Month: July 2003

Supporters of the Texas redistricting effort were eager to claim that the Texas Democrats were acting illegally. Proof? Well, the Texas House rules allowed the Texas Department of Safety to hunt missing legislators down, and that must mean that the legislators were breaking the law. The difference between police acting as a favor to the legislature and police acting to enforce actual laws was apparently beyond some.

Not, however, beyond a Texas judge. Judge Charles Campbell pointed out that Texas law “limits the role of D.P.S. to enforcing the laws protecting the public safety and providing for the prevention and detection of crime.”

Charles Kuffner has the good coverage of this whole issue; hit his Killer D’s category for in-depth information.

CNN’s headline for this story reads, quote, “Bush: crime of slavery ultimately ‘set America free’”. Which has, to my eye, somewhat questionable implications.

In fact, what he really said was “The stolen sons and daughters of Africa helped to awaken the conscience of America. The very people traded into slavery helped to set America free.” The crime itself didn’t set people free; rather, the people we wronged helped set us free. Very different meaning, there.

The mainstream press is pretty much gonna dogpile on whoever looks vulnerable, whether they’re liberal or conservative. The Republicans have just done a better job convincing the press they aren’t vulnerable. That’s why it’s important to have a big whacking mass of think tanks pumping out stuff that supports your point of view — it lends the weight of authority.

Oh, for heaven’s sake.

Remember that Iraqi children’s prison? It was a big deal. It was proof that we were right to go into Iraq. It was a noble, shining moment.

It was an orphanage. A really bad one, but not a prison, and not someplace kids were sent for refusing to join the Ba’ath Party.

And hey — if we’re in the business of liberating facilities which treat children horribly, maybe we should start here. It’s run out of Utah. We can start at home.

David Neiwert’s excellent series of essays, Rush, Newspeak and Fascism, is finally available as a PDF. He’s asking five bucks as a donation if you download it. It’s worth more than that.

Neiwert is further to the left than I am; I don’t agree with the idea, for example, that the government is “the one entity that has the capability to protect them [middle and lower-class workers] from the ravages of wealthy class warriors and swarms of corporate wolves.” But that’s really beside the point. Even if you disagree with his politics, you should read this pamphlet for what he has to say about the effects of Limbaugh and his poisonous ilk.

For that matter, the left ought to take heed of his warnings. “There has been little recognition of the way the far right is able to insinuate its ideas and agendas into the mainstream; indeed, the left’s generally superior, dismissive attitude about right-wing extremists has only helped further their ability to penetrate broader society.” I haven’t seen much discussion of Eric Rudolph after the first week of stories about his capture — similar to the way everyone forgot about him while he was on the run.

Neiwert has as much experience with proto-fascist movements in America as any journalist I know of. I found his book on the subject very informative. He knows what he’s talking about, because he’s an expert in the field, and when he points a finger it behooves us to take him seriously and investigate with an open mind.

Now I’m gonna have to dig into his bibliography. I’m glad to have it.