"We Don't Torture"

At today's press conference:

Q Thank you, sir. A two-part question. The New Yorker reports that the Red Cross has found the interrogation program in the CIA detention facilities use interrogation techniques that were tantamount to torture. I'm wondering if you have read that report and what your reaction to it is? And the second part of the question is, more than a year ago you said that you wanted to close the detention facility at Guantanamo, and a year later nothing has actually happened in that regard. And the Vice President, Attorney General and Homeland Security Secretary are reported to be resisting such a move. I wonder if you could tell us who's really in charge on this issue, are you doing anything about it, do you expect Guantanamo to be open or closed when you leave office?

THE PRESIDENT: I did say it should be a goal of the nation to shut down Guantanamo. I also made it clear that part of the delay was the reluctance of some nations to take back some of the people being held there. In other words, in order to make it work, we've got to have a place for these people to go. I don't know if you noticed a resolution of the Senate the other day, where all but three senators said we don't want these prisoners in the country. I don't know if it was a 97-3 vote, but it was something-to-three vote. In other words, part of the issue, Peter, is the practical issue of, what do we do with the people. And you say nothing has taken place. I strongly disagree with that. First of all, we are working with other nations to send folks back. Again, it's a fairly steep order. A lot of people don't want killers in their midst, and a lot of these people are killers.
Secondly, of course, we want to make sure that when we do send them back, they're treated as humanely as possible. The other issue was whether or not we can get people to be tried. One of the things I'm anxious about, want to see happen, is that there to be trials. Courts have been involved with deciding how to do this, and Defense is trying to work out mechanisms to get the trials up and running. And the sooner we can get that up and running, the better it is, as far as I'm concerned. I don't want to make any predictions about whether Guantanamo will be available or not. I'm just telling you it's a very complicated subject.
And I laid out an aspiration. Whether or not we can achieve that or not, we'll try to. But it is not as easy a subject as some may think on the surface. Again, I refer to you to the Senate vote. When asked whether or not you want to shut down Guantanamo, and therefore receive some of those prisoners in your home state, there didn't seem to be a lot of support for it. Like, three people said, it's okay by me, in the Senate.
Your other question, sir?

Q Red Cross report?

THE PRESIDENT: I haven't seen it. We don't torture.

Pronounced "mc - eye"

Whoa Nellie! What a great singer.

The Next Few Months Are Critical

Brilliant! Take a trip down memory lane. Recall the sage advice of the Wise Ones of Washington - those who tell America what to think, because we can't think for ourselves.

Now talk to me about the credibility of these people.

"The Foreign Policy Community is more secretive than the Fight Club." This quote is from Glenn Greenwald at Salon, who provides a more thorough analysis of the sorry state of our foriegn policy discourse.

Recommended Web Site

The National Archives Experience, paid for by your tax dollars.

"We Do Not Torture"

Torture is defined as "any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity."

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the United Nations on December 10, 1948. Article 5 of the UDHR states that "No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment."

In 1985, Ronald Reagan said of the UDHR, "For people of good will around the world, that document is more than just words: It's a global testament of humanity, a standard by which any humble person on Earth can stand in judgment of any government on Earth." In 1995, Pope John Paul II called the UDHR "one of the highest expressions of the human conscience of our time".

America is party to several international treaties that prohibit torture. Americans are also subject to various laws relating to torture, such as The War Crimes Act of 1996. Despite this, and despite what I feel are compelling moral arguments against torture, Americans, particularly Catholics, seem to approve of torture. Maybe we are just too easily swayed by such fantasies as Fox's show "24".

Here is the question of the day then: Does America torture?

Can you put aside your partisan ideologies long enough to investigate which is the closer approximation to reality?

