The story of the week, I think, is the standoff between the
guy who thinks he’s the president and some powerful members of
his own political party in the US Senate about what to do with
the prisoners the US is holding in the cause of fighting
terrorism. I say, "I think," because the mainstream
media I monitor have fragmented this story to the point of
confusion, so allow me to try pulling it together.
After years of collecting more than 14,000 prisoners,
sometimes randomly and often secretly, for interrogation about
terrorist activities, holding them indefinitely without any
formal charges and without access to legal counsel, amid
accusations of torture, the Bush gang formally asked Congress to
approve these activities, retroactively and in the future. A
group of Senate Republicans is publicly defying Bush, and that
group includes some heavy hitters. Bush, Cheney and the CIA
director all have been to Capitol Hill in the past few days in
support of using pain, which they insist isn’t
"torture," to get prisoners to talk, and putting them
on trial in secret military tribunals without telling them about
the evidence being used against them. The Senate Armed Services
Committee voted instead for an alternative proposed by Senator
John McCain.
The language on both sides of this vote seems a little vague,
but I think it’s accurate to say that the White House wants a
bill saying that what they’re already doing satisfies the
terms of the Geneva Convention on the conduct of war and the
treatment of prisoners, while McCain’s bill restates the
commitment already made by the US to abide by the Geneva
Convention. In other words, a commitment to honor a treaty to
which the US already is committed is unacceptable to the White
House, but at the same time, the White House wants a bill which
says the US is honoring that treaty. I hope you find that
confusing, because if you don’t, you’re certainly confused.
Well hidden by the press has been one aspect of the bill the
White House is promoting which would let everyone in the current
administration–the CIA, the president, and everyone who works
for him–off the hook for any crimes they’ve committed up to
now in holding and interrogating all these prisoners. They
claim, of course, that everything they’ve done is legal, but
just in case, they want Congress to immunize them from
prosecution.
The latest news is that the Bush gang is backpedaling. They’re
trying to defuse the opposition by eliminating language about
whether the US is complying with the Geneva Convention. That
might work to secure an agreement with Republicans in the
Senate, but it won’t likely improve the standing of the US in
the global community.
The political implications would be more fun if this were a
president trying to get reelected, but all the people calling
themselves Republicans and running for public office later this
year have to be rolling their eyes right now. They’re all
trying to say they support their president while the most
powerful Republicans in the Senate are saying they don’t. Not
that the Democrats are doing anything to take advantage of the
situation, but despite their obvious political ineptitude, the
Donkeys could back into control of Congress for the next couple
of years, and that would tend to slow the Bush gang down a
little, even though they can’t be stopped.
The other part of this story is that McCain is improving the
value of his stock as the Republican candidate for president in
‘08. I’m starting to have visions of McCain vs. Clinton for
president, and it’s not a pretty sight.
* * *
Speaking of Democrats walking backwards toward success, Phil
Angelides picked up the financial support of a big coalition of
public employees unions in his campaign for governor. Public
employees don’t actually pull much ideological weight with the
majority of voters, but they have a fat bank account which could
make Angelides a lot more visible on television, which is said
to be the only way to get elected in California. Arnold
apparently is popular for reasons which escape me. He has plenty
of money to spend of course, but the conventional wisdom holds
that a boring candidate like Angelides could beat the movie star
if he just had enough money. I’d like to see that theory
tested.
* * *
The Bushwhacker’s political pull may be low in Washington
at the moment, but here in our own congressional district, it
looks pretty solid. Our congressman, John Do Little, has Dubya
lined up for a personal appearance on his behalf October 3rd,
at the El Dorado Hills Country Club. Republican candidates all
over the country are keeping Bush at arm’s length, but
Doolittle apparently has no fear. He’s keeping Abramoff’s
money and he’s keeping Bush right at his side.
* * *
Despite the best efforts by the creators of Popeye, everyone
still knows kids hate spinach. I know why. It’s because, when
we were kids, we were told that spinach was that revolting green
stuff that came out of cans. Some of us overcame that
indoctrination and discovered those fresh, dark green leaves
which characterize all those delicious things called florentine.
But the spinach haters now have arisen in righteous indignation.
Someone in a laboratory traced a bacterial infection to some
spinach somewhere that was sealed in plastic, and within days,
all the spinach in this part of the world is being plowed under.
I’m just as opposed to E-coli bacteria as the next guy, but
let’s not be hysterical about it. I suspect that the growers
of Swiss chard and bok choy are behind this whole thing.
