Tim Wise on Paranoia

From Paranoia as Prelude: Conspiracism and the Cost of Political Rage.

We live in a culture in which it is utterly normal, to a degree that has sadly made it nearly banal, to hear multi-million dollar, best-selling authors and talk show hosts suggest that the nation is on the verge of total fascism, death panels for the elderly, door-to-door gun confiscation, and the reconquest of the American southwest by Latinos bent on ethnic war. In short, in a society where paranoia is the daily currency of mainstream commentators, and pseudo-schizophrenic ramblings are elevated to the level of persuasive argument, we ought not be surprised that such a tragedy as occurred on Saturday might happen...

Whether or not Loughner was influenced directly by any of these words, these verbal daggers aimed at civil discourse, is quite beside the point. For these words, these daggers, are the very ether of the political culture in which he has come of age. They comprise the fabric of the larger ideological tapestry to which he has been exposed. And they are, like any toxin, bio-accumulative in the cells of the human animal, even more so for those whose chemical balance is already dicey at best...

But if we are to survive as a nation, a culture — or as a planet, ultimately — we’d best begin to demand better of ourselves and others. We’d best commit to a recognition that most of us are just trying to do the best we can, in a world that can be tough and unforgiving. Trying to raise families, keep our heads above water, and do what we think is right. Occasionally we get it wrong, and so do our neighbors. But that doesn’t make us, or them, terrorists, or zombies, or stealth Stalinists, or baby-killers, or gun nuts, or Klansmen, or whatever. It makes us, and them, human.

And what is saddest about our present condition, is that this ability to recognize our common humanity, and the decency of most folks, regardless of political philosophy, is seen by too many as a weakness, as compromise, collaboration, impurity, pathology, as evidence that one is no better than the evil on the other side. We have surrounded ourselves with amplified noise machines, which pump only those tunes we are already predisposed to hear, and in so doing we make enemies of our brothers and sisters. We turn politics and the larger, existential fight for justice into a blood sport. Kill or be killed.

It is in the last paragraphs that he echoes RFK's words about The Mindless Menace of Violence. And that's where my thoughts go as well. We know that this thinking that our opponents are our "enemies" has permeated our political discourse. So what is our response? To join in with that thinking and treat them as OUR enemies?

I don't want to be naive. But that certainly seems the way of madness. How do you "recognize our common humanity, and the decency of most folks" in an environment like this? And when will we - on the left - stop seeing that as weakness, compromise, collaboration, impurity, or pathology?

I believe that is what President Obama has been calling on us to do...for a very long time. Here's some of what he wrote in a diary at Daily Kos back in 2005 titled Tone, Truth and the Democratic Party. I believe its time we started listening.

I firmly believe that whenever we exaggerate or demonize, or oversimplify or overstate our case, we lose. Whenever we dumb down the political debate, we lose. A polarized electorate that is turned off of politics, and easily dismisses both parties because of the nasty, dishonest tone of the debate, works perfectly well for those who seek to chip away at the very idea of government because, in the end, a cynical electorate is a selfish electorate...

Our goal should be to stick to our guns on those core values that make this country great, show a spirit of flexibility and sustained attention that can achieve those goals, and try to create the sort of serious, adult, consensus around our problems that can admit Democrats, Republicans and Independents of good will. This is more than just a matter of "framing," although clarity of language, thought, and heart are required. It's a matter of actually having faith in the American people's ability to hear a real and authentic debate about the issues that matter.

A Better Way

An Anonymous Republican Senator Speaks Out

From Politico.

A senior Republican senator, speaking anonymously in order to freely discuss the tragedy, told POLITICO that the Giffords shooting should be taken as a “cautionary tale” by Republicans.

“There is a need for some reflection here - what is too far now?” said the senator. “What was too far when Oklahoma City happened is accepted now. There’s been a desensitizing. These town halls and cable TV and talk radio, everybody’s trying to outdo each other.”

The vast majority of tea party activists, this senator said, ought not be impugned.

“They’re talking about things most mainstream Americans are talking about, like spending and debt,” the Republican said, before adding that politicians of all stripes need to emphasize in the coming days that “tone matters.”

“And the Republican Party in particular needs to reinforce that,” the senator said.

