Due process is not a privilege. It is a human right.

In the excerpt below, NBC  Chuck Todd ask President Obama, “.. can you understand why it is offensive to some for this terrorist to get all the legal privileges of any American citizen? “

The President replies, “I don’t think it will be offensive at all when he’s convicted and when the death penalty is applied to him.”

This is a classic example of the dominant, misguided and dangerous beliefs that the rights outlined in the Bill of Rights are privileges and only afforded U.S. citizens.

The Bill of Rights was written to highlight for the people and government the stated as most essential rights. It was recognition of these rights, not a granting of them. In Webster, privileges are defined as a right or immunity granted as a peculiar benefit, advantage, or favor.

My unalienable rights referenced in the Declaration of Independence can only be recognized or denied. They are not privileges given to me. They simply belong to me with other rights too many to cite because of my humanity.

These rights belong to everyone, not just U.S. citizens. This statement seems clear to me;” We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights…”

All men/people, not just U.S. Americans. These words were declared before the U.S. existed. It defines each person’s relationship to government and to each other. We have been sold the belief that these right are not universal and the U.S. government grants and guarantees them as privileges.

This is extremely dangerous because a government that will deny any one person or group access to their human rights is a government which feels empowered to deny whomever it chooses. This is why we have torture, indefinite detention and extraordinary rendition. This is why anyone of these acts could happen to me or you with no accountability.

NBC’s Chuck Todd’s interview with Obama
Posted: Wednesday, November 18, 2009 10:23 AM by firstread

TODD: Khalid Sheikh Mohammed - can you understand why it is offensive to some for this terrorist to get all the legal privileges of any American citizen?

OBAMA: I don’t think it will be offensive at all when he’s convicted and when the death penalty is applied to him.

TODD: But having that kind of confidence of a conviction - I mean one of the purposes of doing - going to the Justice Department and not military court is to show of the the world our fairness in our court system.

OBAMA: Well —

TODD: But you also just said that he was going to be convicted and given the death penalty.

OBAMA: Look - what I said was people will not be offended if that’s the outcome. I’m not pre-judging; I’m not going to be in that courtroom, that’s the job of prosecutors, the judge and the jury. What I’m absolutely clear about is that I have complete confidence in the American people and our legal traditions and the prosecutors, the tough prosecutors from New York who specialize in terrorism and have brought multiple convictions before are telling us that they will convict this person with the evidence they’ve got going through our system. Now one of the things I think we have to break is this fearful notion that somehow our Justice system can’t handle these guys. You know we convicted hundreds of terrorists — one of the key perpetrators of 9-11 or one of the persons who didn’t succeed was part of the planning of 9-11 was convicted, he’s in a maximum security prison right now — you’ve got Richard Reid who tried to blow up a plane coming over the Atlantic, he’s in a supermax prison right now, directed by the way by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed - so we’ve done this before, now I think that it is important for the American people to have confidence in ourselves and to recognize that when people carry out venal acts like this that we are able to handle it. Military commissions have been set up because there may be circumstances where the targets are military, outside of the US —

TODD: So you’ll be ok with some military commissions?

OBAMA: Absolutely. Well in fact Eric Holder announced that half of the people being prosecuted right now are going into military commissions because of the specific factors involved. One last point I want to make is, you know Khalid Sheikh Mohammed’s been sitting there years now, without us finally convicting him and meting out justice, and part of the goal I think of the attorney general is to make sure that justice is no longer delayed. That’s something the American people should be happy about.

I begin from the proposition that all people are created equal and have unalienable rights. This means that those accused of terrorism and found guilty of terrorism are endowed with the same rights as me because they are human beings. Human rights can be recognized or denied, they can not be given because they are, as defined by unalienable, incapable of being alienated, surrendered, or transferred.

With that being said, military commissions do not fully recognize the accused full rights. The best way to counter the ideology of terrorism is better and more compelling ideas and implementation of those ideas. Interestingly, justice, fairness and equality are important themes when combating al Qaeda’s propaganda. If we believe in our system, we should showcase it. If we believe in it we should trust it. Openness and transparency will show that the U.S. has nothing to hide. I believe we have no reason to fear Mohammed’s spewing of hate unless we fear there is truth in the hate. Mohammed’s words will expose his ideology of death as bankrupt.

