Category: Politics

Reza in Battery Park on September 11
I had wanted to stay away from downtown New York altogether during yesterday’s celebrations of grief, but the mid-day arrival in Battery Park of my sorta pen-pal and a real hero, Reza, demanded an appearance in the area. I’ve been posting snippets of his story since February.
I arrived at the area where he was expected to be greeting people at about 12:20. Reza was there, as was David Hyslop and a group of about two dozen others, mostly Persians, I believe, like Reza himself, or of Persian descent.
I may have been foolish to have expected a more sizable crowd at what should have been the dramatic conclusion of his extraordinary odyssey around most of the globe. Reza is sweet, charmingly and fearlessly naïve, totally uninterested in fortune or fame, and his wonderful story has found listeners and readers all over the world for seven years.
But Reza comes from Iran, Reza does not profess any faith and Reza talks only of love and peace. Reza loves America, but apparently that just wasn’t enough for our attentions on September 11.
The Arizona Republic carried an article yesterday.

“It was so incredibly stirring with Reza marching down Broadway,” said Hyslop. “He just broke down (in tears). He was a mess.”
Baluchi said hundreds of people helped him along the way, adding, “American people are beautiful, and I love them.”
Thursday, he placed flowers on a memorial wall in Battery Park and vowed to give his beloved bicycle – “It’s all I have in the world” – to the New York Fire Department. He said he hopes to write a book on his adventures with a message to young people: “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.”

Welcome to New York, Reza! We’re very lucky to have you here.

the bike that went around the world for six years got a lift from L.A. in an RV

Reza in Shawnee, Oklahoma, earlier this year
Reza will finally be running down Broadway from the George Washington Bridge this morning, September 11. He will end up in Battery Park, instead of the World Trade Center, the destination he had been planning for exactly two years. The city said he couldn’t be part of the festivities, so instead Reza and his dog Rocky will be in the park chatting with passers-by and greeting wellwishers.
Wednesday’s NYTimes included a feature story on his run and his adventures since he left Iran six years ago.

Some people are born with a patriotic fervor for America. Others come to love the country despite its faults.
Reza K. Baluchi, for example, fell in love with America after spending the last four months jogging its open highways in the name of global peace. Along the way, he was locked up in an Arizona jail cell, attacked by a bear in California and forced to dive into a drainage ditch in Newark to avoid a speeding car.
“This is the greatest country in the entire world,” said Mr. Baluchi, a 30-year-old Iranian whose passion for the United States remains undimmed.

Reza will be hanging out today between 11:30 am to 12:30 pm in the “Giovanni da Verrazzano” section of the park, located between Castle Clinton and the East Coast War Memorial. You probably won’t miss them, as they’re likely to be a very happy group. Reza’s sweetness was darn infectious even without a dog.
[image from the Shawnee, Oklahoma News-Star]

The United States Bill of Rights
While assembling his coffee this morning after spotting the day’s headlines, the Barry asked, “So which is it?” Are they saying we’re safe against terrorists under the firm and mighty hand of Bushie, or are we still in great danger, perhaps greater than ever?
Some information about John Ashcroft’s secret meeting yesterday in New York with the law biggies is now leaking through the dirty or bloody hands of his suited and uniformed guests and it sounds like attorney Mr. general, for one, just doesn’t know the answer.
The delicious sarcasm of the NYTimes article begins with the headline, “Terror Lesson Fading for Some, Ashcroft Says in Manhattan.” It seems we need to be made more frightened than we already are, so he’s on it.

The attorney general made clear that he believes the Justice Department’s antiterrorism initiatives are fully in sync with the moral imperatives of God and country — and that those who disagree may have failed to absorb the lessons of Sept. 11.
“Just two years have passed,” Mr. Ashcroft said, “but already it has become difficult for some Americans to recall the shock, anger, grief and anguish of that day.”
Referring to expanded abilities of antiterrorism investigators to conduct wiretaps, delay notification of a search warrant and share intelligence among agencies, he said that rolling back the use of such tools “will increase the risk that more Americans will die.”

[Today in Washington Bush has already begun to perform his own part in the charade intended ultimately to greatly expand the current “Patriot” Act. Speaking at the FBI Accademy in Virginia, he called for several changes to federal law in order to “untie the hands of law enforcement officials so they can fight and win terror.”]
Newsday‘s acount of Ashcroft’s has its own charms. Their reporter makes it clear that the administration’s chief justice officer believes that we must restrict our liberties in order to preserve our liberties.

