Violence is a method of choice by Republican extreme Right Wing elements. What should be done to minimize this type of violence?

I have been watching and listening to some news stories showing some real crazy points of view. The nut jobs views are expressed by people like Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly and even some comments from our former Vice President, Dick Cheney. These crazy views include some who believe President Obama was not born in the United States but in Kenya or some other place. This was the view of the killer, James Von Brunn, who killed the guard, Stephen T. Johns, at the entrance of the Holocaust Museum. We have seen Right Wing extremists front and center during the 2008 Presidential campaign, if you remember. And if you don't let me refresh your memory.

According to news reports back on October 10, 2008 one supporter of Sen. John McCain claimed candidate Barack Obama was a Muslim and an Arab. Senator McCain corrected the woman and said Obama was not a Muslim, nor Arab, and was a "decent person." “Come on, John!” one audience member yelled out as the Republican crowd expressed dismay at their nominee for trying to minimize the emotions of supporters. Others yelled "liar," and "terrorist," referring to Obama. Fearing the raw and, at times, angry emotions of his supporters, may damage his campaign, John McCain urged them to tone down their increasingly personal denunciations of Barack Obama. "I have to tell you. Sen. Obama is a decent person and a person you don’t have to be scared of as president of the United States," McCain told a supporter at a town hall meeting in Minnesota who said he was “scared” of the prospect of an Obama presidency and of who the Democrat would appoint to the Supreme Court.

If you remember earlier, there were threats to then candidate Barack Obama after he announced he was running for President and then the Secret Service had to increase their security of the candidate during the Democratic Primary process. My point of raising all this is that it is the very Right Wing of the Republican Party, which is supportive of the NRA, which promotes gun ownership over everything else, and has done more to facilitate violence in American society than any other organization of the past 40 years. Yes, this group took away many of the other Constitutional rights of Americans by endorsing Wire Tapping of Americans, deceiving the Country about Iraq and Weapons of Mass Destruction and the build up of the war and authorizing the use of torture. Democrats who were appalled by the actions of President Bush and Vice President Cheney never did any acts of murder based upon ideology. It is clear that the Republican Party has lost control of its more radical members and their language does not try and stop it and they need to denounce the extreme rhetoric, as well as that of Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly of Fox and others. Then President Bush and Vice president Cheney did all they can to scare the heck out of every citizen just before going into Iraq and then continuing it throughout their term in office. As Bill Maher said last night, "They tried to scare us all of the Boogey man and it worked.

It was never Democrats and Independents turning violent these past 8 years of the Bush/Cheney Administration. They had plenty to be violent about as their Constitutional rights were trashed by Bush and Cheney. But they didn't. They obeyed the laws most of the times and only did peaceful Civil disobedience and protests. It says something about Independents and Democrats and yes it says something about the gun loving Republican extreme Right Wing nut jobs as well.

So to answer the question posed in the title, "What should be done to minimize this violence?" Well just maybe we should have their worse fears come true. Maybe we should take away their guns by a more contemporary interpretation of what the Second Amendment really means. We don't have a well regulated militia today, other than the National Guard. so I don't mind them having arms, but that's it! But that is going to take some new Supreme Court Justices. I don't know much about Judge Sonia Sotomayor. I hope she is as good as the press is on her. Besides, the Bush Administration, and especially Dick Cheney, had no problem suspending parts of the Constitution they didn't like, such as Habeas Corpus, Privacy (approved wire tapping of U.S. Citizens without approval of the FISA Court) and other parts which support our treaties and things like the Geneva Convention. They redefined what torture is, to suit their ideology and their cause, when it suited them. It suits me just fine to have a legal view by the Obama Administration General Counsel, which says that common citizens do not have the right to bear arms, unless they are in the National Guard or other Police or Military jobs requiring it. The government could outlaw assault rifles like the AK-47 and go as far as they like to protect us. How's that Extreme Right Wing nut jobs!?

Been waiting 8 very long years for today! VOTE!

This day hasn't come soon enough for me. Have you ever waited 8 years for anything, let alone replacing a President? These past 8 years have been an exhaustive and often demoralizing period of time in my life. In this country I love so much, I thought I would never see a President choose a war that was really an unnecessary misadventure, over a diplomatic solution. The costs alone were staggering and will be paid off in my children’s lifetime. That doesn't even come close to the cost to the families who lost a loved one unnecessarily or had a family member maimed for life.

