John Yoo, who is a law professor at the University of California, Berkeley and a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, was a Justice Department official from 2001-03 during the tumultuous post-9/11 years. Mr. Yoo became famous for co-authoring legal memos that saw the evolution of “enhanced interrogations techniques.”
In the February 24th edition of the Wall Street Journal, Mr. Yoo penned a rather pompous commentary, "My Gift to President Obama.” While Mr. Yoo might possess a great legal mind, it is definitely not suffused with humility. Despite being put off by his opening salvo, “Barack Obama may not realize it, but I may have just helped save his presidency,” I still read through his entire hubristic essay.
Most of his diatribe was dedicated to problems with the Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR), who ran an extended investigation into the CIA's detention and interrogation methods that had evolved from Mr. Yoo’s afore-mentioned legal opinions. In his lengthy invective, Mr. Yoo failed to address President Obama’s basic proposition, which rejects “as false the choice between our safety and our ideals,” and which Mr. Yoo even acknowledged upfront in his article.
Subsequently, Victoria Toensing, a deputy assistant attorney general in the Reagan administration (1984-88) and chief counsel for the Senate Intelligence Committee (1981-84), got into the act. In the March 2nd edition of the Wall Street Journal, Ms. Toensing followed up Mr. Yoo’s generous bestowal on President Obama with her take on the subject in "KSM Deserves Military Justice” – even contradicting President Reagan on this issue!
She began by acknowledging that “In the 1980s, the Reagan administration established a policy for trying terrorists in civilian courts.” And then added “I know the basis for its policy of trying terrorists in federal courts—and why it is no longer applicable.” She then went on to provide a lengthy historical but unconvincing argument – citing the case of Mohammed Ali Hamadi, one of the terrorists involved in the June 1985 hijacking of TWA Flight 847, which resulted in the murder of U.S. Navy diver Robert Stethem. Mr. Hamadi was tried, convicted, jailed and released after a lengthy term by the German court system.
By comparison, her other citation “so-called 20th 9/11 hijacker Zacarious Moussaoui,” was tried by the U.S. criminal justice system and sentenced to six life terms without the chance of parole – a sentence he is now serving in a Supermax prison in Colorado. Nevertheless, Ms. Toensing concluded her article by saying, “We now have a system that provides due process while recognizing there are differences between enemy combatants and bank robbers. We should use it.” One wonders if Zacarious Moussaoui feels like a petty “bank robber” following his lifetime incarceration by the U.S. criminal justice system.
My point is that we are ill-served by ideologues on both sides of this debate, who insist on this false dichotomy between the abilities of our criminal justice system and what Mr. Yoo called “the president’s constitutional ability to fight the enemies that threaten our nation today.” Neither approach in and of its own is sacrosanct and sufficient – executing and winning this war on terrorism will require a judicious application of both, constitutionally granted executive power and the use of our world-famous legal system.
To conclude in the tenor of the Yoo-Toensing debate… So Let It Be Written, So Let It Be Done!
Showing posts with label Patriot Act. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Patriot Act. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 09, 2010
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Blog Hits 4 Bush
The Supreme Court recently heard a case relating to the First Amendment rights of an Alaskan high school kid. This smart aleck was chastised by his school principal because he held up a sign – outside school property and hence its jurisdiction – that read “Bong Hits 4 Jesus.”
There were two things that struck me about this case. My initial reaction was – wow! Doesn’t the Supreme Court have enough of a case load without wanting to waste its time on an appeal as seemingly “dopey” as this? But in a more serious vein, I wondered – will this august body ever review more significant First Amendment violations, inherent in Sections 215 and 505 of the Patriot Act, that were imposed upon the larger American public by President Bush?
Fortunately, in this age of interactive digital communications, redress is a click away and in a medium where substance often trumps style. The classical sound bite that used to be proffered by a select few is being superseded by a plethora of instantaneous “vivoda” bytes. This multiplex of video, voice, and data opinions is being constantly disseminated by the people, for the people, and to the people. Welcome to the blogosphere – a fundamental instrument of 21st century democracy!
One would have thought that the Bush Administration would have learned by now that responsibility is when you acknowledge your mistake; accountability is when you pay for it. Oftentimes one can pay for a mistake through a sincere apology, but sometimes the gravity of the blunder is such that it necessitates the perpetrator’s resignation or dismissal from said position of responsibility. Each of the recent major gaffes committed by various Bush Administration officials require a resolution that satisfies the public trust.
In “Walter Gate” the Bush Administration was clearly worried of losing a core Republican constituency – the U.S. military and their families – had the scandal not been quickly contained. As a result, Army Secretary Francis Harvey resigned, Army Surgeon General Kevin Kiley retired, and Walter Reed commander George Weightman was fired. They were all forced to take one for Team Bush so that the Administration could actually be seen as “walking its signature ‘support the troops’ talk.”
