It Is Done

dr. elsewhere here

A signature. A scrawl of ink on paper, and the entire meaning of American freedom is critically wounded. With a cynical flourish, Bush cut deep into the heart of our American spirit, proving again that the pen is mightier than the sword.

But I will not pronounce death, and I will not admit defeat. The true meaning of the American spirit is bigger than that, more resilient, and far more powerful.

Certainly more powerful than the repeated conjuring of “the victims of 9/11,” to whom Bush actually had the unmitigated gall to dedicate the signing of the Military Commissions Act. He even asserted the bill would help bring to justice the perpetrators of that crime, as well as those who assaulted the USS Cole and US Embassies in Africa. Bringing up these tender spots may have seemed politically astute in the past, but surely his handlers don’t believe those attacks will forever serve as the saving aces up their sleeves. Citizens are getting wise. Reminders of those insults to our sovereignty and safety appear to be backfiring, serving instead as reminders that this administration has yet to actually do anything about those crimes, being so distracted as they are with all this hegemonic hubris and the eternal battle of good and evil, distractions that only line their pockets while impoverishing the masses. Bush further asserted that "history will show" that this was the right thing to do, and that "we" do what it takes "to defeat evil." History is already being written on this point, and I suspect Bush will find it "unacceptable."

Bush also asserted that this bill would save American lives, and ran down a list of pseudo-plots the administration has claimed were foiled by the CIA program this bill now legalizes. He of course failed to acknowledge that this program was being conducted prior to this law, which puts the program technically outside the law, making it an illegal (we don’t mention the “immoral” part) program prior to this morning. But then, of course, he didn’t really have to mention that inconvenient little truth because, of course, the law does this miraculous, bendy, ex post facto thing, and *poof*! The criminals are made legal, if not moral, as well as protected forever from the nuisance of any legal action against them, civil or criminal.

Bush also asserted that detainees will be afforded courts similar to those installed during our Revolutionary and Civil Wars, as well as during WWII, including fair trials with attorneys and the right to review evidence. Funny, but I could have sworn this bill expressly denied these things of aliens (though even American citizens can be labeled as such by the President, or anyone he gives this power to). Perhaps Bush meant "enemy combatants" would be afforded these rights if and only if they are actually charged and acknowledged as prisoners, which I would interpret to mean if and only if their trial would serve their purposes, if their trial would end in a conviction of some bloody terrorist. Otherwise, the CIA and our President now have the “necessary tools” to question by whatever means necessary – though “we do not torture” (McCain was notably absent from the ceremony) – to gain evidence and confessions that chalk up as successes in this cursed little war on terror, evidence and confessions that mean nothing but increased hatred and explosive revenge toward Americans far more than the confused “intelligence” they presume to provide.

Feeling safer already.

Bush noted that the terrorists predicted that 9/11 was “the beginning of the end of America,” and asserted that they were wrong, that this bill will protect America from annihilation and keep us safe and secure. Of all the half-truths and bald-faced lies he asserted today, this one screamed IRONY the loudest, a nuance to which Bush is particularly tone deaf.

So. It is done.

On this day, at 9:40 AM EDT, in the White House of Washington, DC, in the presence of the Bush cabal (Cheney, Rumsfeld, Gonzalez, Hayden, Graham, Sensenbrenner, et al.; again, McCain was notably absent, and unmentioned) and staff and reporters, our own President himself thrust the most critical – and potentially fatal – blow ever dealt to our nation. Bush’s signature constituted a Constitutional coup, and – ironically – heralds the end of America as we have known it. Though – again – not its death.

It is done, but it is not finished.

I found myself throughout this charade being drawn back to, of all things, that scene in The Control Room, where Hassan Ibrahim – the Sudanese journalist and director – is being confronted by his Al-Jazeera colleagues about the aggressive role of America in the world. He is mainly quiet in the face of angry shouting, but finally says, with a depth of hope and conviction I have rarely seen in any American, “I have faith in the American people; I have faith in the American Constitution.”

Can we find that much faith in ourselves? Because that is what we will need to recover our rights and our freedoms and – far more importantly – the moral responsibility to keep America alive.

It is done, but it is not finished, though it is up to US.