I’m suspending my blog to go back to Washington and focus on the economic crisis…
Just kidding! On the verge of graduating, and it would appear that my course load is going to require my full attention.
Back in another 2 weeks.
“Last week, they released these memos outlining torture techniques. That was clearly a political decision and ignored the advice of their Director of National Intelligence and their CIA director,”
While trying to make a political point, House Minority leader John Boehner dropped the “t word”. When called out on it, a spokesman responded.
“It is clear from the context that Boehner was simply using liberals’ verbiage to describe these interrogation techniques. The United States does not torture.”
Jamal Simmons has a piece on Politico on an important historic figure who preceded Dr. King, Philip Randolph.
“Certainly, there is not one individual or singular action that led to Obama’s election. Instead, it was the cumulative effect of generations of Americans, black and white, to erase the barriers to the American dream for every citizen. We rightly recognize Martin Luther King Jr. and his contemporaries for the work they did in the 1950s and 60s, but we should not let the light from those stars blind us to the contributions of those like A. Philip Randolph who came before them.”
I agree with his analysis. We often refer to history in rather sweeping brush strokes and as a result glaze over the important contributions that helped pave the way for the often mentioned iconic and transformative moments. Another often overlooked development in the history of the Civil Rights movement is the evolution of nonviolent dissent. Yes, Dr. King was certainly the most vocal and consistent individual who advocated for nonviolent civil disobedience, but the first protests were staged as early as 1940 by the organization CORE (Congress on Racial Equality).
This in no way makes his actions less pertinent, they just put them into context. We would be wise to see social justice as something that is continually evolving while remembering that sometimes the effects of our actions won’t be evident for decades, centuries even, as evidenced by this piece. This is especially true now, as we seek to rectify another grievance; the lack of marriage equality. We can no longer stand for laws that perpetuate the myth that some are less equal than others. Our history shows us that this simple truth isn’t always immediately realized but it also gives us reason to hope, moments of justice that justify resolve in the face of adversity.
Given my workload for the next three weeks, I’m going to abstain from offering any commentary on the discourse surrounding torture. I don’t have time to follow the debate in its entirety and this issue is too important to be discussed in broad strokes or generalities. I will keep linking out to articles though.
In the meantime, Andrew Sullivan has been doing a brilliant job covering the back and forth.
“The very programs that are among the most risky and controversial, and that therefore should get the greatest congressional oversight,” she said, “in fact get the least.”
Full remarks here.
“Now, the choice we face is not between saving our environment and saving our economy. The choice we face is between prosperity and decline. We can remain the world’s leading importer of oil, or we can become the world’s leading exporter of clean energy. We can allow climate change to wreak unnatural havoc across the landscape, or we can create jobs working to prevent its worst effects. We can hand over the jobs of the 21st century to our competitors, or we can confront what countries in Europe and Asia have already recognized as both a challenge and an opportunity: The nation that leads the world in creating new energy sources will be the nation that leads the 21st-century global economy.
America can be that nation. America must be that nation.”
Jimmy Seidita narrows down the list of green things that we might all do to help the environment to one thing:
“OK. Ready for your one hard thing that you must do to save the planet? Here it is:
1. Actively support the Obama administration’s efforts to limit carbon emissions.
That’s it. That’s all you need to do. But really do it. Talk to your friends, relatives and neighbors about it. E-mail your congressman about it. Tell him you want action on climate this year, even if it means paying a little more for gas or electricity. Write your local newspaper. Join a climate organization. Wear a button. Put it on your Facebook. Twitter it, goddammit, whatever that means. Do all that, and you can leave the old light bulbs in place, give your kids the bottled water, and drive your SUV to the end of your driveway to pick up the mail. Just do everything you can to help the administration pass its climate program this year.”
“If we’re going to be Ronald Reagan’s city on a hill, we don’t get to torture. We don’t do it.”
I gave this speech a few months ago. It seemed appropriate to re-post some of it today.
We are living in an extraordinary moment in history, a moment that demands more of us as individuals, a moment that demands that we prioritize our collective destiny over that which might be expedient or easy. Generation after generation, the American people have often been faced with unsolicited challenges and through it all we have never backed down from a fight…we have never cowered in the face of adversity. In this moment we must stand up to insist that we continue to carry on this great tradition; that we will be relentless in our pursuit of solutions, that we will be determined on behalf of the future and that we will be successful, that we must be successful, because when we stand up for energy sustainability we’re not only standing up for the environment but for everything that exists in relation to it.
For the freedom to breath clean, for right to drink clean water, for the quality of life of the next generation. We’re standing up to insist that taking care of this planet that we call home is a prerequisite to pursuing happiness…to recognize that something larger calls on our attention.
So it turns out Rush Limbaugh is not so into the whole planting trees, recycling, dressing up as planet earth approach to celebrating Earth Day.
The alternative?
“Normally, those of us with sanity sit Earth Day out, while schools frighten kids with apocalyptic tales of the earth being destroyed, because we enjoy a high standard of living.”
They aren’t apocalyptic tales….they are tales that speak to the importance of responsible living. There’s no reason why we can’t be responsible about our energy consumption and efficiency and still be living the good life.
Case and point- the new Toyota Prius hybrid. 
To his credit, Rush did spend part of this morning thanking “pioneers who have contributed to the well-being of the planet.”
Still, it’s not really enough to just thank them, we have to continue their efforts in a way that’s consistent with what we’ve learned since.
The debate about the legitimacy of global warming is over. So at this point we’re not really discussing the potential of a problem, we’re gauging the breadth of our response. We know that climate change is real, we know that energy reform is necessary, what we haven’t yet decided, is how much we intend to do about it.