As Michael Mukasey's nomination goes to the Senate floor for probable confirmation, it makes me think about how this country has really changed since 9/11. I don't know whether to feel angry, sad, or nauseous.
It's not just the brazen amount of nationalism that swept the country . . . or the rush to Iraq without understanding who our real enemy was . . . or the poor quality of intelligence that duped Americans into war . . . or the poor post-war planning . . . or the half-ass job we do treating our veterans . . . or Abu Ghraib . . . or Guantanamo Bay . . . or secret detention . . . or extraordinary rendition . . . or government spying upon it's own citizens . . . or the government's inability to rebuild infrastructure . . . or the government's inability to come to the aid of it's own citizens after a natural disaster . . . or lawless mercenaries becoming rich via American tax dollars . . . or the xenophobic fuss over immigrantion . . . or the homophobic fuss over gay marriage . . . or America's tarnished reputation as "the land of the free" . . . or the opposition party's lack of testicular fortitude . . . or the media's inability to say what really needs to be said about the administration . . . or being the most hated country in the world . . . or many other problems I could continue to list.
I think what saddens me now is how low the bar has been set for the next administration. Take Senator Schumer's comment on why he is caving and supporting Mukasey:
"When an administration so political, so out of touch with the realities of governing and so contemptuous of the rule of law is in charge, we are never left with an ideal choice. Judge Mukasey is not my ideal choice. However, Judge Mukasey, whose integrity and independence is respected even by those who oppose him, is far better than anyone could expect from this administration".
Mukasey may be better than anyone can expect from the Bush administration, but that still doesn't mean he is an acceptable choice. Can anyone doubt that before 9/11, if an Attorney General nominee couldn't say that something isn't torture when it clearly is, he would be put out of the nomination process so quick it would make people's heads spin? Has our country sunk this low? It is times like these when I find myself saying, "I know the weather is cold, but Canada doesn't sound so bad right now".
But I'm not giving up on America. It's my home, I love it, and that is why I am so angry at it. We had a golden opportunity after 9/11. We could have taken the tragic events of that day, and made ourselves a better country. Some say, "everything changed on 9/11". Our country changed, but for the worse. Some say that we are winning the war on terror. While we haven't been attacked again (and, of course, that is a good thing), I would say we are actually loosing that war. Outside of invading Afghanistan (which we have actually screwed up), we reacted in all of the wrong ways after 9/11. We have compromised our values, our reputation, and our general welfare. Sometimes, it feels like our country doesn't know how to do anything except eat, watch TV, bomb countries, torture and scream "kill the terrorists". I love American, but I am very ashamed to be living in it during this time in history.
I know radical change can be a dangerous thing in large doses, but that is exactly what we need when the next administration that takes over. We need more than "well, at least he (or she) is better than Bush". I want the America that not only protects its citizens from foreign attacks and incursions, I want the American that protects it's citizen's from the destruction of disasters. I want the America that not only rebuild things in foreign countries, I want the America who can also rebuild things in its own country. I want the America that remembers what "Give me Liberty, or Give me Death" means. I want the America that the world really looks at as "the land of the free". I want the America I used to remember damnit!
It's not just the brazen amount of nationalism that swept the country . . . or the rush to Iraq without understanding who our real enemy was . . . or the poor quality of intelligence that duped Americans into war . . . or the poor post-war planning . . . or the half-ass job we do treating our veterans . . . or Abu Ghraib . . . or Guantanamo Bay . . . or secret detention . . . or extraordinary rendition . . . or government spying upon it's own citizens . . . or the government's inability to rebuild infrastructure . . . or the government's inability to come to the aid of it's own citizens after a natural disaster . . . or lawless mercenaries becoming rich via American tax dollars . . . or the xenophobic fuss over immigrantion . . . or the homophobic fuss over gay marriage . . . or America's tarnished reputation as "the land of the free" . . . or the opposition party's lack of testicular fortitude . . . or the media's inability to say what really needs to be said about the administration . . . or being the most hated country in the world . . . or many other problems I could continue to list.
I think what saddens me now is how low the bar has been set for the next administration. Take Senator Schumer's comment on why he is caving and supporting Mukasey:
"When an administration so political, so out of touch with the realities of governing and so contemptuous of the rule of law is in charge, we are never left with an ideal choice. Judge Mukasey is not my ideal choice. However, Judge Mukasey, whose integrity and independence is respected even by those who oppose him, is far better than anyone could expect from this administration".
Mukasey may be better than anyone can expect from the Bush administration, but that still doesn't mean he is an acceptable choice. Can anyone doubt that before 9/11, if an Attorney General nominee couldn't say that something isn't torture when it clearly is, he would be put out of the nomination process so quick it would make people's heads spin? Has our country sunk this low? It is times like these when I find myself saying, "I know the weather is cold, but Canada doesn't sound so bad right now".
But I'm not giving up on America. It's my home, I love it, and that is why I am so angry at it. We had a golden opportunity after 9/11. We could have taken the tragic events of that day, and made ourselves a better country. Some say, "everything changed on 9/11". Our country changed, but for the worse. Some say that we are winning the war on terror. While we haven't been attacked again (and, of course, that is a good thing), I would say we are actually loosing that war. Outside of invading Afghanistan (which we have actually screwed up), we reacted in all of the wrong ways after 9/11. We have compromised our values, our reputation, and our general welfare. Sometimes, it feels like our country doesn't know how to do anything except eat, watch TV, bomb countries, torture and scream "kill the terrorists". I love American, but I am very ashamed to be living in it during this time in history.
I know radical change can be a dangerous thing in large doses, but that is exactly what we need when the next administration that takes over. We need more than "well, at least he (or she) is better than Bush". I want the America that not only protects its citizens from foreign attacks and incursions, I want the American that protects it's citizen's from the destruction of disasters. I want the America that not only rebuild things in foreign countries, I want the America who can also rebuild things in its own country. I want the America that remembers what "Give me Liberty, or Give me Death" means. I want the America that the world really looks at as "the land of the free". I want the America I used to remember damnit!
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