Lastly, having the trial in NYC is important for external politics and combating al Qaeda. We are not afraid, we believe in our system, it is strong in the face of Mohammed’s words/al Qaeda’s propaganda and we have nothing to hide. The Obama Administration having to relook its decision to have the trial in New York is about internal politics. In my estimation, those who are pushing for military commissions lack understanding that our greatest offensive and defensive tools to end al Qaeda’s influence are justice, fairness and equality in all we do. It has been claimed that everyone yearns for freedom. I believe this is true. Then we must be an example of how free societies act or we are only mouthing words that we ourselves do not believe in.

It is fiscally responsible for President Obama to scrutinize government spending and to cut costs where ever possible, especially when his Administration finds inefficiencies, waste and failed programs. So I applaud the idea, but his method is flawed.

The President is right that he cannot begin the process with non-discretionary spending because it will take a much longer and involve high political wrangling to get that done. I think a bi-partisan commission to look at ways to appropriately fund social security and control the cost of Medicare and Medicaid would be helpful, especially since it looks more likely than ever that if there is any healthcare legislation it will be weak and do little to control costs in the way the President originally intended.

Obama’s plan as explained in the news will affect domestic programs like Agriculture, Energy, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, and Justice; while leaving the largest portion of the discretionary budget, military spending, untouched. At a time when the nation needs investment in human services and people need help, if we must tighten our belt, then the military, which is notorious for wasteful spending, must do so as well. But more to the point, is U.S. massive military spending effective? Are we as a nation safer? If not, then we have reached, at best, a point of diminishing returns and at worst, the government is wasting tax payer money on a failed policy. I think we have both problems.

U.S. military operations have more and more people in the Muslim world believing that the war on terror is a war on Islam. As U.S. operations kill civilians, family members and friends are being radicalized. The spread of the ideology that motivates acts of terror against the US cannot be stopped with a gun. It must be countered with better and more persuasive ideas. Bombs only scatter the horror and the anger just like an explosion scatters flesh and bones.

The 911 Commission reported that al Qaeda’s funding before September 11, 2001 was about $30 million a year. Since then, because of pressure around the world on funding sources, their “budget” is something considerably less. According to a June 22nd Associated Press article by Kathy Gannon, the United Nation’s estimates the Taliban via the drug trade in Afghanistan may gain revenue of $300 million a year. The article went on to say that there maybe access to another $5 billion from informal money transfers from Pakistan.

These numbers are minuscule compared to U.S. spending. According to a David Isenberg piece on the Huffington Post the Congressional Budget Office estimates “carrying out the Pentagon’s 2009 plans for 2010 and beyond — excluding the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and some much smaller military actions elsewhere – would require funding averaging at least $573 billion annually (in 2010 dollars) from 2011 to 2028.”

Since 2001 the U.S. has increased military spending by at least 35%. So even then, with the world’s largest military budget of hundreds of billions, the largest nuclear arsenal, Navy, Air Force, economy and superior technology the massive spending could not stop 19 hijackers from using U.S. airliners as make shift weapons to kill nearly 3,000 of our citizens.

With a change to strategy that does not rely on force, we could easily trim our military budget, divert some funds to domestic investment that can create jobs and strengthen our infrastructure for a more efficient economy that would increase government revenue. We could use funds to strengthen positive civil society in poor regions of the world that breed despair and recruits for al Qaeda. Military spending is not the only component of a strong national defense. A weak economy led to the breakup of the Soviet Union. The U.S. is not immune to the same fate.

 I feel a little bad because I’m doing a little hating. In sports, that’s when a fan roots against another team because he or she just does not like that team. Most of the time hating on a team is motivated by the number of headaches the hated team gives your favorite team. For example I am a Lakers fan so I have a tendency to hate on…that’s right, the Celtics. The Celtic vs. Lakers is one of the greatest rivalries in team sports and it continues today with the current Lakers and Celtics as both teams are very good and are the last two teams to win the NBA Finals. I was a teenager back in the day of Kareem, Magic, Worthy, on one side and Parrish, Bird and McHale on the other. Societal politics played a big part in this rivalry. Boston represented the White Boy team and the Lakers were the Black man’s team. Bird and McHale were like the Great White Hope for professional basketball.

Another intense rivalry from my sports fan past that does not have the same  significance today was between the Dallas Cowboys and my favorite team the Pittsburg Steelers. This was a super intense rivalry in the 70’s as they met in the Super Bowl twice and people called Dallas America’s team while Pittsburgh was winning more rings. The rivalry cooled off for sometime as the two teams lost their dominance. Dallas gained back its winning ways in the 90’s while Pittsburg languished in rebuilding the franchise purgatory. Today the Steelers are back on top having won 2 of the last 4 Super Bowls while Dallas has not been able to get past the 1st round of the playoffs I believe for nearly a decade. Of course this makes me very happy.

