Conflicting Emotions

Man it’s tough just to keep your wits about you sometimes. I know there are some American greats who have moved past race, but I certainly haven’t. It colors so much of how we view the world. I’ve studied Middle Eastern politics, am studying Arabic, and still, I find myself essentially terrified of people wearing all that shit on their heads. Not really Sikhs, they always seem hip. But for example, I was driving home and about a block from my house was a young-ish guy with some kind of Afghanistan-looking contraption on his head sitting in a Scion xB. He’s probably a conservative, polite, religious fellow who would be a pleasure to know. But all I could think was, “dammit I don’t feel like getting blown up today.”

I’m just being honest. I know I can’t be the only person who battles with pre-programmed stereotypes. I KNOW it’s ignorant, but dude I can’t help the fact that they scare the shit outta me. Even the women.

I know how to address the problem, though. In my experience, most irrational fears can be cured by knowledge. I got to know this really sweet Muslim girl in one of my last classes. I initially felt somewhat, I’ll admit it, hostile towards her. I really believe the hijab is a means of subjugating women, and it pisses me off to see women voluntarily proclaiming themselves as inferior. Yes that’s my opinion that’s why I said it (I saw someone use that line on a message board and thought it was funny). I understand it’s in deference to God. But then why don’t men have to cover their faces? OK, anyway, my point was that my attitude towards this girl totally changed after having a conversation with her. I still disapprove of women covering themselves up, but it makes a huge difference to understand other people’s point of view. Of course one or two conversations isn’t enough to overcome a lifetime of negative stereotypes, but it’s a start.

So my point was, as individuals, both Muslim and non-Muslim, we need to seek out opportunities to get to know each other. I immediately got the vibe from this girl that there were a lot of negative stereotypes of non-Muslims that she held too. This I believe sums up the bulk of our country’s problem. You’ve got two groups of people who know very little about each other taking actions against one another based on misinformed stereotypes. I was surprised by the remarkable similarity between this girl’s world-view and that of a western Christian fundamentalist. I don’t mean that negatively either. I mean that her primary concerns were with morality and the negative influence of the media and American culture on people’s spiritual development.

OK, so I wanted to get that off my chest. Why? Well because this image got me pretty pissed off this morning. It’s hard not to hate these people when they kill someone like this. Just outta West Point. Beginning a successful career, killed before she even got her foot out the gate. Fucked up. R.I.P. Lt. Perez. Your country loves you, and appreciates your sacrifice. May God help us honor your memory.

Tags:
Islam, War on Terror, Emily Perez, Hijab, Racism

First Principles

So I’m pretty busy these days studying Arabic, but I wanted to get this post out there before the issue is over. I keep hearing that Dems might cave to Republican pressure to throw out habeas corpus for people turned in to US forces in exchange for money and subsequently detained without trial. The rationale is that in an election year, Dems don’t want to look “soft” on terror. The implication is that it’s better to be soft on morality, soft on justice, soft on human rights, soft on democratic principles, hell, soft on principles of any kind.

So I want to talk about First Principles. In this instance, the fundamental reasons we are having this discussion. Somehow no one seems to talk about the situation that got us talking about whether or not detainees should be treated as human beings. The fact that the White House has managed to frame the discussion in this light is a major victory, and I cannot fathom how it happened.

The Trinity Administration has, from the beginning, sought to expand the reach of Executive power. This is their guiding principle. In the terms of the current debate, the detainees are not the primary concern for this Administration. The real issue is staking their claim to the right to trample over all the safeguards on Executive power that were put in place after Watergate. That’s the real battle being fought. The Administration lost that battle in the Supreme Court, so now they need to retool their argument. They have crafted this compromise that remains vague enough to give them the ability to continue their extra-legal machinations away from the purview of our legal system. Let me state this again to make myself perfectly clear: The President and Vice President want to codify in law their right to act outside the law. They want to formally negate the system of checks and balances put in place specifically to prevent people like them from doing the things they are doing.

As usual, the Democrats have allowed the real issues to be co-opted from them. Rather than stepping out and taking a leading role in the discussion, they are left to defend their positions on the terms given to them by Republican talking points.

I’m fairly confident this is a strategic move. The Dems want to lay low until after the elections and then unleash hell. But by trying to play everything sooo safe, they risk giving the Republicans ammunition for their campaigns. This is seriously some Theo Epstein shit. Look at the numbers, determine that the course of action that on paper looks best is to do something stupid, and then be shocked when shit goes down in a totally predictable manner. WTF? We need LEADERS NOT SHEEP. Take the initiative and lead for once. Don’t just follow the poll numbers around like you’re their bitch.

The fact that for days every mention of the detainee treatment bill has involved only the names of Republicans is an indictment of the Democratic Party. They SUCK. The lone glimmer of hope in this mess? Bill Clinton. He so masterfully outlined the myriad problems with the President’s agenda it was breathtaking. You can hear his comments by listening to the interview NPR did with him last week. Peace.

Tags:
Detainee Abuse, War on Terror, Bill Clinton, Bush, Politics, Torture