On the Contrary

A breath of fresh air is blowing in from Washington.  For me it is like leaving the 80’s and going straight to the 21st century.  It’s a chance to stop doing stupid things, to be free to think new thoughts.  It is like losing 30 pounds and having this new body where there are all kinds of new possibilities.  It’s like being twenty-something again and having your whole life in front of you.  The change has already been palpable in the celebrations that speak to a younger generation and the look of hope in the participant’s eyes.  The reins of government may have finally been wrested from fat old white guys with tired ideas.  Hope instead of fear may be the order of the day. Rational thought and fact may finally overcome ideology.  Ignorance may no longer be a badge of honor.

But least we forget where we have been, here are a few of the tidbits from the weekends news to remind you of how much we have to overcome:

• In the last three months, at least 24 detainees have been declared improperly held by courts or a tribunal — or nearly 10 percent of the population at the detention camp in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, where about 245 men remain (New York Times).  Think about it.  10% of your life being held, mistreated, and quite possibly tortured, and then released with a  “Never mind”.  Those that are truly guilty and should face trials will not be tried because out treatment so tarnished our behavior that a fair trail is no longer possible.  We might as well just release them and face the consequences.  If they didn’t hate us before, they do now.
• As Representative Pelosi pointed out in her differing position from President Obama on repealing the Bush tax cuts, “Nothing contributed more to the budget deficit than the tax cuts for the wealthiest people in America.”  Now we are starting a major fight against a downturn in our economy with a debilitating debt run up by the Bush Administration (Associated Press).
• Judge Vaughn Walker rejected the ridiculous claim by the Bush administration that no one can sue for illegal wiretapping unless the government admits the surveillance.  This puts the Bush administration’s violation of Americans’ rights when it intercepted their phone calls and emails without seeking a court’s permission back in play and maybe we will finally get a full airing of what went on and how our rights have been violated (San Francisco Chronicle).
• Abstinence-Only Programs to be challenged.  The Bush administration spends $176 million to push abstinence only programs that have been shown to be ineffective to deterring teen sex and in fact may lead to more frequent occurrences of unprotected sex.  But stupidity and ideology dies hard and in places like Georgia (the South, where else?) they are going to continue to throw their money away on this program.  For some people facts are just too hard to accept but maybe we won’t be wasting federal dollars on failed ideas any more (Plain Dealer).
• Paul Krugman made an elegant argument why we can’t just look the other way on torture, politicizing the Justice Department, illegal wire taps, et. al., and move on (New York Times).   We know President Obama will move immediately to make sure that even the CIA won’t torture anymore, but we don’t know if he has the political courage to face the war crimes and other laws we have broken.  We must hold those who committed these crimes against America accountable.  If it is a new day in America, actions must have consequences and the rule of law must prevail.
• And finally maybe we can end that moron approach we have to Cuba that has been driven by right wing Cuban refugees that has been totally counter-productive, made Cubans suffer, and helped prop up Fidel Castro.  Wouldn’t that be a breath of fresh air?  If we could make this change maybe we could even understand that gays threaten no one.

It is a truly new day and hopefully we can start looking at policies we have been promulgated and judge them truly on their efficacy, not on partisan ideological need.  That is the promise so many of us are so excited about.  Welcome President Obama.  May the wind be at your back.