Then there was the arrogance our President showed to everyone here and abroad. He didn’t need the world to support our invasion of Iraq basically alone. I am so tired of a cocky President and Vice President. Self-confidence is one thing, but arrogance is totally intolerable, especially for a President or Vice President.

The last straw for me was when President Bush and his inner circle decided on their own to redefine torture in such a way that they were then justified to do what they wanted to do with those in the grasp of their clutches. Sure we had some really bad, nasty guys. But we as a Country swore an oath to uphold the Geneva Convention, not because it was trying to appease others but rather it was agreed to, to help protect our troops if caught by an enemy, should they be captured. I was so angry when McCain, who was tortured, caved under pressure from President Bush and Vice President Cheney and went along with them and dropped his objection to legislation, which would provide cover to the both of them.

Yes, I have been waiting for a very long time to be able to listen to the TV and the words of a President I could once again respect, instead of muting the sound when they spoke. I have been waiting to hear words of honesty where I could once again believe what they said. I have been waiting a very long time to break the secretive nature of this Vice President and President and once again to obey and respect the Constitution, rather than looking for ways to go around it or suspend some of its protections for our rights hard fought.

Yes, it’s time for a change all right. The excesses of the past 8 –20 years have caused our economy and stock market to crash. Yes the Middle Class will be hurt a lot by more unemployment. But we will get through this and be a better people. We will watch over the weakest among us. We will provide charity to the needy as individuals because we know we are all in the same boat and those who have been blessed will step up to the plate. It’s a new day. It’s your new day if you choose it. Vote, as the well being of you, your family and your country need you to vote. This election is the most important election since the 1930's.

I know we will still have 2 1/2 months before the actual change of President and Vice President takes place on January 21st. But I have waited for 8 very long years, I can wait 2 1/2 more months, but today we take the first giant step.

There was one good thing that these past 8 years have initiated for me. It started me blogging as I was so frustrated I needed a way to release my feelings. Blogging helped me do that and find a new joy: writing!

Deja Vu all over again

I started Blogging back in May of 2005. The reason was that I was deeply concerned over the direction this country was taking and was being promoted by the Bush Administration. Today, a new story was reported by the NY Times. Here is their quote: "Red Cross investigators concluded last year in a secret report that the Central Intelligence Agency’s interrogation methods for high-level Qaeda prisoners constituted torture and could make the Bush administration officials who approved them guilty of war crimes, according to a new book on counterterrorism efforts since 2001."

The story is important to read so please click on this link and read it before you read any additional comments.

Back when I started Blogging in 2005, one of my first Blogs seemed appropriate to repost here today, given I was concerned then about violations to the Geneva Convention. If I, a person of average intelligence could deduce then, something was drastically wrong with our government, as so many others concluded, how did we slip into so much compliance and allow this degradation of our country to take place? Why weren't there protesters in the streets, as there had been in prior years? Why have the American people gone so silent and labeled someone like Dennis Kucinich "a kook," when he has shown more backbone than most of Congress and all the Senate? Here is what I wrote back in 2005:

May 2005. Where are all the street protesters?

As we approach June 4th , the anniversary of Tiananmen Square, and I reflect on our own history of student protests, it got me to wonder where are today's student protesters, as certainly there are many disturbing trends in America today, threatening the very fabric of our democracy as we search for bipartisanship in Congress and a more humble America in our rhetoric abroad and at home. But we still seem very arrogant as a nation with little understanding of the very cultures we are trying to change. I am not talking about Iraq here. I am talking about the "Divided" States of America, that's right, the good ole D.S.A., one nation, (partly) under God, very divisible, with liberty (until we can change those Senate Rules), and justice for (a few).

There was once a time of idealism, of standing up and being taken seriously by society, a conscience for all of us. This was the time of Student protests. Students protested the Vietnam war, the May 4th, 1970 Kent State shootings, Tiananmen Square and support for democracy in China, the outrage at the Chinese Government’s reaction to the protests and some recent protests of the Iraq war in selective cities.

As a nation, we have a lot to be angry about with our government. First there was the misleading “intelligence” of the lead up to the Iraq invasion and then the letters of former White House General Counsel and current Attorney General, Roberto Gonzales, regarding new interpretations of what is and what is not torture. Then the pronouncements by our President that certain prisoners would not necessarily be treated in a manner consistent with the Geneva Convention. Add to this more recent assertion about additional abuse in Guantanamo and the shameless deceit to get recruits on High School campuses to enlist, and you wonder what it takes to get Student protesters engaged again. There have been some protests of the Iraq war but they fade away quickly. What captures the focus and attention of the bulk of our students today? Could it be survival, as the job market still looks bleak? Or is it just apathy? What do you think? I don’t think they care much about what the Senate is proposing in its Nuclear Option to end the filibuster and allow judicial nominations through who by the minority see as extreme in their views. Stay tuned."