“It is critical for Americans to understand that the Patriot Act is vital to our success in the war against terrorism,” said Ashcroft, speaking at Federal Hall on Wall Street. “The painful lesson of Sept. 11 remains the touchstone – reminding us of the government’s response to protect the lives and preserve the liberty of the American people.”

But by all accounts, including its own, this government protects neither lives nor liberty.
Now read a comment or two about the “style” of yesterday’s event in that hallowed hall. Newsday:

Addressing an audience that included uniformed federal, state and local law enforcement officials, U.S. Attorneys and local district attorneys, Ashcroft thanked the officials for their anti-terror efforts, inviting the audience to join him in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance and National Anthem as the event began. He is on a 16-city tour to champion the act.
. . . .
Ashcroft has been known to infuse his speeches with religious imagery, and yesterday was no exception as he summed up his mandate to secure citizens from terror:
“We accept this trust in the belief that liberty is the greatest gift of our creator, in the belief that the liberty must be protected. And in the belief that as long as there is a United States of America – liberty and freedom must not, shall not perish from this earth.”
He was greeted with a standing ovation.

And from the Times:

Mr. Ashcroft’s impassioned appeals reflect concerns in the Justice Department about a growing bipartisan wariness in Congress about aspects of the law that some believe infringe on civil liberties. Yet the attorney general has made little effort to engage skeptics directly, sticking instead to a circuit of invitation-only speeches to law enforcement personnel.
Yesterday was no exception.
Under heavy security, Mr. Ashcroft addressed a muted audience of dark-suited prosecutors and other officials occupying a semicircle of folding chairs in the rotunda, while behind him on a stage sat about two dozen uniformed police officers. A large blue backdrop lined with American flags was erected against the towering columns, temporarily masking a display illustrating the history of the site [where The Bill of Rights was both written and adopted].
Spectators were banned from the rotunda balcony, whose ornate iron railing features about 50 figures of a topless woman gazing down on the proceedings below (Mr. Ashcroft famously had a half-naked statue of the Spirit of Justice covered up in his building, but the Greek Revival maidens in Federal Hall appear to have escaped notice.)
Mr. Ashcroft took no questions . . . .

No point. Tin ears.

I would like to believe that wishing makes it so, but Dick Cheney’s dis-invitation to the ceremonies marking the second anniversary of the World Trade Center disaster, as reported on NPR this morning, wasn’t my doing. The official excuse was the disruption which his security army would create for the event, but in reality the authorities in New York must have finally realized he was going to be booed – by the 9/11 families and probably most anyone else in the vicinity. That supposedly would have been a bad thing.
Instead of taking part in the main event, the appointed vice president is now scheduled to be meeting with a much smaller group of Port Authority, police and fire department people some time later in the afternoon at another location. They are obviously expected to be a friendlier audience, but were I in Cheney’s place, I wouldn’t count on it. Ashcroft didn’t take any chances when he spoke in New York yesterday. He picked commanding officers and lofty appointees for his own audience of civil servants.
So much for wishes and horses. Another dichotomy: Why is it that the officers of this administration don’t meet and talk to the people? Is it disdain or is it fear? Is it both? Barry remarked that the distance they maintain is unprecedented among modern vice presidents and cabinet secretaries. I think they don’t believe that there really are any “people.” I would add that the incredible character both of the origins of the administration and of its likely early demise should have suggested the pattern from the start. We are currently under a junta established by a coup, but we just might still have the ability to dump them all.
____________________

If wishes were horses,
Beggars would ride.
If turnips were watches,
I would wear one by my side.
And if ‘ifs’ and ‘ands,’
Were pots and pans,
There’d be no work for tinkers!
[traditional nursury rhyme, via Mom]

Reza in North Carolina, in the rain
Reza is in Newark today, and will be crossing the George Washington Bridge Thursday morning before running down the island to the World Trade Center site – where he has been told he is not welcome. I suspect that, like all decent people, he wouldn’t want to be around Dick Cheney anyway. Still, it seems a real shame.
This is from the email I received from Dave Hyslop, who is travelling with Reza:

On Thursday, Sep. 11th we will begin on the Jersey side of the bridge at 8:00 am. Anyone wishing to join Reza (the more the merrier) need only show up.
We’d like to cross the bridge and head down Broadway all the way to Ground Zero. Some have suggested the mix-use trail that runs along the Hudson River (I’d be open to anyone’s comments on that plan).
Access permitting Reza would like to get as close to the Ground Zero site as possible. We had requested from Mayor Bloomberg’s office that Reza be allowed to run into the ceremony, present a bouquet of flowers, pay his respects and then run out but were told that while Reza’s efforts were certainly commendable, surely we could see that this wouldn’t be appropriate at a ceremony like this.).
How many Middle Eastern people died that day?
Reza will have a private momemnt at Ground Zero and then run to Battery Park where there will be a reception at 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM (one hour) in the “Verrazzano Basque” section of the park. I’m told this is located between the “Castle Clinton Monument” and “East Coast Memorial.”

