I Don’t Even Know Where to Begin
There are some days where I cycle through emotional ranges in rapid spurts. This is not because of some chemical imabalance (that I’m aware of) but because of the news I read and the things I see. Today started out inauspiciously. The weather around here has been a bit harsh with lots of wind and rain. The inevitable power outages led to my work losing it’s juice for most of the morning (starting at 2:00am). Luckily, the data center I help manage is well covered with a UPS and a generator. The problems began later in the morning when regular power flicked on and quickly back off, causing a surge that tripped a breaker that only two people knew about. One of the two was out of town and the other was unreachable by phone. The out of town guy was contacted but, being woken up, was unable to give us a coherent description of what might be wrong and where we might look for a solution. Eventually the other guy was tracked down and he raced in to find the proper breaker and get it reset (we knew about one, but not the other). We came within moments (no exagerration) of losing power to our entire data center. It was ugly.
So the day started off with dread turned to uneasy relief. This relief only lasts as long as it takes me to learn that a National ID act has been passed, snuck under the radar by attaching it to a bill for resupplying our forces in Iraq (like any career-minded weasel, read: politician, is going to vote down that bill). There were some who spoke out against it, but the bill got passed without opposition. Somehow, setting up a National ID with all the inherent insecurity, totalitarian overtones and privacy concerns is going to help fight illegal immigration and terrorism. I don’t understand this logic. The only people being forced into national “papers, please” crap are legitimate citizens. Terrorists and illegals aren’t going to suddenly stop and say, “Oops, now they have a national ID system instead of a state-issued system, I guess I better turn around and head back home.” Passing this bill into law just demonstrates how far the US has fallen from the ideals of the founding fathers.
Dread again. Then shortly replaced by a bit of joy at some good news. Charges against 2nd Lt. Ilario Pantano relating to an incident where he shot and killed two Iraqi insurgents were dropped. I don’t care how you feel about the Iraq war, this is a man who gave up a lucrative Wall Street job, left his family at home and re-joined the Marines to fight for his country. Now, I’m personally opposed to the Iraq war for many reasons, but I have nothing but the utmost respect for those who risk their lives at their country’s behest. This man shoots two insurgents in the heat of combat and suddenly he’s facing criminal charges? This is a war, kids! And the person who levied the charges against 2nd Lt. Pantano? He’s a portrayed by witnesses as “a weak Marine who was bitter about being removed by Pantano from a leadership role in the platoon.” Meanwhile, “more than a half-dozen Marines who served with Pantano in Iraq portrayed him as an able leader who remained cool in combat and was friendly toward Iraqis.”
Happily, I continue checking out the news. Dread quickly comes back when I realize that it wasn’t just the Real ID that got snuck onto that bill I mentioned earlier, but a dangerous, precedent-setting amendment that gives the Department of Homeland Security unbelievable powers. If you read through the analysis of the bill, you’ll notice some inocuous but disturbing language:
II. Waiver of Laws to Facilitate Barriers at Border44
Section 102 of the IIRIRA generally provides for construction and strengthening of barriers along U.S. land borders and specifically provides for 14 miles of barriers and roads along the border near San Diego, beginning at the Pacific Ocean and extending eastward. IIRIRA § 102(c) provides for a waiver of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA)45 and the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA)46 to the extent the Attorney General determines is necessary to ensure expeditious construction of barriers and roads…
H.R. 418 [the Real ID Act of 2005] would provide additional waiver authority over laws that might impede the expeditious construction of barriers and roads along the border. H.R. 418 would require the Secretary of Homeland Security to waive any and all laws that he determines necessary, in his sole discretion, to ensure the expeditious construction of barriers and roads under IIRIRA § 102…
Section 102 of H.R. 418 would amend the current provision to require the Secretary of Homeland Security to waive any law upon determining that a waiver is necessary for the expeditious construction of the border barriers. Additionally, it would prohibit judicial review of a waiver decision or action by the Secretary and bar judicially ordered compensation or injunction or other remedy for damages alleged to result from any such decision or action.
What’s that? It’s just about building a barrier or a fence along a border, right? But what’s that bit where the the Secretary of Homeland Security is given the power to “waive any and all laws that he determines necessary, in his sole discretion, to ensure the expeditious construction of barriers and roads.” What? Waive all laws? Are you kidding? Wait, there’s more: “Additionally, it would prohibit judicial review of a waiver decision or action by the Secretary and bar judicially ordered compensation or injunction or other remedy for damages alleged to result from any such decision or action.” Holy batshit, fatman!
So effectively, the Secretary of Homeland Security can do anything under the sun in order to get this fence built with no recourse to the law or the courts. Want it built by 12-year-old Bangladeshi girls? Sure! Put it through that guy’s house? You got it! Fill in that Canyon? Right away! Root up that cemetary? On it! Got a problem with this? TOO BAD! There’s nothing you can do because an obscure section of the Constitution, and one which has never been invoked before now, reads:
In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party, the supreme Court shall have original Jurisdiction. In all the other Cases before mentioned, the supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the Congress shall make.
But, you’re saying, it’s only a fence. What’s the big deal? Because this sets a precedent. Perhaps I’m putting on my tinfoil hat here, but it strikes me as singularly odd that this would be invoked for something as simple as a border fence, or that it would be snuck into law the way it was. No, this is just a set up for a bigger move later on down the line.
Dread again. Show me your papers, please. You have no recourse, mister “citizen”, as we, your “representatives”, have decided that this is in your best interest. Please remove your clothing so that we might confirm that you are not concealing any contraband. You are not cleared to move from this state into the next, you must apply at the Federal Travel Authority for permission. Don’t forget your ID. “Shut up, be happy. The comfort you have demanded is now mandatory“.
Dread, but it is soon followed by anger. What in the hell is wrong with our society these days? How many laws can we friggin’ make and enforce? A man walks around his hometown wearing a Grinch mask and he gets arrested? Because he was committing some lewd act, or terrorizing people, or robbing something? No. Because there’s some law against wearing masks in public unless you’re a kid and it’s Halloween in this West Virginia area. The man felt it was his right to wear the mask and, after initially complying with the police, he exercised his right to dissent and donned the mask again. Bang! Arrested. I’m sure this idiocy arose from some misguided law to dissuade groups like the KKK from marching in public. Aren’t we supposed to be living in a free society?
I need something to give me a bit of happiness, but I’ve got the pager until tomorrow night. Maybe a nice pipe full of Mephisto will help me to relax.
