The Bush Administration has used the Katrina tragedy to justify calling for amending the Posse Comitatus ACt of 1878 to permit the military to become a first responder in national emergencies. This would mean the military could come into a state without being requested by its governor.
"Slippery slope" arguments are a logician's delight. But given the Bush administration's record in protecting civil liberties, one can only wonder where this new initiative could lead. It has used the Patriot Act to attempt to pull hundreds of cases out of the civilian courts. EVen after the courts ruled that detainees must be given hearings, it established military tribunals to simply go through the motions. In many ways, the Bushies have moved toward establishing a parallel legal system.
Next on the agenda seems to be a Homeland Security agency under its aegis. We've read for years about CIA domestic ingelligence and even some work by al alleged fifth division of the FBI.
One can only imagine the activities of the new agency when we read about the FBI and Secret
Service acting to suppress free speech. The most recent case involving a 10th grader who submitted an unflattering poster on Bush for a First Amendment project. Given the proclivity of conservatives to extend the reach of secrecy in government, we would nevere know the full extent of the new agency's activities.
A final concern that relates to this is the secrecy about military interrogation techniques and the determination of the administration to block a Senate amendment limiting abuse of prisoners.
When did Bush decide he was above the law? One of his first acts was to nullify tghrough executive regilations the Presidential Records Act, preventing scholars to get at his father's Vice Presidential and Presidential records. Then he extended executrive privilege to cover Cheney's energyn task force, even though Republicans had earlier forced Mrs. Clinton to disclose everything about her health task force. Then Alberto Gonzales told him that the Constitution was outdated, as a means of helping Bush to open the door to tortyuring prisoners. Then came his worst abuse, authorizing wiretaps without warrants on thousands of telephone conversations.
Noi wonder Capitol Hill Blue reports, after interviewing three immediate sources, that Bush has called the constitution "goddamned piece of paper," nothing in comparison with his powers as Commander in Chief.
Sunday, October 23, 2005
Thursday, October 06, 2005
RELIGIOUS INDOCTRINATION AT THE AIR FORCE ACADEMY
There have been numerous reports that evangelical officers and chaplains have been pressuring cadets to become evangelicals. Jewish and non-evangelical cadets complained about intolerance and discrimination. A parent of a cadet complained that his son was called "a filthy Jew."
The campus newspaper carried an advertisement signed by almost 300 Air Force personnel urging the cadets to get saved. Some professors began classes with prayer, several told cadets to get saved by the end of the semester. A coach once posted a huge evangelical banner in a locker room. Cadets are told they will go to hell if they are not born again.
It was alleged that Brigadier General John Weida, commondant of cadets, employed coded language to urge evangelical cadets to convert others. He later admitted that religious coercion on campus was a problem, but he had no idea how to deal with it. It would take decades to solve. The Academy officially sponsored a screening of Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ.
Dr. Kristen Leslie from the Yale Divinity School issued what is known as the Yale Report, which complained if "pervasive evangelical" bias at the academy. Academy officials criticized the report and attempted to ignore it. Captain Melinda Morton, a Lutheran chaplain, had signed the report and was ordered by the chief chaplain Colonel Michael Whittington, to unsign it. Reverend Morton refused to retract her signature and defended the report. She was transferred to Okinawa before the end of her tour, and resigned her commission as a result. The Air Force conducted its own investigation, which only acknowledged a few problems.
In Congress, Representative David Obey complained about this situation and was denounced Republican John Hostettler of Indiana for participating in the "long war on Christianity in America..." The Hoosier added that Democrats are given to "denigrating and demonizing Christians." Obey offered a ryder calling for an impartial and thoorough investigation, but it was defeated 218-198.
All this is the more troublking in view of the fact that the numbere of evangelical chaplains in the servives is increasing exponentially while the ranks of Catholic and mainline Protestant military clergy are thinning our. The mainline Protestants have developed serious problems with militarism since Vietnam, and there are few Catholic priests to send to the Armed Service. Other reasons for concern were the number of Christian symbols on display at the 2004 Republican National Convention, and the fact that Lieutenant General William Boynton remains a top Pentagon planner. He had said publically that his American god was far superior to the Muslim god. Add to this the Pentagon effort to produce its own version of the Bible, and one might see the makings of a very unhealthy pattern.
The campus newspaper carried an advertisement signed by almost 300 Air Force personnel urging the cadets to get saved. Some professors began classes with prayer, several told cadets to get saved by the end of the semester. A coach once posted a huge evangelical banner in a locker room. Cadets are told they will go to hell if they are not born again.
It was alleged that Brigadier General John Weida, commondant of cadets, employed coded language to urge evangelical cadets to convert others. He later admitted that religious coercion on campus was a problem, but he had no idea how to deal with it. It would take decades to solve. The Academy officially sponsored a screening of Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ.
Dr. Kristen Leslie from the Yale Divinity School issued what is known as the Yale Report, which complained if "pervasive evangelical" bias at the academy. Academy officials criticized the report and attempted to ignore it. Captain Melinda Morton, a Lutheran chaplain, had signed the report and was ordered by the chief chaplain Colonel Michael Whittington, to unsign it. Reverend Morton refused to retract her signature and defended the report. She was transferred to Okinawa before the end of her tour, and resigned her commission as a result. The Air Force conducted its own investigation, which only acknowledged a few problems.
In Congress, Representative David Obey complained about this situation and was denounced Republican John Hostettler of Indiana for participating in the "long war on Christianity in America..." The Hoosier added that Democrats are given to "denigrating and demonizing Christians." Obey offered a ryder calling for an impartial and thoorough investigation, but it was defeated 218-198.
All this is the more troublking in view of the fact that the numbere of evangelical chaplains in the servives is increasing exponentially while the ranks of Catholic and mainline Protestant military clergy are thinning our. The mainline Protestants have developed serious problems with militarism since Vietnam, and there are few Catholic priests to send to the Armed Service. Other reasons for concern were the number of Christian symbols on display at the 2004 Republican National Convention, and the fact that Lieutenant General William Boynton remains a top Pentagon planner. He had said publically that his American god was far superior to the Muslim god. Add to this the Pentagon effort to produce its own version of the Bible, and one might see the makings of a very unhealthy pattern.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)