Is it the rhetoric:

"We do not torture" President Bush, 11/07/2005

"The United States of America does not torture. And that's important for people around the world to understand." President Bush, 11/29/2005

"I want to be absolutely clear with our people, and the world: The United States does not torture. It's against our laws, and it's against our values. I have not authorized it -- and I will not authorize it." President Bush, 9/06/2006

"MR. RUSSERT: Does this new executive order allow measures that if were used against a U.S. citizen who was apprehended by the enemy would be troubling to the American people?

Admiral McCONNELL: I can report to you that it’s not torture.

MR. RUSSERT: How do you fine—define torture?

Admiral McCONNELL: Well, torture is—an attempt to define torture in the, in the executive order, it gives examples: mutilation or murder or rape or physical pain, those kinds of things. Let me just leave it by saying the, the techniques work, it’s not torture. They’re not subjected to heat or cold, but it is effective. And it’s a psychological approach to causing someone to have uncertainty and in a situation where they will feel compelled to talk to you about what you’re asking about.

MR. RUSSERT: And we would find it acceptable if a U.S. citizen experienced the same kind of enhanced interrogation measures?

Admiral McCONNELL: Tim, it’s not torture. I would not want a U.S. citizen to go through the process, but it is not tortures, and there would be no permanent damage to that citizen." Meet The Press Transcript, 7/22/2007


Or is it the reporting:

"One of the sources said that the Red Cross described the agency’s [CIA] detention and interrogation methods as tantamount to torture, and declared that American officials responsible for the abusive treatment could have committed serious crimes. The source said the report warned that these officials may have committed “grave breaches” of the Geneva Conventions, and may have violated the U.S. Torture Act, which Congress passed in 1994. The conclusions of the Red Cross, which is known for its credibility and caution, could have potentially devastating legal ramifications." The New Yorker, 8/13/2007


The first amendment allows me to state my view that members of this administration have clearly broken the law, perhaps even commited war crimes, but I suppose I should be careful, lest I be called an unpatriotic dirty f___ing leftist hippy, which I suppose is your right, as well.

Perhaps it is best to listen to the advice of this administration in these matters:

"But assuming the press reports are right, it's a terrible thing to say, and it unfortunate. And that's why -- there was an earlier question about has the President said anything to people in his own party -- they're reminders to all Americans that they need to watch what they say, watch what they do. This is not a time for remarks like that; there never is." Ari Fleischer, 9/26/2001

I picked the wrong decade to speak my mind.

Good Question

Why do they love us?

I have heard the opposite question asked about the opinions of the rest of the world, or of the Middle East - Why do they hate us? - many times, and I have heard many answers. There clearly is a lot of hate for America throughout the world. But just as clearly, particularly when the subject is the American people or American values, and not American foriegn policy, there is a lot of love for America or Americans. So, why do they love us? I'd really like to know.

Rush

I saw Rush in Kansas City in 1982.

There is a new Rush video. Click on the .wmv movie at the top left of this site. It's an instrumental song called Malignant Narcissism. Also check out the video for YYZ (Toronto's airport code). I like to imagine that's me on the drums.

Easy To Hate

But it takes more effort to understand.

Participation

I know I must have upwards of one or so readers by now. Not including me. A good handful of folks have been made aware of this space, and I intend to share things more widely in the months to come. It's early, and I haven't found my groove yet.

Still, I have never had one written comment. Not one. I'm about to just deflower myself at this point. And worse, my co-author, Webster Jim, has had better things to do (like have a life, I suppose).

I am willing to defend my outlandish theories. I dare you, anyone, MOM?, bring it on.


Full disclose: I have received some flattering extra-blog comments. Thanks.

Good Question

This is the first in a new series featuring good questions that I never hear asked. And sometimes, like now, it will provide a springboard to rant something off my chest.


How many of the 3,640 US troops killed in the Iraq War were killed by "Al Qaeda" or "Al Qaeda in Iraq?"


I honestly don't know. My educated guess is 5%. The percentage of Iraqi citizens killed by Al Qaeda and affiliates is probably higher.

Now, rantime.