This is a helpful statement. But as Steve Benen points out:

But let's not lose sight of the context -- in the 21st century, a Republican senator who wants to convey a basic observation about rhetorical excesses, has to do so anonymously. We've reached the point at which a GOP senator wants to say that "tone matters," but can't quite bring himself/herself to say so on the record.

That, it seems to me, is about as significant as the sentiment itself.

The Mindless Menace of Violence

This is a time of shame and sorrow. It is not a day for politics. I have saved this one opportunity, my only event of today, to speak briefly to you about the mindless menace of violence in America which again stains our land and every one of our lives.

It is not the concern of any one race. The victims of the violence are black and white, rich and poor, young and old, famous and unknown. They are, most important of all, human beings whom other human beings loved and needed. No one - no matter where he lives or what he does - can be certain who will suffer from some senseless act of bloodshed. And yet it goes on and on and on in this country of ours.

Why? What has violence ever accomplished? What has it ever created? No martyr's cause has ever been stilled by an assassin's bullet.

No wrongs have ever been righted by riots and civil disorders. A sniper is only a coward, not a hero; and an uncontrolled, uncontrollable mob is only the voice of madness, not the voice of reason.

Whenever any American's life is taken by another American unnecessarily - whether it is done in the name of the law or in the defiance of the law, by one man or a gang, in cold blood or in passion, in an attack of violence or in response to violence - whenever we tear at the fabric of the life which another man has painfully and clumsily woven for himself and his children, the whole nation is degraded.

"Among free men," said Abraham Lincoln, "there can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet; and those who take such appeal are sure to lose their cause and pay the costs."

Yet we seemingly tolerate a rising level of violence that ignores our common humanity and our claims to civilization alike. We calmly accept newspaper reports of civilian slaughter in far-off lands. We glorify killing on movie and television screens and call it entertainment. We make it easy for men of all shades of sanity to acquire whatever weapons and ammunition they desire.

Too often we honor swagger and bluster and wielders of force; too often we excuse those who are willing to build their own lives on the shattered dreams of others. Some Americans who preach non-violence abroad fail to practice it here at home. Some who accuse others of inciting riots have by their own conduct invited them.

Some look for scapegoats, others look for conspiracies, but this much is clear: violence breeds violence, repression brings retaliation, and only a cleansing of our whole society can remove this sickness from our soul.

For there is another kind of violence, slower but just as deadly destructive as the shot or the bomb in the night. This is the violence of institutions; indifference and inaction and slow decay. This is the violence that afflicts the poor, that poisons relations between men because their skin has different colors. This is the slow destruction of a child by hunger, and schools without books and homes without heat in the winter.

This is the breaking of a man's spirit by denying him the chance to stand as a father and as a man among other men. And this too afflicts us all.

I have not come here to propose a set of specific remedies nor is there a single set. For a broad and adequate outline we know what must be done. When you teach a man to hate and fear his brother, when you teach that he is a lesser man because of his color or his beliefs or the policies he pursues, when you teach that those who differ from you threaten your freedom or your job or your family, then you also learn to confront others not as fellow citizens but as enemies, to be met not with cooperation but with conquest; to be subjugated and mastered.

We learn, at the last, to look at our brothers as aliens, men with whom we share a city, but not a community; men bound to us in common dwelling, but not in common effort. We learn to share only a common fear, only a common desire to retreat from each other, only a common impulse to meet disagreement with force. For all this, there are no final answers.

Yet we know what we must do. It is to achieve true justice among our fellow citizens. The question is not what programs we should seek to enact. The question is whether we can find in our own midst and in our own hearts that leadership of humane purpose that will recognize the terrible truths of our existence.

We must admit the vanity of our false distinctions among men and learn to find our own advancement in the search for the advancement of others. We must admit in ourselves that our own children's future cannot be built on the misfortunes of others. We must recognize that this short life can neither be ennobled or enriched by hatred or revenge.

Our lives on this planet are too short and the work to be done too great to let this spirit flourish any longer in our land. Of course we cannot vanquish it with a program, nor with a resolution.

But we can perhaps remember, if only for a time, that those who live with us are our brothers, that they share with us the same short moment of life; that they seek, as do we, nothing but the chance to live out their lives in purpose and in happiness, winning what satisfaction and fulfillment they can.