Headline reads: Officials warned about harsh interrogation

According to this news story, "Military psychologists were enlisted to help develop more aggressive interrogation methods, including snarling dogs, forced nudity and long periods of standing, against terrorism suspects.

Before they were approved by then-Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, such harsh techniques had drawn warnings from military lawyers that they could be illegal, an investigation by the Senate Armed Services Committee has found. Officials familiar with the findings discussed them on condition of anonymity because the information has not been formally released.

The psychologists who helped interrogate terror suspects for the CIA were set to testify Tuesday before the Senate committee, which was expected to release details of the investigation.

The hearing is the committee's first look at the origins of the harsher methods used in Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba and Abu Ghraib in Iraq and how policy decisions on interrogations were vetted across the Defense Department. Its review fits into a broader picture of the government's handling of detainees, which includes FBI and CIA interrogations in secret prisons."

Of course they were warned by attorneys with a moral conscience that the techniques were most likely illegal. Their testimony will prove, once and for all, that the Bush Administration knew exactly what they wanted to do and approved these illegal and degrading techniques used, which, in my view, violate the Geneva Convention and our Constitution. They can and, most likely, will form the base for claims by the World Court in the Hague, to bring charges against Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld in later years. I can't wait for that day! The U.S. does not accept the jurisdiction of the Court over officials within the U.S. but it uses the Court to suit its purpose when other leaders of countries do things we don't approve of, as was the case against Chile's Augusto Pinochet.

We are going to need to decide at some future time whether the laws that pertain to others in the world apply to us as well. I think they should and I think if we believe in the rule of law, we need to get on board with the rest of the world as we are no better than anyone else. Will there be mistakes made by the World Court at times, YES. But there are mistakes made within our own country when it comes to applying the law fairly to its citizens. We too must join in the world institutions if we expect to gain support for positions we hold.

The latest McCain hypocrisy

As soon as Sen. John McCain heard from the White House that he was on the wrong side of the debate on the use of torture, McCain switched his position (and relegated his values) on the torture Bill back over 6 months ago. Now he embraces President Bush's veto of the recent version of the Bill, as if he had the same position all along. If you needed proof that this candidate would sell his soul to be President, look no farther. I was a supporter of John McCain when he stood on principle, but when now he endorses the use of water-boarding by the CIA and seems to distinguish that from the Army regulations prohibiting torture, he's distinction is only for the media as deep in his heart he knows that if water-boarding is torture, and he admits that, and that it violates the Geneva Convention, then when he says he is being guided by his values, he is on a slippery slope to hell. Where's the John McCain we all once admired?

Headline reads: Mukasey refuses to judge waterboarding

With the Judiciary Chairman's patience running out, Sen. Patrick Leahy, (D) of Vt., can't believe that Attorney General Michael Mukasey's refused to define waterboarding as torture. He has infuriated Democrats on the Committee and he surely will face a hostile Committee today, when they question him in detail regarding his latest response.

The reason he will not render a simple legal opinion is because if he rules that it is torture, it puts not only the CIA officials in legal jeopardy, but also it would raise the possibility that both President Bush, VP Cheney, Rumsfeld and former CIA head George Tenet have condoned and defied our rule of law and the Geneva Convention. However, this is the truth of what they have condoned and there should be consequences if we are a nation of laws.

They claim it is justified but in truth, don't all those that torture justify it for one reason or another. The purpose of the Geneva Convention was to hold to account all signatories of the Treaty in a common understanding of what was right and what was wrong. If the Administration under President Bush and VP Cheney believe they were correct in the use of this technique to gain vital information to protect our nation against more terrorist attacks, they should be willing to go before the American people and let the legal battle play out here and if necessary, in the World Court. Otherwise we mock our Constitution and they mock the oath they swore to on their own personal Bibles. I ask these self proclaimed Christians, what would Jesus do? I believe you all have violated your own beliefs and values as a Christian.

To read the main news article for this post click here.

Mike McConnell, National Intelligence Director, take a bow!

