“…an extraordinary day for civil liberties and our country”

Anthony D. Romero, Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union, wrote the above email yesterday in regard to four actions taken by President Obama on Thursday:

With four executive orders today, our new President:

• Ordered Guantánamo Bay shut down
• Banned torture
• Ordered a full review of U.S. detention policies and procedures, and
• Delayed the trial of Ali al-Marri, an ACLU client whose case is at the center of the Supreme Court’s review of indefinite detention policies. 

Personally, I had hoped that President Obama would take swift action to bring back into balance the civil liberties and human rights trampled on by the Bush administration over the past eight years. I did not, however, think that he would act so swiftly and directly!

As a “card carrying member” of the ACLU—a “Pinko” or even a “Commie” to some of my right-wing acquaintances—the chipping away at the civil and human rights so zealously guarded by those who wrote the Constitution of the United States by the previous administration has struck me as if I was being philosophically and emotionally scourged with a fascist cat-o-nine-tails.

There were times since the passing of The Patriot Act that I felt that I was living in Germany of 1935 when the Nürnberger Gesetze were passed. As I began to understand the significance and injustice of The Patriot Act as well as numerous Presidental Executive Orders, I began to speculate on the impending termination of justice, freedom, and liberty in the United States.  I perceived myself to be more than helpless as I remembered the words of German theologian and pastor, Martin Niemöller:

In Germany they came first for the Communists and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist. Then they came for the Jews and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew Then they came for the trade unionists and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me — and by that time, there was no one left to speak up.

When I received yesterday’s email from Anthony D. Romero, I suddenly felt a great weight being lifted from me. A balm of healing has been placed on my own wounds and those suffered by our nation and the Constitution caused by that imaginary fascist cat-o-nine-tails. Freedom and justice are returning to the United States of America!

So I responded to Mr. Romero’s suggestion that we thank President Obama for his swift and just actions. I joined numerous others in signing the following and emailing to our new President:

Thank you for taking decisive action on civil liberties—issuing four executive orders to close Guantánamo, end the military commissions, ban torture and delay the al-Marri trial. I am proud that in your first 48 hours in office you are beginning to free America from the civil liberties outrages and human rights abuses of the Bush era. I promise you my support as you continue to take actions to renew American justice and look forward to your next steps towards ending this national shame and restoring America's moral leadership in the world.

You, too, may join in the thank you to President Obama by clicking HERE.

Please Note: You do not have to be a citizen of the United States to join in the Thank You to President Obama. His actions impact more than us Americans!

 

We must remember that any oppression, any injustice, any hatred, is a wedge designed to attack our civilization. ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945), 32^nd President of the United States of America  

If I had a Hammer ~ Pete Seeger 

Are YOU on the List?

John Anderson of Minneapolis, [now 7] was first stopped at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport in 2004, when his family took him for his first airplane ride to Disney World. "We checked in at the ticket counter, and the woman said in a stern voice, 'Who is John Anderson?' " says his mother, Christine Anderson. "I pointed to my stroller."

Her son is allowed to fly. But because his name is flagged, his family cannot print out a boarding pass for him online and he must check in at the ticket counter so an airline official can see that he's a child. (U.S.A. Today)

This stuff frightens me. The Department of Homeland Security has become as dangerous to American citizens as the Gestapo was to the people in Europe during the Nazi years. Did you know that it took an Act of Congress to get Nelson Mandela, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, off the list? Or that Senator Edward Kennedy remains on the list, as do Evo Morales, president of Bolivia, and James Moore, author of Bush's Brain, a book critical of the Bush administration?

Do you want to know more about the how this list affects you and your privacy and security? Click over here and take the short quiz—and pay attention to the True answers!

Hmmmmm… I wonder if I am on the list—of course, after this post, I probably will be!

ADDENDUM—Just Received from The Washington Post:

U.S. May Ease Police Spy Rules

The Justice Department has proposed a new domestic spying measure that would make it easier for state and local police to collect intelligence about Americans, share the sensitive data with federal agencies and retain it for at least 10 years…

Read the entire story HERE.

Tomorrow is the six-year anniversary of the first arrival of prisoners at Guantánamo Bay.

Now that I am beginning to adjust to being a lunger needing oxygen, I need to get on with other, more important stuff. I apologize for not posting this sooner. I've been involved with the Close Guantánamo Campaign for over a month, but neglected to share it with you until today.

As I’ve written before, I’ve been a pinko, card carrying member of the American Civil Liberties Union for more than half my life. On January 11^th, we of the ACLU are calling on everyone opposed to torture and indefinite detention to WEAR ORANGE to symbolize their sadness and disgust with the national shame that is Guantánamo Bay:

January 11, 2008 will mark six years since the first 20 prisoners arrived at Guantánamo Bay Cuba. Since then, 775 prisoners have passed through the gates and no trials have been completed.

As a symbol of freedom and democracy throughout the world, the United States must hold itself to our own high standards. When we resort to the use of torture, abuse, and indefinite detention we lower ourselves to the level of our enemies and defy the basic values that we hold dear. Guantánamo Bay has tarnished the reputation of the United States and makes a mockery of our core values. Six years on, it is time to call once and for all for the United States to CLOSE GUANTÁNAMO!

Stand with us on January 11th and let’s prove that those who would advocate for a lower standard are on the wrong side of the law... the wrong side of core American values... and the wrong side of history. Join me in signing the petition to Close Guantánamo and stand strong in support of justice.