Surely, this bond of common faith, this bond of common goal, can begin to teach us something. Surely, we can learn, at least, to look at those around us as fellow men, and surely we can begin to work a little harder to bind up the wounds among us and to become in our own hearts brothers and countrymen once again.

- Robert F. Kennedy, April 5, 1968

Vengeance is a lazy form of grief

I've often wondered where the line is drawn between justice and revenge.

Last night I watched the movie "The Interpreter" and found this scene powerful. In it, Nicole Kidman's character tells the story of an African belief that ends with my title..."Vengeance is a lazy form of grief."



That reminded me of an essay I read a few months ago by George Orwell titled Revenge is Sour. In it, Orwell recounts some things he witnessed in Europe in the immediate aftermath of WWII. They are stories of Jews seeking revenge against Nazis who are either in prison or already dead. And then he says this:

But what this scene, and much else that I saw in Germany, brought home to me was that the whole idea of revenge and punishment is a childish daydream. Properly speaking, there is no such thing as revenge. Revenge is an act which you want to commit when you are powerless and because you are powerless: as soon as the sense of impotence is removed, the desire evaporates also.

I expect that there is a strong connection between grief and powerlessness. And they are what lay the groundwork of a desire for revenge.

We often fool ourselves into thinking we seek justice when in reality its our grief and/or sense of powerlessness that is looking for revenge.

Thinking about Rep. Gabrielle Giffords

From her web site.

Gabrielle is a third generation Southern Arizonan who provides a strong voice for our community and superior constituency services for the citizens she represents. Whether you are a Republican rancher, an independent small business owner or a Democratic Air Force veteran, she fights for your needs every day in Congress.

Since first taking office in 2007, Gabrielle has established herself as one of the most centrist members of Congress. She is a member of the Blue Dog Coalition and New Democrat Coalition working for fiscally conservative, pro-business economic policies...

Gabrielle’s commitment to her community extends far beyond her service in public office. She has devoted her time as a member of over a dozen local boards including the 162nd Air National Guard Fighter Wing Minuteman Committee, Metropolitan YMCA, Anti-Defamation League, Beat Cancer Boot Camp and Tohono Chul Park.

She was named Woman of the Year by Tucson Business Edge, Woman on the Move by the YWCA and one of America’s Eight Young Leaders Worth Watching by Gannett News Service.

Gabrielle has a strong background in domestic and international economic development. She graduated from Cornell University in 1996 with a master’s degree in regional planning after earning her B.A. from Scripps College. Between her undergraduate and graduate programs, she studied for a year in Chihuahua, Mexico on a Fulbright Scholarship and worked as a researcher in San Diego studying the effects of Operation Gatekeeper II on the San Ysidro Port of Entry.

Gabrielle’s family has strong ties to Tucson and Sierra Vista. Her father served on the board of the Tanque Verde Unified School District and her mother is an art conservator. Her grandparents lived in Southeastern Arizona and are buried at Fort Huachuca. She is a member of Tucson’s Congregation Chaverim and was recently appointed one of five congressional members to serve on the United States Holocaust Memorial Council.

Gabrielle is the only member of Congress with a spouse on active duty in the military. Her husband, Capt. Mark Kelly, is a Navy pilot, veteran of Desert Storm and an astronaut with the NASA space shuttle program. Gabrielle and Mark enjoy hiking and spending time with their family in the canyons and deserts of Arizona.

Gabrielle also is an avid motorcycle rider and a member of the Congressional Motorcycle Caucus. She hopes to ride her bike to Argentina one day, but for now she opts for Highway 83 between Tucson and Patagonia.

Thoughts and prayers for Gabrielle, her family, and all of those affected by this horrific act today.

Why I'll have Attorney General Eric Holder's back

Recently the New York Times ran an article about how the House Republicans are likely to go after Attorney General Eric Holder:

"When the Obama administration wakes up next month to a divided capital, no cabinet member will be facing a more miserable prospect of oversight hearings and subpoenas than Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr."