Finally, one of the most senior people in the Bush Administration has had the courage to stand up and declare that "water boarding" is torture. The timing is terrific with President Bush in the Middle East. McConnell is quoted in an article today by the New Yorker magazine. Finally, there is someone within the Administration with some backbone. McConnell wouldn't classify whether the technique categorically should be considered torture but is quoted as saying, "If I had water draining down my nose, oh God, I just can't imagine how painful! Whether it's torture by anybody else's definition, for me it would be torture."

Mike McConnell, for anybody, it would be considered torture, and that is the absurdity of the dialogue surrounding this issue. You say the reason you wouldn't categorically define it as torture is for "legal reasons". Yes, we know what the legal concerns are. If it were categorically defined as torture both of your bosses, President Bush and Vice President Cheney, could be brought up to the World Court and would stand trial for War Crimes. Yes, we understand why you might be reluctant to define it for "legal reasons" as torture, but we all know the game that is being played here. It most certainly IS a violation of the Geneva Convention and defines one of the saddest moments in ther 200 years of our history.

We need to consider to elect a President who would be willing to turn over those 2 pretend leaders of our, country to a World Court, which would judge any other leader equally guilty of what these men have promoted and authorized in the name of protecting us. We can not, as a nation, be above the rule of law of the world and expect to be seen as fair and just as a society and of the stature we all want to have back as a nation. We want to be, once again, proud of who we are, in this experiment called “democracy,” which is still in its infancy. As much as I am ashamed of it, we as a country of citizens are not mature enough or conscious enough to be citizens of the world. Heck, many of us aren't even conscious enough to be citizens of this country in the spirit of its legacy. The Founding Fathers were so amazingly conscious of the implications of what they embarked upon. They are now turning in their graves, as to what we have allowed President Bush, Vice President Cheney and former Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, to get away with in regards to not upholding the Constitution and the Treaties we have signed in good faith with most of the world.

Do you, as a person reading this post, have the courage and consciousness as a citizen, to ever consider turning over any of our leaders, who may have violated laws of the world, to a World Court? If not, when would you, and under what conditions would you? You see, we demand that every other country in the world comply with our wishes and turn over their leaders to the World Court, when offenses against humanity occur. Torture is an offense against humanity and if you think “water boarding” isn’t, maybe you should try it out on yourself. McConnell has thought about it and I say Bravo!

CIA destroys video tapes of torture- An Adminstration that has abandoned the laws of the land in a shameless way

Headline story: "The CIA destroyed videotapes it made in 2002 of two top terror suspects because it was afraid that keeping them "posed a security risk," Director Michael Hayden has told agency employees.

Hayden's revelation to the CIA employees became public Thursday and it caused a commotion on Capitol Hill where members of the Senate Intelligence Committee immediately vowed to conduct a thorough review. A leading human rights group voiced alarm about it.

In his message to agency workers, Hayden said that House and Senate intelligence committee leaders had been informed of the existence of the tapes and the CIA's intention to destroy them to protect the identities of the questioners. He also said the CIA's internal watchdog watched the tapes in 2003 and verified that the interrogation practices were legal. Hayden said the tapes were destroyed three years after the 2002 interrogations." (To read the entire story by Pamela Hess, AP Writer click here.

Come on folks, they destroyed the tapes because they knew it would reveal violations of our laws AND the Geneva Convention! The real criminals here are their bosses all the way up to VP Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, President Bush and Alberto Gonzales. If our lawmakers had any courage and principles they would start Impeachment proceedings immediately and after they are found guilty the whole bunch should then be turned over to the World Court and stand trial there as well.

It is apparent to me these so called leaders, are traitors to our Constitution and our beloved country and have done more to destroy America and our way of life than anything Bin Laden and Al Qaeda could have accomplished on their own. Wake up America! While you are sleeping, you are losing your freedom, but maybe it doesn't matter to you?

The use of torture: Will the tables be turned on President Bush?

In light of the recent Justice Dept. memos that have been leaked to the NY Times regarding fostering the use of torture by this Administration, we have indeed reached a new low for this already low Bush Administration. I reference here today's post for some background at Kikos House in a Blog post titled, "Sic Semper Tyrannis: The Blackest of the Bush Administration's Black Marks"

Just a little more than a year ago I wrote a Blog post titled, "United States Coup d'etat", as I was then outraged at the lack of courage of some principled Republican U.S. Senators who should have known better that this President and this Vice President were never to be trusted to keep their word about the use of torture, and therefore, the Senators should have pursued the legislation they had offered to ban torture.

