Stoopid Stuff

Signposts at the end of Democracy's Paved Road

I've been looking at events a little differently these days. I've been observing global geopolitics like I was watching a movie that somebody had already told me the ending, and I've been trying to spot the little signs that point to the denouement. Two more years under Bush/Cheney will certainly destroy the America we love, as represented by the Constitution they are ignoring and undermining. So like a miner a hundred years ago, I'm watching for the canary to fall off her perch - events that point to the sad, brutal ending I am now convinced is upon us.

Political leaders always lie. We know that. And to a politician, everything is political. We know that too. These are the facts of American Politics that have made us cynical, that give us 30% voter turnout. But politicians have always been willing to play the game, to conceal their mendacity, give their lies a cover of righteousness, put on a show of doing good for their country and their constituents. As the old saw goes, putting lipstick on the pig. When democratic societies cross the threshold and become authoritarian or even totalitarian police states, the first giveaway is the leadership ceases to pretend.

At the point where the political leadership no longer feels compelled to conceal or obfuscate their lies and criminal acts, it is an indication that the system of checks and oversight built into their political system has been compromised or undermined to the point where they no longer feel it poses any threat or risk to their actions. And by acting blatently, uncaring that their actions are apparent to their citizens as exactly what they are, they are telling us that we are no longer a democracy. That the Constitution is void, and the rule of law is ended.

I give you Lt. Cmdr. Charles Swift, US Navy. A brave, honest man who has served his country with distinction for 18 years. As an attorney for the US Navy's JAG, Cmdr. Swift was appointed to represent Salim Ahmed Hamdan, the former driver for Osama bin Laden, being held in Guantanamo as an enemy combatant. When he was assigned to the case, Swift was told that the only plea he would be allowed to enter was guilty. But Swift was honest, a true American who had taken an oath to defend the Constitution, and he wasn't going to sit by and watch them trash everything he believed America stands for. Concepts like fairness and the right to challenge your detention in court still meant something to this particular military lawyer. So he defied the political leadership and sued his Commander in Chief. The case went to the Supreme Court, and in defiance of the worst authoritarian impulses of our civilian leadership, the court ruled in Hamdan's favor.

Now in another time, Mr. Swift would be honored for his service and rewarded for the tremendous ability he showed in doing his job so well. This is no longer that time. Fast forward to October 8th. Charles Swift was passed over for promotion. Now understand how egregious this is. This man is acknowledged as one of the great lawyers working today. The Navy has given him many awards and decorations. Indeed, the civilian National Law Journal listed Swift as one of the top 100 lawyers in America. His promotion to Commander was a "Slam Dunk" if there ever was one. And of course, under the military's "Up or Out" policy, he now will have to leave the Navy.

My mom had an expression she liked to use. "Cutting off your nose to spite your face". In it's petty, childish lashing out at someone who defied them, the administration is not only denying the Navy of one of it's most accomplished and professional JAGs, but they are blatently announcing they no longer feel the need to put any lipstick on the pig. It is the smaller events that signal larger changes. We may, someday, look back on this blatent, obvious punishment of a good American for his dissent from the approved line and say-that was the day America perished...

posted by mikey @ 3:47 PM