Helmintholog

According to the Washington Post the proposal has been dropped, and replaced by one which would allow suspects to be detained indefinitely, without trial, at the whim of the immigration authorities.

According to the official site the amendment passed on a voice vote. So all of the screaming was worth it. The cockroaches scuttled when the light was turned on.

Where have we reached, where this is a victory? Is there any Republican in congress today who could, with a straight face, read out these sentences? We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men” The italics are mine.

I can’t resist adding one marvellous amendment which was accepted: “An amendment numbered five printed in House Report 108-751 to establish a ‘zero tolerance’ policy towards the unlawful importation, possession, or transfer of shoulder fired guided missiles (MANPADS), atomic weapons, dirty bombs, and variola (smallpox) virus by making their unauthorized possession a federal crime carrying stiff mandatory penalties.”

I know the gun control laws are a little lax, but was it really legal up till now for private citizens to possess atomic weapons?

The torture bill referred to in yesterday’s post is still going to congress. One of the Presiden’t lawyers, Alberto Gonzalez, wrote to the Washington Post denying that Bush wanted torture legaised:

The president did not propose and does not support this provision. He has made clear that the United States stands against and will not tolerate torture and that the United States remains committed to complying with its obligations under the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Consistent with that treaty, the United States does not expel, return or extradite individuals to countries where the United States believes it is likely that they will be tortured.

In case you are tempted to believe a word of this disclaimer, remember at Mr Gonzalez has previous form. On Jan 25, 2002, he advised Bush, contra Colin Powell, that the Taliban and Al-Qaeda prisoners were not subject to the procetions of the Geneva Conventions — ie that they might be tortured. “In my judgement”, he then wrote, “the new paradigm” (love that paradigm) “renders obsolete Geneva’s strict limitations on the questioning of enemy prisoners, and renders quaint some of its provisions.”

Perhaps the most sinister aspect of the whole story is the reports that leading Democrats believe these clauses were inserted as something they could not vote against without appearing “soft on terror”. This would mean that the Republicans believe that torture wins votes.

I don’t normally do this, and perhaps I should, but here’s the week’s wormesye. It matters.

I am reading Emmanuel Todd’s After the Empire, which talks about the increasing fragility of the American hegemony. This isn’t entirely new territory — think of Paul Kennedy — but it’s covered with elegance, insight, and a clear grasp of demographics and economy. As a further advantage, Todd is a philo-American and conscious that the American hegemony was almost entirely beneficial for the world for many decades.

Continue reading →

Martin Kozloff is a Professor of Education at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington; amongst other things, he teaches a course in Classroom management for the mildly handicapped. How would he teach, I wonder, a student who got up in class and announced

One day soon, our planes and missiles will begin turning your mosques, your madrasses, your hotels, your government offices, your hideouts, and your neighborhoods into rubble.

And then our soldiers will enter your cities and begin the work of killing you, roaches, as you crawl from the debris.

As cowards, you will have your hands in the air and you will get on your knees begging for mercy. And we will instead give you justice. Your actions and your words long ago placed you far from any considerations of mercy. You are not men.

And if you come to this country and harm a child, shoot a mother, hijack a bus, or bomb a mall, we will do what we did in 1775. Millions of us will form militias.

We will burn your mosques.

We will invade the offices of pro-arab-muslim organizations, destroy them, and drag their officers outside.

We will tell the chancellors of universities either to muzzle or remove anti American professors, whose hatred for their own country we have tolerated only
because we place a higher value on freedom of speech. But we will no longer tolerate treason. We will muzzle and remove them.

We will transport arab-muslims to our deserts, where they can pray to scorpions under the blazing sun.

Professor Kolzoff could only blush prettily and wipe the spittle moisture from his cheeks, because he is the author. The whole rant is listed on his website under “Recent Papers” with a note saying “Warning. Provocative language. I do NOT advocate violence against any persons or groups.” So that’s all right then.