People also like to hate on winning teams. The Lakers, Cowboys, Celtics, Bulls, UNC Tar Heels, Duke Blue Devils and New York Yankees (another team I love to root against) have all been targets because they are so good and people just love to hate them. This is one of the reasons some people hate on the Patriots.

The Patriots’ winning ways only adds fuel to the fire of my dislike for them. My feelings are a story of politics and sports. It really begins with my general bad feeling about Boston stemming from my childhood experience of hearing that Boston area teachers were going on strike because of racial integration. I was hurt as a child by the idea that teachers, people who are suppose to look out for children, hated me as a Black child so much that they were refusing to teach kids that look like me and go on strike to keep kids like me out of their schools. My mother is a retired teacher, so I had a clear idea of how teachers should treat their students and striking because they did not want to teach kids was not it. It was 1975. I was 11 years old.

However, I did not hold anything against the Patriots. I rooted for the Bears in the 1986 Super Bowl XX, because I thought the Bears were a better team and I liked Walter Payton who I thought deserved a ring. My attitude changed towards active dislike of the Patriots in 2001.

After September 11, 2001 millions across the country started a patriotism mantra of how the world had changed and now we are all united flag wavers ready to roll.  You are either with us or against us. I had a negative reaction to this outburst of blind patriotism. Most repugnant was the attack on people like me who questioned U.S. foreign policy and if war would be the best response. According to the “Super Patriots,” I was not sufficiently patriotic because of my questions and expressions of dissent. That year the New England Patriots had an 11-5 season and won their first Super Bowl on February 3, 2002. A lot of people jumped on the Patriots’ bandwagon. I could feel this idea of destiny for the Patriots to win the game because it was America’s time and Patriots would come out on top. This simplistic blind patriotism was disgusting. All you have to do is root for team USA. Forget the hard work of educating yourself so that you can evaluate cause and effect in an effort to determine the right course of action. Let the so called leaders tell us what to think and do.

So from then on the Patriots became my favorite NFL team to cheer against. I was so unhappy most of the 2007/2008 season when the Patriots went undefeated until that final Super Bowl loss to the New York Giants. I have never been so happy to see a team other than my own win or to see a team that was not playing my team lose.

I must admit my intense dislike for the Patriots has fallen off some. Hating is hard work and not really fun. I respect Randy Moss’ ability and would like to see him with a ring even if it has to be with the Patriots. But I still will not root for them. I felt a little bad when Tom Brady sustained a season ending injury in 2008. A friend of mine accused me of wishing the injury on Brady. I felt a little worse when his injured knee became infected. But by the end of the season I was ecstatic with the Pittsburg Steelers as Super Bowl Champions. I know it’s kind of sad. But that is how sports work.

The win by the Colts was great. It was one of the best games I have seen in quite awhile. The Patriots lost made it just that much better.

War is taking a heavy physical and mental toll on our troops. The physical injury can be seen. The mental wounds are many times invisible until it is too late. It is not a new lesson. We saw social and political questions deteriorate unit cohesion of our military forces in the Vietnam War.  The U.S. claim to fight communism in defense of freedom was a contradiction to class divisions that sent the poor to Vietnam as draftees, class tensions between Enlisted Men and Officers and the racism of White troops against Black troops. Today, there is open speculation as to whether or not U.S. actions in the Global War on Terror are just. Are these wars against Islam? Why are there little if any consequences for torturing Muslims? Are these wars about protecting the people of the United States or some other agenda? In Afghanistan and Iraq, similar to Vietnam, questions and obvious contradictions undermine the legitimacy of the cause and tear at the mind of the soldier.

There are many time bombs like Major Hasan, but those troops exploded in their homes by committing suicide or on their families; pushing love ones out of their lives and overtime destroying themselves.  It is a mistake to see this day as an isolated incident. Major Hasan exploded in the open, in the middle of our lives. He and his horrific action to kill those around him is the latest and most public act of violence. He made visible the countless, hidden and forgotten tragedies.  It shows us these tragedies are not restricted to the combat zone, but in ways big and small affect us at home, in our communities and as a people.  It should motivate us to work harder to end the madness of war.

The G-20

 more pics here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2033255&id=1566630110&l=54ec9e9eff

The twenty largest world economies converged in Pittsburgh to discuss the future of the global economy and continue to guide it via their agreed policies. Iraq Veterans Against the War joined by a several members of Veterans For Peace gathered with thousands of activist in Pittsburgh to register our dissatisfaction with G-20 policies.