America has a war policy that is hugely unpopular, both in America and in most of the world, partly due to the incongruence of the rhetoric to what is being reported.

Of course, none of us can truly understand the actual reality, not only on the ground in Iraq, but in the current and future global consequences of America's policy. Unknowable unknowns, the worst kind per Rummy. Old school is blowback. The numerous concepts of purpose floating around coupled with the differing interpretations of success, defeat, threats, enemies, allies, and on and on, only results in a huge population of humans effected by the War but in the end, uninformed and uninspired. Well, two large minority groups are indeed inspired: policy supporters that happen to be very influencial and antiwar agitators that are gaining influence. It seems to be on a collision course. For now, though, despite the passion of some, all of us are inevitably uninformed. That is why the credibility of our leadership is so critical, and also why our trust is waning. The news and views just are not in sync. Communication breakdown.

So people are divided about whether the rhetoric or the reporting is a closer approximation of reality. Or they may prefer to base their opinions on which is the closer approximation to their ideology or tribe. I suggest to those who sincerely seek greater understanding: consume from a broader and deeper range of sources of both rhetoric and reporting. You may learn who to trust. Or learn to trust yourself. Use your voice, exercise those civic muscles, and find a way to ask questions, demand answers and be the democracy.

There are many compelling voices out there now that are more difficult to find than the usual American mass media pundits found screaming in your face. Most of this sorry lot have been more wrong than right over the last decade or so. They give good market share, not a closer approximation of reality. It may take more effort, but there are additional reporting sources available for your edification that are not as "sound bite" and "gotcha" oriented as is our somewhat condescending mass media.

Here are some good, raw sources of information. Also, they have a good track record for traditional Washington reporting.

What's the point of today's rantime? It's about the trust. It comes first. No communication can take place without it. The players are just uninformed and uninspired. No chance of unity of purpose. The game breaks down.

We can get it back on track so long as we can remember that we the people don't have to agree, we just have to trust in each other, and that together, we always find the right path, eventually.

Paradise Made

Imagining the future perfect, from a time of painful change
Can glimpse my hope and love unbounded, colored by my native shame
A flawless vision of the future, or ruining of Creation
You say to stay with what your God wants, Praise be to His perfect aims

I yearn to know, and yet I falter, see clues in contemplation
What does your God want, what do I want, should they not just be the same
Some say to stray now, should have no fear, improve us because we can
What does your God want, what do we want, don’t know the rules of the game

Been using tools to take your aches, and leave them in the past
Is it wrong to kill our sorrow, to leave our tears at last
We suffer for the unseen heaven, at the will of Creation,
Dare we change, make our heaven right now, we need justification.

Living in bliss, a heaven on earth. Could this be His perfect aim,
Living in bliss, a heaven on earth. Should our purpose be the same,
Feelings we miss, a heaven on earth. Can we live without our shame,
Feelings we miss, a heaven on earth. Do we lose more than we gain.

Appearance is Reality

For Matrix fans.

Paradise Lost

"The mind is its own place, and in itself
Can make a Heav'n of Hell, a Hell of Heaven"

Satan, in Milton's Paradise Lost

Ship of Fools

Being a suit-and-tied, clean-cut, white kind of guy, making big money deals in the business world, I have been in situations where everyone in the group (for example, at a Mergers and Acquisitions conference at the Beverly Hills Hotel) naturally assumed that everyone else there was, of course, conservative. In these circumstances, being warmly embraced by only members of the in-group, people can feel free to share what they really think.

I invariably will say something that clearly does not fit the script (it's the born troublemaker in me). People are at first surprised that I can think for myself (I don't happen to like being a part of any political tribe). Then I quickly become perceived as nothing more than a dressed up hippy with a haircut - a wolf in sheep's clothing. "Isn't this cute - the naive liberal. How did he get in here?" If I'm not with "us", then I must be with "them". I know, I know - it goes both ways. Silly humans. Still, it's fun to watch. Ah, the emptiness of it all!