In “Libby Date” Vice President Cheney’s former chief of staff, I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, found it difficult to keep track of dates – and, when he had told or heard, what from or to whom – regarding the outing of CIA operative, Valerie Plame. A jury found him guilty of perjury and obstruction of justice and he now faces a June sentencing date with the judge. Per blogger speculation, Libby could get anywhere from 15 months to three years in jail. My own take on an intensely debated presidential pardon for Libby appeared in a letter to the New York Times on March 8, 2007.
In the “Attorneys Fate” fiasco, the blogosphere has more or less concurred with the mainstream media that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales will sooner than later meet the same fate as his “non-performing” U.S. Attorneys.
In the “Gay Hate” rant, General Peter Pace, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff shouldn’t be asked, but told by President Bush to issue an earnest apology for his abhorrent views. An initial surge of mainstream media opinions did make this demand, but corresponding blog hits did not keep up the pace. Nonetheless, the general needs to come out and apologize to all gays in general, but especially to those serving in uniform – and particularly to those risking their lives right now in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Finally, in the “FBI Bait” case, wherein hundreds of unauthorized national security letters (NSL) were issued to unsuspecting American citizens, President Bush needs to lift the gag order. This will allow bloggers an opportunity to legally do what the Washington Post afforded to an NSL recipient under cover of anonymity – an ability to exercise their First Amendment rights as guaranteed in the Constitution, so that they can continue to defend this self same Constitution from such egregious abuse in the future.
Since the WSJ editorial page actually ran a literal clarification for “Bong Hits 4 Jesus – Explained” – I thought it my help to know that the “hits” in my title don’t have anything to do with web statistics. They are simply good old fashioned hits – that represent feedback from the people to the president of the United States – and I can only hope that POTUS is listening!
There were two things that struck me about this case. My initial reaction was – wow! Doesn’t the Supreme Court have enough of a case load without wanting to waste its time on an appeal as seemingly “dopey” as this? But in a more serious vein, I wondered – will this august body ever review more significant First Amendment violations, inherent in Sections 215 and 505 of the Patriot Act, that were imposed upon the larger American public by President Bush?
Fortunately, in this age of interactive digital communications, redress is a click away and in a medium where substance often trumps style. The classical sound bite that used to be proffered by a select few is being superseded by a plethora of instantaneous “vivoda” bytes. This multiplex of video, voice, and data opinions is being constantly disseminated by the people, for the people, and to the people. Welcome to the blogosphere – a fundamental instrument of 21st century democracy!
One would have thought that the Bush Administration would have learned by now that responsibility is when you acknowledge your mistake; accountability is when you pay for it. Oftentimes one can pay for a mistake through a sincere apology, but sometimes the gravity of the blunder is such that it necessitates the perpetrator’s resignation or dismissal from said position of responsibility. Each of the recent major gaffes committed by various Bush Administration officials require a resolution that satisfies the public trust.
In “Walter Gate” the Bush Administration was clearly worried of losing a core Republican constituency – the U.S. military and their families – had the scandal not been quickly contained. As a result, Army Secretary Francis Harvey resigned, Army Surgeon General Kevin Kiley retired, and Walter Reed commander George Weightman was fired. They were all forced to take one for Team Bush so that the Administration could actually be seen as “walking its signature ‘support the troops’ talk.”
In “Libby Date” Vice President Cheney’s former chief of staff, I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, found it difficult to keep track of dates – and, when he had told or heard, what from or to whom – regarding the outing of CIA operative, Valerie Plame. A jury found him guilty of perjury and obstruction of justice and he now faces a June sentencing date with the judge. Per blogger speculation, Libby could get anywhere from 15 months to three years in jail. My own take on an intensely debated presidential pardon for Libby appeared in a letter to the New York Times on March 8, 2007.
In the “Attorneys Fate” fiasco, the blogosphere has more or less concurred with the mainstream media that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales will sooner than later meet the same fate as his “non-performing” U.S. Attorneys.
In the “Gay Hate” rant, General Peter Pace, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff shouldn’t be asked, but told by President Bush to issue an earnest apology for his abhorrent views. An initial surge of mainstream media opinions did make this demand, but corresponding blog hits did not keep up the pace. Nonetheless, the general needs to come out and apologize to all gays in general, but especially to those serving in uniform – and particularly to those risking their lives right now in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Finally, in the “FBI Bait” case, wherein hundreds of unauthorized national security letters (NSL) were issued to unsuspecting American citizens, President Bush needs to lift the gag order. This will allow bloggers an opportunity to legally do what the Washington Post afforded to an NSL recipient under cover of anonymity – an ability to exercise their First Amendment rights as guaranteed in the Constitution, so that they can continue to defend this self same Constitution from such egregious abuse in the future.
Since the WSJ editorial page actually ran a literal clarification for “Bong Hits 4 Jesus – Explained” – I thought it my help to know that the “hits” in my title don’t have anything to do with web statistics. They are simply good old fashioned hits – that represent feedback from the people to the president of the United States – and I can only hope that POTUS is listening!
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