The Spit of Warmongers

George W. Bush is the kind of guy who would climb your drainpipe, break your window, and sneak into your home to tell you how much respect he has for your privacy. He's concerned about his own privacy, of course; he recently told reporters that he never sends e-mail, because "I don't want you reading my personal stuff." But he wants to read your personal stuff. The Toronto Star recently reported that the administration "has set forth a new, more limited view of privacy rights" in an effort to force hospitals and clinics to hand the government 2,700 abortion patients' records. Federal law, according to the Justice Department, "does not recognize a physician-patient privilege." That's good to know. Remember never to be honest with your doctor again.

And this week, the Inter Press Service reports:

"Three influential civil rights groups charged Wednesday that border control tactics used by the Department of Homeland Security discriminate against U.S. citizens solely on the basis of their religion and ethnicity, in violation of the U.S. Constitution.

"In simultaneous news conferences...the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the New York Civil Liberties Union, and the American Civil Liberties Union announced that they were suing the head of the Department of Homeland Security over the practice of targeting U.S. citizens participating in religious conferences outside the United States.

"The lawsuit was filed in U.S. district court on behalf of five Muslim Americans who, along with dozens of others, were detained for six and a half hours, interrogated, fingerprinted, and photographed at the Canadian border crossing to Buffalo as they returned home from an annual Islamic conference in Toronto.

"'None of the plaintiffs had engaged in any unlawful conduct nor any other conduct that would justify the mistreatment to which they were subjected, but instead were subjected to this treatment solely because they had attended the conference,' court documents charged."

But wait a minute...I thought the Bush administration was committed to defending people of faith. I guess they were just talking about one faith in particular. Born-again Christians should have their religious beliefs written into the Constitution, but the freedoms traditionally guaranteed by that document apparently don't apply to Muslims.

But I'm speaking too soon. I see now that the Bush administration is actually supporting someone's right to privacy, and that someone happens to be a Muslim. In fact, it happens to be Osama bin Laden.

Through the Freedom of Information Act, Judicial Watch has obtained documents "in which the Federal Bureau of Investigation...has invoked privacy right protections on behalf of al Qaeda terror leader Osama bin Laden." In a declassified document dated 9/24/03, the FBI invoked on bin Laden's behalf a law "which permits the government to withhold all information about U.S. persons...when the disclosure of such information 'would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.'" Now, I don't know about you, but I had no idea that Osama bin Laden was a U.S. citizen. That must have come as a surprise to Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton, too. "It is dumbfounding," he said, "that the United States government has placed a higher priority on the supposed privacy rights of Osama bin Laden than the public's right to know what happened in the days following the September 11 terrorist attacks."

But it's been obvious for years that the Bush administration doesn't want us to know what happened before, during, or after the attacks. Bush protects bin Laden more diligently than he protects Tom DeLay. And why shouldn't he? It's not in Bush's political or financial interest to bring bin Laden to justice, just as it was not in his political or financial interest to prevent the attacks. I knew Bush and bin Laden were in bed together, but I didn't know they'd already made it to the morning cuddle and breakfast. Even as Bush denies American citizens their rights, he grants those very rights to the religious fanatic who murdered nearly 3,000 New Yorkers.

There is one tiny bit of comfort to be found in Osama bin Laden's success as an international terrorist: At least we know the CIA has an effective training program. Because really, terrorists are about the only people left who can honestly see America as a land of golden opportunity. The streets are paved with bullets. You can walk into a store and buy a weapon, which is used for hunting. Airplanes.

Only six states -- Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oregon, South Carolina and Virginia -- have thus far participated in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's new "national violent-death reporting system." All six show a 10% increase in murders since 2000, and a 5% increase in suicides. "Some sociologists," Reuters explains, "have tied rising murder and suicide rates to changes in the economy as well as a greater availability of...guns."

Yes, I think that may have something to do with it. But why? Why are Americans so violent? Why do so many people in our country consider murder an appropriate way to address their problems?

Well -- yesterday, the Senate voted to grant the Bush administration another $81 billion for the military. With this bill's passage, more than $300 billion will have been spent on Bush's imperial bloodlust. As usual, the vast majority of the money -- $75 billion -- will go to the Pentagon, as opposed to Homeland Security or veterans' benefits. And these "emergency funds" are in addition to the Pentagon's annual budget, which already exceeds $400 billion. And the Pentagon is quick to point out that it really needs this $81 billion very, very soon -- like next week if possible -- and that it will need more in October. Well, I guess that's all right, since the economy is doing so well.

Bush says that he wants peace, and that war is the only way to achieve it. It's a perfect example of Bush logic; you could not have two more mutually exclusive concepts. The clear truth is that Bush loves war. Needs war. Wants it to go on forever. Peace is to Bush what water is to the Wicked Witch of the West. Wouldn't it be less insulting, at least, if he just came out and said, "We're going to war because I WANT WAR!" instead of telling us we're going to war because he wants peace?

Yesterday on my way to work, I saw a truck whose bumper was plastered with star-spangled bumper stickers. The most prominent one proclaimed, "FREEDOM ISN'T FREE!" Yeah. A sandwich isn't free, either, but you don't have to kill 100,000 people to get it.

Part of America's problem, all along, has been a certain element which is obsessed with violent warfare, giddily enthusiastic about military combat for its own sake. Consider the case of Michael A. Smith, a Vietnam veteran who was arrested on Tuesday in Missouri for spitting in Jane Fonda's face. He did this, he explained, because she protested the Vietnam War.

The nauseating incident took place at the Unity Temple in Kansas City, where Ms. Fonda appeared before 900 fans, and signed copies of her new memoir. Smith, who calls Fonda "a traitor" because of her opposition to genocide, told the Kansas City Star that "he doesn't chew tobacco but did so Tuesday solely to spit juice on the actress." He said, "I consider it a debt of honor. She spit in our faces for 37 years. It was absolutely worth it. There are a lot of veterans who would love to do what I did."

And there are a lot of veterans who are alive today specifically because of the heroic efforts of those who protested. There are a lot of veterans who are dead today because of officials who didn't listen. What the hell is wrong with this Smith guy? How could he disgrace his fellow veterans by behaving, in their name, like a disgusting animal? He thinks that antiwar activists are traitors; what does he think of the politicians who ordered his compatriots to dump napalm on innocent women and children? If he knew a goddamn thing, he would be spitting in Henry Kissinger's face.

Jane Fonda, who was married to Ted Turner and can therefore survive anything, weathered the loogie attack with class and dignity. Once cleaned -- and without leaving her seat -- she graciously continued to sign books and speak with fans. She told the press, "In spite of the incident, my experience in Kansas City was wonderful." She thanked "all the warm and supportive people, including so many veterans, who came to welcome me."

It's time for America to follow Jane Fonda's example, and wipe its face clean of the spit of warmongers.

7:20 AM

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Friday, April 22, 2005

The Spit of Warmongers