I have copied my original post below, as it is relevant today, though written on Sept. 22, 2006 There are additional comments to read below it, which brings the issue, and the irony of the moment regarding Presidential hopefull, Hillary Clinton, front and center:

United States Coup d'etat

In the cover of daylight, the United States democracy was overthrown today by a Coup d'etat during the fog of politics and presented to the masses in the language of obfuscation and using the images of compromise. Major news networks reported not a single casualty. Some news networks such as NBC Nightly News didn't even cover the Coup, opting for a story on Phone Books of the past in London.

There was not a single protest in the streets, as the limited reporting of the event coincided with the usual Friday night homecoming of working Americans, and the distraction of relaxing with a glass of wine after a hard week.

The only sounds heard were the whimpers and sobbing of generations past, from our Founding Fathers, Veterans of all wars, and those who have died defending our democracy and preserving our freedoms. It was a bloodless Coup as life carried on with hardly a notice or care.

Whether we have violated or are violating the Geneva Convention will now be determined not by Law, but by the personal decision of President Bush, thanks to Senators McCain (a real disappointment), Warner and Graham and a silent neutered Democratic Party.

Sept. 22, 2006 Will you remember where you were this day 10 years from now? I will."

That was the day they pulled their legislation Banning the Use of Torture because they believed the President, when he assured the Senators that there was a ban on the use of torture in keeping with U.S. Laws and the Treaties we had signed, i.e. The Geneva Convention. Now we learn it depends on how they defined the word "torture". It sounds so Clintonesq! We should turn over Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Gonzales to the World Court for trail of War Crimes. But we don't have the integrity as a nation to do so. Not yet.

President Bush in May 2002 , said "we reserve the right to ignore decisions and orders issued by the International Criminal Court" when President Clinton in 1998 signed the treaty creating the Court Tribunal responsible for prosecuting war crimes and "crimes against humanity" when national criminal justice systems are unwilling or unable to act, as is the case here in the United States, and yet we use the Court to judge others when it suits our fancy, like Slobodan Milosevic of Yugoslavia and Augusto Pinochet of Chile. It was a premediative move by President Bush, as it was done 6 months after the invasion of Afghanistan in Oct. 2001 and prior to the runup to the Iraq invasion of March 2003. As former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill said on 60 Minutes in 2004, that 8 months before Sept. 11th 2001 Bush was obsessed with a war with Iraq. And so one could reasonably conclude Bush's move to recind the decision by President Bill Clinton to sign the treaty, was an action item to check off in preparation for a war in which we were going to get the bad guys.

Won't it be ironic when Hillary Clinton becomes President and rescinds President Bush's letter to the UN so that it is possible to send to trial George W. Bush and his crowd to that Court. That indeed will be a good day for America. Maybe that's why Bush sent that letter to the UN in the first place. It could effectively be argued, by a Constitutional Lawyer, that continued abuse and disregard of our Constitution and the expansion of an Executive Presidency by this President and Vice President, reaches the standard of Treason. But that’s another dream I’ll expand upon another day.

You can act now by asking Hillary if she will rescind the letter that President Bush sent to the UN and reinstating her husbands signature and add her own as President, to that treaty. Contact Hillary Clinton or your local newspaper and ask her if she will act to restore America's standing in the world by rescinding Bush's UN letter.

Analysis of the President's Executive order on Torture

The Washington Post OP-ED piece on this topic was alarming to say the least. The article was written by two supporters of this President. They support his use of "warrantless wiretaps" and have on most actions in the war on terror. However, this time they say the President has gone too far! Can you believe it? Some familiar and supporting of the Presidents actions see Bush going to far in his latest Executive order on the use of "torture". When I heard about the order I thought and wrote that it was kind of late to put out this Executive Order as 5 years have passed in this war and it is like "closing the barn door after the horse has escaped." But you must read this OP-ED from the Washington Post of July 26, 2007 for yourself before I comment anymore. You can click here to read the full article.

Here's an excerpt:

This is not just about avoiding "torture." The article (Common Article 3 of the Geneva Convention) expressly prohibits "at any time and in any place whatsoever" any acts of "violence to life and person" or "outrages upon personal dignity, in particular, humiliating and degrading treatment."

Last Friday, the White House issued an executive order attempting to "interpret" Common Article 3 with respect to a controversial CIA interrogation program. The order declares that the CIA program "fully complies with the obligations of the United States under Common Article 3," provided that its interrogation techniques do not violate existing federal statutes (prohibiting such things as torture, mutilation or maiming) and do not constitute "willful and outrageous acts of personal abuse done for the purpose of humiliating or degrading the individual in a manner so serious that any reasonable person, considering the circumstances, would deem the acts to be beyond the bounds of human decency."