Of course, anyone who has read items from the progressive blogosphere knows that its not just the right who love to go after Holder. He's also a frequent target for the frustrati due to the fact that there haven't been any prosecutions of the Bush administration for torture. While I can understand their concerns, I think the whole issue is much more complex than they tend to acknowledge. But we'll save that discussion for another day.

The first thing we have to recognize about Holder is the enormous job he was handed in re-shaping a department that had perhaps been more abused than any other by the Bush administration. You can read a bit about how that played out in DOJ's Civil Rights Division here.

So the task of restoring "law and order" to the DOJ has been a big job that Holder has had to grapple with. One would wonder just how long it would take to get meaningful action from such a huge department that was in need of so much repair.

But it didn't take Holder long. Lets review a summary of some of the things he's managed to accomplish in just 2 years.

First of all, in keeping with the theme of cleaning up messes left by the Bush administration, lets talk about the shootings that occurred on the Danziger Bridge in the aftermath of Katrina. The Civil Rights Division of DOJ has secured the indictment of six New Orleans police officers in connection to that case and one of them was just convicted last month.

A second mess that DOJ has been busy cleaning up is the prosecution of financial fraud that contributed to the collapse of our economy in 2008. First of all, there is Operation Stolen Dreams that targets mortgage fraud.

From industry insiders to straw buyers, nearly 500 people have been arrested in a nationwide mortgage fraud takedown that reflects the coordinated efforts of law enforcement to address the growing problem of crime in the housing industry.

“Mortgage fraud ruins lives, destroys families, and devastates whole communities,” Attorney General Eric Holder said this morning at a press conference to announce the results of “Operation Stolen Dreams.” Launched on March 1, 2010, the multi-agency initiative has led to a total of 485 arrests. More than 330 convictions have been obtained, and nearly $11 million has been recovered. Losses from a variety of fraud schemes are estimated to exceed $2 billion.

And just this week, DOJ announced the results of Operation Broken Trust that targets investment fraud.

Attorney General Eric Holder announced today the results of Operation Broken Trust, a nationwide operation organized by the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force to target investment fraud. To date, the operation has involved enforcement actions against 310 criminal defendants and 189 civil defendants for fraud schemes that harmed more than 120,000 victims throughout the country. The operation’s criminal cases involved approximately $8.3 billion in estimated losses and the civil cases involved estimated losses of more than $2.1 billion. Operation Broken Trust is the first national operation of its kind to target a broad array of investment fraud schemes that directly prey upon the investing public.*

Speaking of fraud, I recently noted DOJ's work on Medicare fraud.

Stopmedicarefraud.gov is an extension of HEAT. HEAT is currently hard at work in South Florida, Houston, Detroit and Los Angeles. In 2008, the multi-agency enforcement groups known as Medicare Fraud Strike Forces secured 588 criminal convictions; obtained 337 civil administrative actions against individuals and organizations who were committing Medicare fraud, and recovered more than a $1 billion in health care fraud monies under the False Claims Act. To date, in fiscal year 2009, The Department of Justice has already recovered nearly a billion dollars in health care fraud monies and recorded 300 convictions.

In addition, throughout the last couple of years the DOJ has:

Challenged Arizona's immigration law in court,

Sued Arizona's Sheriff Joe Arpaio on charges related to the civil rights violation of Hispanics,

Brought a civil lawsuit against BP and others in the aftermath of the Gulf oil spill,

Working with Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, reached a settlement in the Pigford II case with African American farmers, and

Completed the Guantanamo Review Task Force.

And finally, in connection with a couple of things that are near and dear to my heart, the Attorney General has convened a Cabinet level Re-entry Council.

Attorney General Eric Holder today convened the inaugural meeting of the Cabinet-level "Reentry Council" in Washington to identify and to advance effective public safety and prisoner reentry strategies.

And he has launched the Defending Childhood Initiative.

Defending Childhood is an initiative of Attorney General Eric Holder that strives to harness resources from across the Department of Justice to:

* Prevent children’s exposure to violence;
* Mitigate the negative impact of children’s exposure to violence when it does occur, and;
* Develop knowledge and spread awareness about children’s exposure to violence.

Whew! If you got through all of that then perhaps you'll understand why, if folks want to go after Attorney General Eric Holder, I'll have his back. I suspect that I've probably left some important stuff out. If so, fill me in.