Like a National Geographic article where the researcher is living with and documenting the interactions of the aborigines, here is a look at the native beliefs of the fracturing neo-con tribe at one such gathering:

". . . All the tropes that conservatives usually deny in public – that Iraq is another Vietnam, that Bush is fighting a class war on behalf of the rich – are embraced on this shining ship in the middle of the ocean. Yes, they concede, we are fighting another Vietnam; and this time we won't let the weak-kneed liberals lose it. "It's customary to say we lost the Vietnam war, but who's 'we'?" the writer Dinesh D'Souza asks angrily. "The left won by demanding America's humiliation." On this ship, there are no Viet Cong, no three million dead. There is only liberal treachery. Yes, D'Souza says, in a swift shift to domestic politics, "of course" Republican politics is "about class. Republicans are the party of winners, Democrats are the party of losers."

Africa Digs US

Meet your neighbors.

From the Pew Global Attitudes Project - "In the current poll, majorities in 25 of the 47 countries surveyed express positive views of the U.S. Since 2002, however, the image of the United States has declined in most parts of the world. Favorable ratings of America are lower in 26 of 33 countries for which trends are available.

The U.S. image remains abysmal in most Muslim countries in the Middle East and Asia, and continues to decline among the publics of many of America's oldest allies. Favorable views of the U.S. are in single digits in Turkey (9%) and have declined to 15% in Pakistan. Currently, just 30% of Germans have a positive view of the U.S. – down from 42% as recently as two years ago – and favorable ratings inch ever lower in Great Britain and Canada.

For all of the bad news, however, the global survey of 47 nations, conducted throughout the world, reveals a more complex picture of opinions of the United States."

Are your curious? Some wonder whether we should even care. What kind of neighborhood do you live in? How do folks get along? Is it the policy, or the people? Do you dare?

Predictions

November 2008. Hillary Clinton vs. Mitt Romney. Not even close. Hill wins two terms. America will be blessed/cursed by at least 28 straight years of having a bush or a clinton in the white house. God Bless the American Royalty. We get what we deserve.

Winter 2007. It will be cold and snowing somewhere. One Hundred times as many people can remember the World Series and American Idol champions than can name all twelve Supreme Court justices. (just checking if you are paying attention)

Next week. A politician will admit to an inappropriate affair.

Tonight. I will stay up too late.

Explore! Colonize!

Am I the only crazy human that advocates trancending the insufficient confines of Earth?

According to this New York Times article, Dr. Gott thinks that, "To ensure our long-term survival, we need to get a colony up and running on Mars within 46 years."

Let's get busy - 46 years is much shorter than "one day."

Day Three Is Ending

"Life As We Know It"

What does this phrase mean?

It's frequently used, but do many of us really understand what is "life as we know it."? Fortunately, we already learned what we need to know to technically answer this question from high school biology class. And Sunday School gave us some needed perspective. We are well equipped to tackle this question. To find the answer, we just need a refresher now and then.

I found an intriguing article online in Discover Magazine, here, that begins with the most succinct scientific summation of that answer I have seen in decades. (I must be getting old since I seem to be using the term "decades" frequently nowadays) It has just the right balance of big-picture persepective and nuts and bolts action. Here is the pithy introductory paragraph, answering the too-little comprehended question, what is "life as we know it?":

Every living thing on Earth shares a long, colorful history. Our planet was born into a maelstrom 4.5 billion years ago, and for the next 600 million years a steady bombardment of primordial debris made the surface uninhabitable. The blitz finally tapered off 3.8 billion years ago. Then within about 50 million years later—practically an instant in geologic time—life irrevocably established itself. Since then, it has evolved into everything from bacteria to toadstools to mudskippers to humans. Outwardly these species vary wildly, but at the molecular level they are staggeringly uniform. They all use DNA to encode genetic information. They all use RNA molecules as messengers to transfer the information from DNA to cellular factories called ribosomes, which then build proteins, which in turn drive our metabolisms and form the structures of our cells. In short, every species seems descended from a common ancestor whose attributes define what scientists mean when they say “life as we know it.”

