The War on Torture by an American Patriot

Every day I read news items that I think deserve to be shared when I get time and then there are the days when I find something that demands my immediate attention. This article by “Matthew Alexander” in the Washington Post on November 30th is one of those items.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/28/AR2008112802242.html

As a nation, our behavior (or the behavior of our agents) in the world can define us to our friends and adversaries alike. Just as importantly, how we citizens respond to this behavior reflects on us individually. Is it not our duty to ensure our government reflects our values?

I believe patriotism is not wearing flag pins or all the other accoutrements one is supposed to wear or participating in the obvious ceremonies, it is about standing up, often in opposition to authority or public opinion, to uphold the vital principles of our nation. I realize that we may disagree on exactly what those principles are or their relative priority, but for me, Matthew Alexander’s efforts exemplify patriotism.

I think President Bill Clinton summed it up best during the 2008 Democratic Convention: “People the world over have always been more impressed by the power of our example than by the example of our power.”

Kristof on "The Pakinstan Test"

I read Nicholas Kristof’s column, “The Pakistan Test”, on my outbound Thanksgiving travels and had made a note to write about it in my blog once I got home. However, the events in Mumbai over the last 48 hours have made this column even more significant and timely. Please take a moment to read it.

Some points to note are:

• Pakistan is in a state of slow collapse;
• It has up to 60 nuclear weapons;
• The influence of the Taliban seems to be growing there;
• Our air strikes may be galvanizing public opinion behind the Taliban;
• Pakistan and Afghanistan are linked.

Kristof goes on to describe 4 steps that the international community should pursue to help resolve the problems that are helping to destabilize the region. I think they make sense and are worthy of us exploring.

Unless we educate ourselves and provide informed perspective to our leaders, will they come to the right decisions? I believe we should consider Kristof’s argument and let’s get ahead of the issue before it becomes a crisis.

Also, be sure to check out the Developments in Literacy page to which he links.

John Brennan deserves a closer look

There are reports that John Brennan is Obama’s “favorite to be nominated director of the Central Intelligence Agency." I haven’t paid too much attention to Brennan over the years but when both Glenn Greenwald of Salon and Andrew Sullivan of The Atlantic raise concerns, it puts Brennan on my radar. The Huffington Post has a good overview article which might be a nice place to start.

Note, however, that there have just been reports (i.e. ”leaks“) that Brennan is Obama’s choice -- it may prove false.

Thanks to Erica B. for bringing this to my attention.

The must-read article on the sub-prime meltdown

I’m still trying to get back into my rhythm of maintaining these blogs so this will be short but to the point.

From my observations, I think many people are missing the magnitude of the financial crisis that is before us and various invested parties are trying to fix blame on their favorite scapegoat (e.g. Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac). For the lay person, I have not found a better article to explain the origins of this mess that the one in Condé Nast Portfolio called “The End” by Mark Lewis.

Not only is it well written it is very informative. I think we all need to pay attention to this mess -- I fear the next 3-5 months are going to be quite painful.

Keith Olbermann on California Prop 8

It's probably no surprise to most that I like Keith Olbermann. At a time when I was frustrated and outraged over what the George W. Bush administration was doing, he gave voice to those emotions.

As I've grown older, I've learned that homosexuals are just people who, like me, are pursuing their own happiness in this world. Their "agenda", if you want to call it that, is not about taking anything away from me; they just want to be treated as any other citizen would be treated. So, when I heard Keith Olbermann's Special Comment on MSNBC's Countdown tonight, I knew that Keith had once again hit at the heart of the matter:



Isn't it time that we treated others as we would like others to treat us and isn't this most important when the others are not like us?

Church and State: The issue of Prop 8

While people on both sides of this issue have fanned the rhetoric, James Brosnahan, a senior partner at the Morrison & Foerster law firm in San Francisco, gives a very reasoned analysis for the layman why this issue is important from a First Amendment perspective:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/11/09/INUV13V3I2.DTL

I think everyone should read his article.

On another front, you want want to watch America Blog to see some of the backlash that is brewing against the Mormon Church, among others, over their support of Prop 8.