We conducted a living memorial to all those who have died in war and those who have otherwise suffered because of war. Before the program portion of the memorial, we mud stenciled and chalked thoughts about our refusal to give of ourselves for corporate profits. A moment of silence was followed by an open mike for veterans to share what we have given and what we will no longer give for war. The attendees where then asked to share in the same way.

Pittsburgh was selected to host the summit by the Administration because: (from the White House website: Pittsburg is “a city that has transformed itself from the city of steel to a center for high-tech innovation –including green technology, education and training, and research and development – Pittsburgh will provide both a beautiful backdrop and a powerful example for our work.” 

White House statement on Pittsburg and the G-20

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Statement-by-the-President-on-G-20-Summit-in-Pittsburgh

Moreover how can 20 nations claim to represent what is best for the world of 195 countries.

IVAW mud stencil G-20

The residents of the Hill district where Bail Out the People erected a tent city on Monumental Baptist Church grounds would wonder about that work. If the work is supposed to help or provide opportunity, it has not reached that Pittsburgh neighborhood. It is clear that the economic policies of at least the past 35 years have tilted economic growth to benefit the well to do, rich and super rich. The financial crisis has laid bare the failure of the policies and millions suffer as a consequence. Yet in the face of this failure, the 20 do not change direction. They choose to maintain the same general policies, with moderation and adjustments. Corporate profits will continue to be the main measure of success. Investment in human needs and growth will continue to loose to profit motive rather than considered essential to have a fair and just society. Greed will continue to be applauded as good, but in smaller doses. 

Greed is never good.  There is never a good war.

I have some connection to the Steel City. My late Aunt Beatrice’s children live in Aliquippa, a small steel town along the Ohio River right outside Pittsburgh. It once had a thriving economy. The 1980’s collapse of the steel industry devastated Aliquippa and it has not recovered.

I found a personal witness to the violence and suffering brought by the disappearing of jobs. Darrelle Shavar Revis is a cornerback for the New York Jets of the National Football League. Revis is 24 years old and grew up in Aliquippa.  This is a September 27^th interview in the NY Post.

Q: The worst thing you saw growing up in Aliquippa, Pa.?

A: The worst thing I saw is on the corner somebody just running up to somebody just shooting them right in the head . . . like three times . . . and everybody just scattered running, and he’s on the ground bleeding. I’ve seen guys get stabbed before. . . . It’s horrifying to see. It seems like these movies we see today, I mean, movies are just movies, but when you actually see it in reality, it’s not a fun sight. You don’t just want to wish that upon nobody.

Q: How old were you when you saw the guy get shot?

A: 12.

Q: Somebody you knew?

A: Yes, I knew him.

Q: Friend of yours?

A: Our hometown is very small, everybody knows everybody. Everybody always said I was probably gonna make it out of there to play sports or do something. . . . so everybody kinda knew like I was one of the young guys that, “Oh yeah, he has potential, he might be the next Ty Law” or stuff like that. . . . I used to carry a ball — a football or basketball — with me everywhere.

We had like four people die the last two months, and one of ‘em was my cousin. In the summertime, I went home, I saw him . . . and the next week I get a call from my mom saying, “Your cousin’s dead.” I’m like, “What? I just saw him last week.”

I really don’t go home that much. . . . I don’t know if people are gonna be jealous of me, or things like that. Some people now are saying, “Maybe you need to come back and reach out or talk to some of the young kids,” and I will do that eventually. You gotta go back to show love and make sure these young kids can know it’s a bigger world. Some people don’t leave where they’re from. . . . Go travel somewhere, go see other places . . . and it can open up your eyes.

http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/jets/serby_sunday_with_darrelle_revis_WojUVfULuCTY5AZjc3dbjL/1

Four in the last two months could have easily been five. I ran into Progressive Democrat member and co-activist Carl Davidson. He now lives in Aliquippa. He introduced me to Rick Kimbrough another Aliquippa resident. We talked a bit about the G-20. We went on to talk about Aliquippa, family and violence. He told me his nephew Shawn had been shot in the head the night before, but he was alive and recovering. I was taken back by the story. Eighteen year old Shawn was a random victim of gun violence. The shooting was extremely blatant and senseless. The shooter opened up on a crowd of youth hanging out at a favorite spot. I later related this story to my family and they were well aware of it and new of the victim. Read the news account. Youth violence is a common experience. It is painful when anyone dies, but when the youth kill each other there is a special kind of hurt.

Aliquippa teen expected to survive being shot in head

http://news.tradingcharts.com/futures/7/1/129496417.html

White House statement on Pittsburg and the G-20

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Statement-by-the-President-on-G-20-Summit-in-Pittsburgh