There are exciting perspectives framed by this simple story. I am awed at the deep connection among all of the life on earth. And by the equally deep connection between life and the earth itself. The earth was and is an essential part of us. Mankind has only recently (last few hundred years) learned some of the basics of our connection to the history of life on earth. I think this must mark the first time in 3.8 billion years that a tiny piece of that life on Earth, just one of the late-arriving species of this "life as we know it", became consciously aware of these facts. Time. Life. Humans. Conciousness. Awesome! Knowledge, technology, and science. Oh my!

Our amazing planet, endlessly spinning like a top and flying around the sun once a year, has always been full of excitement and plot changes. The suspense is killing me.

Just for fun: imagine that the whole 4.5 billion year existence of our humble planet was represented as just one 24 hour day. Now get this: The universe exploded into existence to begin Day One. On Day Three, our Sun was born. Earth was then formed at a moment after midnight on Day Three, immediately falling into line around the sun, and continuing it's ceaseless march forward ever since. Life suddenly came into existence at around 3:45 am on Day Three. Humans pop into existence at 11:59 and 59 seconds pm as Day Three winds down. We have gained our current, complex, scientific understanding of reality in just our last few moments. The sun has another 4.5 billion years left, and that's when it all goes dark for poor Earth, at the end of Day Four. It's the end of "life as we know it." Sounds bleak, right?

But it may not be the end for humanity, for we have recently gained the self-awareness and the cooperative culture required to transcend our self-destructive human behaviors. And we have harnessed the technology to escape our imprisonment by the gravity of earth. We may soon be able to transcend the great distances of our solar system, our galaxy and our universe. On the one hand, we are just a form of life, one of many, easily understood, a humble product of this earth. Yet, on the other hand, we may soon be able to choose, if we want, to live peacefully enough, and travel far enough, to create for ourselves, another day. If we can make it through the last few moments of Day Three, then we can look forward to nice long Day Four, and if we can prosper, then we can choose to live forever. More days, more years, it never has to end. (or does it?)

Stunning. Yet, why do so many find this so boring? Or so tedious (biology class)? Or wrong (creationists)? I have no right to complain; I have doubts, it gets too complicated, and it sometimes does get quite boring hearing the same old trite questions which I thought were so meaningful and important in my first year of college: What was before Day One? How did Life begin? Is Life only on earth? Where is ET's home? How many angels can fit on the head of a pin?Give me a break. Same old stuff; never any answers. In the long run, I'm dead, we are all dead. So what's the point?

Well, I got my bio-mojo back: I found some new questions. I've been thinking big too much. I've always been an earthling but I keep looking up to the stars. I need to look back down to the ground more often. Gotta have some balance. Sure, let's search the skys, read the past and predict our future with all of our sophisticated tools. But let's not forget to look for some answers right here at home. From the sub-headline of the article lies the invigorating question:

Aliens Among Us
Do we share Earth with alternative life forms?

We've been looking all over the universe for signs of life. Turns out that we should be looking for "alternative life" right here on our strange and beautiful planet, our home, our Earth. Do we have company right here, under our noses, in our own house? Do these aliens, perhaps, live in our own bodies? That's an interesting article.

But back to the broad question: What is "life as we know it"? Let's approach the question with some balance - we should not only study what it is and where it is, but what and where it could be. Why? Because as humans, by god, we are our own brand new category. We have gained a power that no other life form has. It doesn't matter so much how we came to be or who or what gave us this power. What is undeniable is that we now have influence on life itself in a way no other life can. Just when we discovered our past reality and how it works, we find that we can now actually create a future reality, based on the past and built on our dreams. We can imagine it and then we can make it.