In other words, as long as the intent of the abuse is to gather intelligence or to prevent future attacks, and the abuse is not "done for the purpose of humiliating or degrading the individual" -- even if that is an inevitable consequence -- the president has given the CIA carte blanche to engage in "willful and outrageous acts of personal abuse."

You see my friends, it really is worse than you can imagine. And unless the Congress takes action to impeach this President and Vice President, we are sanctioning this behavior for future Presidents as a precedent. That is why the Congress, Rep. Conyers and others must have the courage to act, even if theirs is a lone voice.

Potential charges against U.S. for violations of the Geneva Convention

I begin this post with the words of Colin Powell given to President Bush when Powell was Secretary of State in the Bush Administration, "If you break it, you own it!" Indeed we have broken the State of Iraq. And in doing so, the Bush Administration, as well as our allies, did not give adequate consideration to Powell's much quoted words. Now this President and Vice President, representing our country in all our names, may not have paid sufficient attention to the Geneva Convention, as it pertains to the civilian population of Iraq during a conflict or war.

In the 1949 Geneva Convention, Part 2 titled, "GENERAL PROTECTION OF POPULATIONS AGAINST CERTAIN CONSEQUENCES OF WAR" Article 16 through Article 18 states the following:

"Article 16 The wounded and sick, as well as the infirm, and expectant mothers, shall be the object of particular protection and respect. As far as military considerations allow, each Party to the conflict shall facilitate the steps taken to search for the killed and wounded, to assist the shipwrecked and other persons exposed to grave danger, and to protect them against pillage and ill-treatment."

"Article 17 The Parties to the conflict shall endeavor to conclude local agreements for the removal from besieged or encircled areas, of wounded, sick, infirm, and aged persons, children and maternity cases, and for the passage of ministers of all religions, medical personnel and medical equipment on their way to such areas."

"Article 18 Civilian hospitals organized to give care to the wounded and sick, the infirm and maternity cases, may in no circumstances be the object of attack but shall at all times be respected and protected by the Parties to the conflict."

It is apparent now that the civilians are on their own and we have not actively engaged in their protection as required by the Geneva Convention. Yes, this is a different war with different rules. We have not been able to protect the Civilian population to this point. I don't know if there ultimately will be charges brought against President Bush or VP Cheney by Iraqi's or other people. But the cost of war keeps going up and the stakes have become even higher and our President has decided to increase the bet. Time will tell, as it usually does, but so far Bush has lost on every point of reason.

Where are the student protests today?

As we approach June 4th , the anniversary of Tiananmen Square, and I reflect on our own history of student protests, it got me to wonder where are today's student protesters, as certainly there are many disturbing trends in America today, threatening the very fabric of our democracy as we search for bipartisanship in Congress and a more humble America in our rhetoric abroad and at home. But we still seem very arrogant as a nation with little understanding of the very cultures we are trying to change. I am not talking about Iraq here. I am talking about the "Divided" States of America, that's right, the good ole D.S.A., one nation, (partly) under God, very divisible, with liberty (until we can change those Senate Rules), and justice for (a few).

There was once a time of idealism, of standing up and being taken seriously by society, a conscience for all of us. This was the time of Student protests. Students protested the Vietnam war, the May 4th, 1970 Kent State shootings, Tiananmen Square and support for democracy in China, the outrage at the Chinese Government’s reaction to the protests and some recent protests of the Iraq war in selective cities.

As a nation, we have a lot to be angry about with our government. First there was the misleading “intelligence” of the lead up to the Iraq invasion and then the letters of former White House General Counsel and current Attorney General, Roberto Gonzales, regarding new interpretations of what is and what is not torture. Then the pronouncements by our President that certain prisoners would not necessarily be treated in a manner consistent with the Geneva Convention. Add to this more recent assertion about additional abuse in Guantanamo and the shameless deceit to get recruits on High School campuses to enlist, and you wonder what it takes to get Student protesters engaged again. There have been some protests of the Iraq war but they fade away quickly. What captures the focus and attention of the bulk of our students today? Could it be survival, as the job market still looks bleak? Or is it just apathy? What do you think? I don’t think they care much about what the Senate is proposing in its Nuclear Option to end the filibuster and allow judicial nominations through who by the minority see as extreme in their views. Stay tuned.