Reza has been accompanied by an orphaned, affectionate black dog since Arkansas. “Rocky” will be running with him. For more, see this website.

Yea! I was just about to write to Reza‘s travelling companion/friend David Hyslop, wondering why we haven’t heard a thing about his run since July, when I found this story on the Newsday site. I assume it will be in tomorrow morning’s (Sunday) ediion.

He’s gone through 12 pairs of sneakers and run about 3,700 miles, all in the name of peace. He has been undeterred by rough terrain, or by immigration officials who detained him. And now, Reza Baluchi plans to finish his journey in New York City on thursday, the second anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.

Reza is somewhere in New Jersey right now, but he should be at the World Trade Center site in five days. Now there’s a real alternative to a deadly Dick Cheney star turn or “9/11 families” demonstrating about tombstones rather than inquiries.
More details as I receive them.

untitled
You are not busy this Tuesday at noon – not until now.
This just in, from people who keep their eyes on the Constitution and on those who would destroy it:

On Tuesday, September 9, Attorney General Ashcroft will visit New York City to attend a closed meeting with law enforcement officials to build support for the USA Patriot Act and impending Patriot II legislation. Hundreds [no, make it more!] of New Yorkers will meet his arrival and gather together to tell John Ashcroft to stop his attack on the Bill of Rights and to affirm and uphold our rights and liberties.
Join United for Peace and Justice, the New York Bill of Rights Defense Campaign and a coalition of dozens of civil liberties, immigrants’ rights, peace and justice organizations, and political leaders on Tuesday, September 9, at 12 noon on Wall Street and Broad Street, for a rally for the Bill of Rights.
Today the government can get a secret warrant to search your home without telling you until later.
Today the government can monitor your Internet use, read your emails, and examine your online purchases.
Today you can be detained without access to a lawyer, without being charged with a crime.
Today the FBI is authorized to monitor your political and religious activities.
We can only guess what tomorrow will bring.
The United States is at risk of turning into a full-fledged surveillance society. The fact is, Orwell’s vision of “Big Brother” is now, for the first time, technologically possible.

[image courtesy NPR]

The Republicans. They really are stupid, but maybe there’s a shiny lining for us in that empty cloud.
Am I hopeful? Look at all the headlines these days. Bush and his handlers are dead. Traditional Republicans used to be able to survive their incompetence, because they never really did anything. I suppose that was part of what made them conservatives.
Today’s Republicans are radical activists in every aspect of domestic and foreign policy, and they are making a very big mess, as many of us expected they would. They are totally incompetent, and they will not be able to extricate themselves or the nation from the disasters they have created. The world, including even the simplest Americans, now suspects that truth.
They’ve clearly already lost the 2004 election, but it takes two sides to win office. My fear, and it’s a reasonable one, considering what we have seen so far, is that the Democrats will not do their part, and some 14 months from now the incumbent regime will be able to snatch victory from certain defeat.
If that happens, the republic is gone forever.

Ten Commandments Cultists pray in Montgomery, Alabama.
Atrios says it:

300 bigots and lunatics protesting around a carved rock, worthy of nonstop coverage. 100,000 people protesting a war, worthy of brief snide commentary.

In fact, there were 3 to 10 times that number in New York City alone on one day. One comment on his post is deliciously, wickedly on:

It’s fundie flypaper. Anyone who wants to chain himself to a rock in Birmingham [sic] deserves our buying him free manacles.

[AFP-Getty Images/File/Gary Tramontina, via Yahoo News Photos]

Rude rube
They can’t win office or policy by democratic or constitutional means, so they’re doing it by any means they can.
The most dramatic examples are the Clinton impeachment attempt, the 2000 election outcome, the California governor recall, the Texas redistricting outrage, perpetual war for perpetual radical-conservative majorities and strong-arming or bribing both the UN and NATO. But it’s happening on every level across the country and around the world. It’s all part of the new Republicanism.
The republicrats have adopted and turned inside out Malcom X’s warning phrase, later the Black Panthers’ call for action, “by any means necessary.” The words were originally used to confront racism and were later directed toward capitalism as well, but of course Karl Rove and his friends have very different ideas. Their confrontation is with democracy itself and with the common good. And the non-violence thing? Just look around. Only the state is permitted to use violence, and in fact it is more and more strongly encouraged to do so.