While we have long held strong beliefs and upheld lasting traditions that tend to attribute the whole of our past and, in many cases, our eternal future, to the course pre-determined by our Creator, this thinking is not scientific. I can't say that it's wrong, I can only assert that it sometimes gets in the way of a more useful reality. There are always going to be unexplainable stirrings in our souls, an aching in our gut, and a grace in our hearts. Seems good to me. There are always gaps in our scientific knowledge, but those are all different issues. Most people believe in a Creater, and when they become educated they sometimes end up struggling to trust in the state of our scientific knowledge. Or they struggle to trust in the very faith-beliefs they have always held. Sunday school and biology class don't always get along. Uh oh. Cognitive dissonance. Debates. Emotions. Wars. The madness. Whatever - the conflict is futile. The struggle is wasting energy and distracting us. Believe, or don't believe. What is important is how the sum of our beliefs informs how we behave from here on out. All the real action is in the future. And the important thing, to me, is that we have become a Creator, one I believe in. It's an intellectual faith. It doesn't have to be in conflict with other beliefs. But it must coexist with them.

An intellectual faith is honest and informed. It learns. It is a faith that is moral and optimistic, because those are human characteristics. It is striving to gain more knowledge and to be more useful. It is the same faith in ourselves and in our ability to improve that our ancestors had. And it is a faith that recognizes a long-term responsibility in our actions. It finds a mature way to reconcile our collective intellect with our feelings and traditions. We are Creators, and we are creating now, shaping our current reality, in good ways and bad. We are on a course that we created. And we've only just begun (where have I heard that?) Day Three is ending. Day Four is dawning. What will come next for us? It's all up to us. This is all good, clean fun. We may as well engage and figure it out together.

What is "life as we know it?" What do we want it to be? Where do we want it to be? What choices can we make or should we make to start life on places other than earth? So far, we are only three days in to this whole wonderful experience. Shouldn't we make plans to stay around for a few weeks at least?

Days like these make me want to go back to college.

Good Emptiness

We should embrace the fact that so many things remain mysterious to humanity. The answers to some beautiful questions, from the perspective of humans, remain unknown. For some books, the pages are empty. I love the good emptiness.

Some understandings about our existence are, for now anyway, unknowable. Yet in the last several hundred years, humanity's knowledge and technology have exploded. What we know and what we don't know coexist smoothly within a reality that I adore. I am overjoyed by the amazing and mysterious fact that I am aware of the incredible luck I had to be born, and to be alive as a thread of an intricate tapestry of life and matter and energy that has been selectively woven over the last 14 billion years by natural processes that we largely understand, while simultaneously exposing and highlighting those things that remain a mystery to us.

I have labored with love to learn those beautiful mechanisms of our existence. And I love to struggle with the unanswerable questions. It can be fun to fantasize, but I don't need fictional explanations or patronizing answers to embrace me in a warm blanket of assurance and false understanding. I love my struggle with the mysteries. I am not afraid of the unknown. I will always embrace the good emptiness.

What is bad? It is the bad emptiness of substituting false beliefs for knowable understanding.

Here is a real problem for which I have no answer and no one can teach me the answer:

I am alive. I will die. I do not know the time of my death. What should I do?

I have to search for my own answer. I have to find a way to live. I will always learn. I will always love. I will never forget that I am human. But I still do not know the answer to my problem. Neither do you. Don't pretend you do.

I love the good emptiness because I love being alive and I love learning. The mystery is why.

Circle of Life?

I had a debate last night about the best framework for viewing the whole of our lives.

A friend said that life is comprised of cycles, of patterns that repeat. He sees it all as circular.

I disagreed. I see life as an arc, or as an arrow flying forward through time, with a tragectory whose course can be and is altered by events both within and outside of our control.

I should use my Sharpie to draw a series of concentric circles on his forehead to serve as a target for my archery practice. Unless I miss, I would win the argument.