recall off hand what your governor is. Do you have a Rep or Dem for governor? What about your local congress-critters? Do you have mostly Democrats or Republicans in the Seattle area? What kind of political climate can Lauren and I expect?

Re: Politics

[wingedelf.livejournal.com]

The current governor is a Democrat- Gary Locke, one of the only minority governors in U.S. history to date (he's of Asian descent). The congressional delegation is 6-3 Democrats, with the minority members representing Bellevue (Jennifer Dunn, who's actually not too bad from the limited opinion i've formed of her) and districts in Eastern Washington (Pasco and Spokane, specifically. In general, King [metro Seattle], Pierce [Tacoma], and Snohomish [Lynnwood, Everett, north-of-Seattle briefcase communities] counties vote pretty heavily Democratic; Eastern Washington, which really is almost a state unto itself, votes fairly Republican; and other communities split between the two, tending Republican in state offices and Democrat in federal ones.
All in all, in metro Seattle, you'll see a pretty liberal climate.

Re: Politics

[gwynn-aaron.livejournal.com]

I'm glad to hear that. After a while you get tired of living in a state that is mainly controlled by the Republicans. Always having your state (and its electoral votes) go to the person you didn't vote for sucks ass.